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Do you max your HP/level rolls?

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  • Son_of_ImoenSon_of_Imoen Member Posts: 1,806
    I use the NWN-style Higher HP's at level-up tweak in the BG2 Tweakpack of Gibberlings3 (http://www.gibberlings3.net/bg2tweaks/cheats.php). You always get a roll in the second half (i.e. 3-4 on a D4 4-5 on a D6 etc.).

    The same can be found in Icewind Dale's tweakpack http://www.gibberlings3.net/daletweak/ but on my last playthrough I decided to create a party that's intentionally gimped. They're all characters with some kind of weakness - at least compared to maxed-out characters (my main fighter has only STR 16, the Fighter dualed to Druid has STR 16, the Fighter-Cleric multi has WIS 13 etc.). So with their campaign, I stick with the first roll I've got (at least that was my intention, I can't remember if I really had the discipline to do so on every level-up).
  • SilverstarSilverstar Member Posts: 2,207
    lunar said:

    I used to accept hp rolls, but now

    GKL206 said:

    I used to reload on bad rolls but

    I automatically hear that spoken in a Nord voice.

    Damn you Skyrim. Damn you!
    NimranJuliusBorisovjackjack
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,146
    Karnor I used exactly the same system for 25 years!
    [Deleted User]Eadwyn_G8keeperBlackraven
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    atcDaveBlackraven
  • OlvynChuruOlvynChuru Member Posts: 3,075
    I just don't like the game being more luck-based than it needs to be. That's not to say that I'm a powergamer, though. Generally if I don't want a character to have that much health, I give them extremely low Constitution.
    Blackraven
  • Eadwyn_G8keeperEadwyn_G8keeper Member Posts: 541
    @Karnor @atcDave I like that idea. But I would rather use a progressive mulligan instead. Reroll with a -1penalty, then a -2penalty, then -3penalty. Thus preserving the possibility of a really sucky HP result as an interesting plot development - but making it much more unlikely than results the BG engine randomly generates.

    Blackraven
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,146
    Oh our way definitely allows for terrible results, I've seen players get greedy and corner themselves into the coin toss at level up!
    But Eadwyn I think your method would work pretty much the same. It makes better results more likely, adds a little bit of gamey fun into the process, and still allows for the occasional really terrible result!
  • Son_of_ImoenSon_of_Imoen Member Posts: 1,806

    @Karnor @atcDave I like that idea. But I would rather use a progressive mulligan instead. Reroll with a -1penalty, then a -2penalty, then -3penalty. Thus preserving the possibility of a really sucky HP result as an interesting plot development - but making it much more unlikely than results the BG engine randomly generates.

    Players might end up with 2 hp loss at level-up?
  • Eadwyn_G8keeperEadwyn_G8keeper Member Posts: 541
    edited October 2014
    @Son_of_Imoen: No, The penalty would only mean that you EEKeeper the HP total from a first [or second] mulligan roll to be 1 [or 2] less than your on-screen result at level-up.
  • kaguanakaguana Member Posts: 1,328
    Pibaro said:

    Yes I do!!!
    Almost in every game.

    Yup same here, it just more convenient then start reloading or go back and forth from normal to cure rules, a bit less of micromanaging.
  • SchneidendSchneidend Member Posts: 3,190
    Should have included maxing some rolls. I usually do two or three max HP levels, especially in a game where you are expected to start at level 1 like BG or IWD. Gotta have that cushion.
    Eadwyn_G8keeperatcDaveHeindrich
  • AnduinAnduin Member Posts: 5,745
    Playing a mage. Yes. Yes I do.

    Playing a Barbarian. No. No I don't.
    kaguanaMoomintroll
  • HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959

    Should have included maxing some rolls. I usually do two or three max HP levels, especially in a game where you are expected to start at level 1 like BG or IWD. Gotta have that cushion.

    Yeah... I thought I could handle whatever BG1 threw at me now that I am "experienced" and know what to do... but man BG1 is brutal at the beginning when every cave bear or ogre berserker can one-shot your best frontliner. Hence in order to make min-reload with personal restrictions viable, I had to allow myself to roll max for the first level up so that I had at least some combat reliability.
  • MortiannaMortianna Member Posts: 1,356
    I used to reroll 1s, but now I always accept them, even if it's a front-line fighter like Kagain. It adds to the challenge-factor. Their HPs rolls usually regress toward the mean in the long run anyway.
    lolienBlackravenJuliusBorisov
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    I've never really thought about it, but I usually play on Easy to avoid spell scribing failure (for normal runs) or to obviate the need for Potions of Genius or Mind Focusing (for no-reload runs). If I actually had to choose, though, I'd pick max HP, since I like to know my characters are at their strongest. It feels lame to play a character that I know is flat-out inferior to a character I've played in the past.

    I'd rather double enemy damage than cut my HP in half. The former doesn't feel like a nerf. The latter does. As for why I play on easy, which does neither... well, it's less hassle when dealing with spell scribing, and eliminating hassle is a high priority for me.

    Bottom line, it's easier for me not to have to think about it. The impact on the game's difficulty is not the issue for me.
    RAM021Blackraven
  • hisplshispls Member Posts: 166
    atcDave said:


    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.

    And of course, P&P games the DM can balance encounters so as not to, for example, have a level 1 party with average of 4 hitpoints run into a basilisk within the first 4 hours of the campaign and not force a party with mediocre stats to face improbable challenges.

    Also what we used to do in P&P is that when you hit 0 to -10hp you'd roll a system shock and if you passed you were simply "unconscious". Below -10 you were dead, but it gave low level parties a little more breathing room to survive.

    Really it all depends on your definition of "fun". I mostly play through to enjoy the story with different characters and NPCs not so much "challenge" runs. Quite honestly I think most of the strategies the power-gamer no-reload types use are generally cheese or total metagame knowledge and without either a no-reload of any of these games would be next to impossible. Not to take away anything from that, but still, if your argument is "I'm trying to role play", it flies out the window when you look in the spot you know there's a trap for a trap, or if you pre-buff for a battle or enemy that your characters would have no idea was coming.
    atcDavesemiticgoddess
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @hispls: Very true about the basilisks and the no-reload thing. It's really not realistic to do a no-reload run of BG or BG2 without metagaming. The game was not designed to be beatable without reloads, unlike a PnP campaign. You really do need to know the challenges in advance to be able to overcome them.
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
    RAM021
  • OneAngryMushroomOneAngryMushroom Member Posts: 564
    No. Mainly because I forget to adjust the settings before I level up.
  • lroumenlroumen Member Posts: 2,508
    I like my npcs squishy. I usually don't min/max stats either so it happens that I have a really low con character that gets abysmal hp/level
  • CaeriaCaeria Member Posts: 201
    I used to go for max HP, but these days it feels like cheating. Now I just stick with what I get.
    BlackravenJuliusBorisov
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    Aureol said:

    I always go for max HP, but I also mod creatures to have max HP (BG2Tweaks, I think?). I don't view it as cheating; rather, I think of it as replacing one more aspect of luck with strategy.

    That's exactly what I do, for the same reason.
    GoturalAstroBryGuyJuliusBorisov
  • mumumomomumumomo Member Posts: 635
    I really don't like having very little HP , especially at the beginning of BGEE, since it makes the game far too random for my taste.

    I have 3 ways to deal with that:
    - max hp at level up
    - reload for the first 2-3 levels until I get an above-average roll.
    - reload in case of rolling 1 for a mage, 1-2 for clerics and thiefs, 1-2-3 for warriors.
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  • AstroBryGuyAstroBryGuy Member Posts: 3,437
    I use BG2 Tweaks' "Half-max or better" component.
    JuliusBorisov
  • kellclkellcl Member Posts: 24
    edited February 2015
    For me, I like to have max HP on every level up and for the monsters to also always roll max HP on spawning.
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    @subtledoctor: The way I've heard it described, the rationale behind max HP for both the player and the enemy is that it decreases the luck factor somewhat. You're less likely to win a fight through good luck alone, and less likely to lose a fight through bad luck alone, if there's a larger HP pool for everyone involved. It's considered more strategic because luck doesn't play quite as large a role. It does make Power Word spells weaker on the whole, however.
    atcDaveBlackraven
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