Do you max your HP/level rolls?

OperativeNL

So in my current game I am using core difficulty on SCS, and I notice that - especially on the lower levels - it's really annoying to have characters with low hp. A lucky kobold or a single spell can kill my characters in one time! So I thought about simply using the max hp/level difficulty slider workaround, but then i kind of feel like cheating... so I wonder, how do you guys play it?

Myself, I've used the following rule: I have to accept any result that it at least half of the max possible. So if I level up a thief which, could get a max of +6 hp/level, I am allowed to reload if he only gets 1, 2 or 3 hp on level up. But a 4, 5, or 6 will stay.

How do you do it?

Pibaro

Yes I do!!!
Almost in every game.

JuliusBorisov

As a follower of no-reload runs, I take them as they are. If it's only 1hp - so be it, maybe with the next level up I'll be more lucky.

Even if I play with reloads, I take HP rolls as they are.

They even themselves out in the end. It's one of those things that make every character different.

TheGraveDigger

Yes and no. I use a custom tweak that gives max health until level 4, then random for the levels after. This makes the early levels a bit less tedious.

KingGhidorah

I usually accept any outcome that is in the top half of the roll, so to say. (so for a 10 con fighter anything above 5 for example)

Metalloman

it looks like that moderators here accept HP values per level gain as they are! ;D

@bengoshi @Heindrich‌

Heindrich

I am a min-reloader and I quite enjoy the excitement of the random roll, and so accept whatever it may be. That said I don't plan on playing with SCS, so I don't have to deal with as much difficulty.

Your solution seems fine, but perhaps a "fairer" solution would be to reroll the top and bottom 20% of rolls, and accept everything in the middle. So for a Fighter with a range of 1-10, you reroll 1,2, 9 and 10. You'd basically be minimising the swings due to random chance, but not making the game any easier or harder on average, and hence not "cheating".

Silverstar

I always max the first level. Subsequent levels I usually go with the roll though I reload lower-half-of-the-dice rolls if the character has had two or more levels with a bad roll.

Awong124

I always just make it the average HP roll either with EEKeeper or reloading. I don't like randomness.

atcDave

Until recently I only threw out rolls that were less than half max, which comes close to most PNP games I've played. But I've gotten lazy, and now I just turn down the difficulty for those early level ups, and get back to the game!

Nonnahswriter

It's different for each game. Baldur's Gate 1 can be especially brutal for low-levels, so I always make sure I get my max-HP rolls. But in Baldur's Gate 2, I play on Core rules, mostly because the characters are higher level now and need a bit more of a challenge.

Ardul

Yes I use a mod for max HP. I also apply it to every other creature in the game. It makes for more interesting battles in my opinion.

Lemernis

It depends on the type of game I'm playing. If I'm just having fun meta/powergaming, and it's not a no-reload or minimal reload game, then I may reload a few times in order to get a decent HP roll. Otherwise I accept the HP result.

Honestly, I haven't found it to actually matter than much in any type of approach that I use. But that said, I suppose if I played with SCS and was playing strict no-reload (which I don't--that's too unforgiving for my taste), I would feel entitled to max HP.

TheArtisan

In my game, everyone in the game has maximum hp. I'm indifferent to reloading or min-maxing, so this is merely convenience, and I like fights to last as long as possible.

FinneousPJ

Nope, I don't.

CrevsDaak

I accept low rolls as I play no-reload solo, but later on I became bored of facing all of BG1 with kiting tactics and started to install BG2 Tweaks "Max HP on level-up" component in all of my games, anyway, I still use kiting tactics, so I guess it didn't change much. Besides, I'm pretty uncaring about HP (note: while it's not lower than 60 by mid-SoA, everything will be OK...), since the difference between being dead or alive is just of 1 HP, and that's the only Hit Point that matters (I don't tend to get hurt at all if I can avoid so, but then I don't use Healing Potions/Spells when I have just 20/40 HP or similar, unless I'm facing a foe that can deal more than 20 points of damage with a single Spell/hit).

lunar

I used to accept hp rolls, but now I find it really difficult to play with characters that have max 40-50 hit points in bg2. Really tedious to play when they fall to a single fireball or wilting. Not to mention fighting high level mages with power words are not fun when your hit points are naturally low. I enjoy playing minimal reloads, so ensuring max hitpoints alleviate the headache for me.

Most big enemies have max or near max hitpoints for their levels, anyway. It is only fair IMHO. I don't see an enemy lvl 15+ fighter with 50 hit points.

InvictusCobra

I hate having to worry about the HP rolls. Tried it in my first playthrough (it tanked hard) and never again. Though it makes me play on Normal (or Core), I don't mind as I'm not much of a challenge runner in games, except in things like The Witcher 2 or the Demon/Dark Souls franchise.

O_Bruce

Reloading to get max hp per level up is cheating to me. There is no difference between that and just typing exact value you want in shadowkeeper and similar program, if the results are the same. People are accepting rolling for hit, saving throws, skills etc. yet they have problems with rolling their HPs.

atcDave

O_Bruce said:

Reloading to get max hp per level up is cheating to me. There is no difference between that and just typing exact value you want in shadowkeeper and similar program, if the results are the same. People are accepting rolling for hit, saving throws, skills etc. yet they have problems with rolling their HPs.

The difference is, most PNP DMs have some sort of house rule for re-rolling lousy HP rolls (like one or two re-rolls in the life of a character, or unlimited re-rolls on a smaller die); but combat rolls are a different story.

O_Bruce

Yet it's not PnP. And it still has a houserule: you start on lvl1 with max HP anyway.

TheGraveDigger

O_Bruce said:

Reloading to get max hp per level up is cheating to me. There is no difference between that and just typing exact value you want in shadowkeeper and similar program, if the results are the same. People are accepting rolling for hit, saving throws, skills etc. yet they have problems with rolling their HPs.

Reloading the game when anything goes wrong is a form of cheating, adjusting the difficulty slider is a form of cheating. Raise Dead in its current form is very cheaty. I don't do any of these things, I play Core Rules, no reloads, and no raise dead for NPCs, so I don't think a little higher health than average is too much to ask for. It's still within the legal limits.

atcDave

O_Bruce said:

Yet it's not PnP. And it still has a houserule: you start on lvl1 with max HP anyway.

Max HP at 1st level is another very common house rule, to the point of saying I think it's been 30 years since I've seen anyone NOT do that. I have no problem ensuring the PC has above average hit points. I think that's completely in the spirit of the story.
I never have any qualms about using reload to emulate the sort of discretionary control that exists in most PNP games.

O_Bruce

@TheGraveDigger‌ What interesting disposition you have there.

OperativeNL

TheGraveDigger said:

Raise Dead in its current form is very cheaty.

Wait, what?

CrevsDaak

OperativeNL said:

TheGraveDigger said:

Raise Dead in its current form is very cheaty.

Wait, what?

It doesn't make the CON check it's done in P&P, and some other things that weren't implemented in the game's engine.

GKL206

I used to reload on bad rolls but what changed it for me was Dorn on EE who I think is over-powered unless he gets a couple of low rolls. I certainly didn't want to max out his hp and it just sort of spread to everyone else. Nowadays I just take whatever comes without really thinking about it, and find it makes how characters develop far more interesting: if Khalid get better hp rolls he may end up as a tank, and so on.

fanscale

The hp roll doesn't really matter as much in this game. In pnp you would have time to carefully plan and avoid certain situations. Low hp equals run from monster.
While playing the computer version, you will want to defeat as many monsters as possible. Otherwise you will miss parts of the story.

[Deleted User]

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Kamigoroshi

I'm just way too lazy to reroll anything within the infinity games.

Eadwyn_G8keeper

My real practice is somewhat different. I normally reroll until I get either Max or Max-1 result. With Thieves and Mages, however I always insist on Max HP until after Cloakwood Mines. With a Multiclass Charname I always reroll for Max HP for the first 2 levels and then loosen up a bit.