Pixie being a Player Character version of some 6-8 inch tall thing with wings that flits about annoyingly.
Pixie characters typically get low hit points and large AC bonus. But that produces a sharp cut off. If you can hit them they go splat. If you can't hit them, they're safe until your lucky roll then go splat. I like keeping AC a class of armor and not mucking it up with Dex/Dodge. Seeing as hit points represent luck, fate, fatigue, and ability to not get hit I totally can imagine the flying pixie dodging and darting this way and that as having high hit points and normal naked AC.A conceptual leap, perhaps one you should not attempt while playing D&D. But, it came to mind chasing my dog around the house and was curious what others thought.
I can definitely see where you're coming from. As soon as you start thinking of them as "don't-get-hit-points" it changes your views on what should get a lot them. :)
ReplyDeleteWe've got a lot of bullets flying around in our current game, and it's sort of hard to think of anyone getting "hit" and continuing like nothing much happened to them. If we had pixies they'd have lots of hit points for sure. :)
I'm beginning to consider explaining hit points as number of times you can shrug off/dodge/avoid/parry/deflect/?? a hit. And damage being number of times you're hit during abstract combat round.
ReplyDeleteThis works well cause when players get to 0 they roll on Trollsmyth's damage chart and represents first time they actually take a serious wound.
Then again too much overthinking is too much.
Interesting idea. Add Dex instead of Con bonus to hp. Perhaps apply the Con bonus when rolling on Trollsmyth's Death and Dismemberment chart?
ReplyDeleteI remove the issue in another way. No monster has many hit points. Even a giant dragon only has 10-20 (and below half he passes out).
ReplyDeleteI just use the damage divider. So a pixie and a dragon may both have 10 hit points. But the pixie has a damage divider of 1/5 and the dragon of 10. So for every 10 points of damage you deal the dragon takes one, for every point of damage you deal the pixie it takes 5.
Conceptually it helps me, if you want to get into luck and whatnot..that exists too with luckpoints. Specifically named that so it makes sense why the pixie has 50 luck points and the giant 0.
Were you wondering how many hit points your dog had, or its AC?
ReplyDelete@paladin
ReplyDeleteI was thinking he's damn hard to catch/hit. Small and fast. But he eventually got tired and was easy to catch then. His AC remained 9 or maybe 8 he's got some thick fur.
Made think of battle with pixie flitting around dodging blows but eventually getting her hitpoints worn down.
@zzarchov
Yeah my hit points = your luck points. Instead of your type hitpoints, roll on Trollsmyth's damage chart. Wanted one less thing to track.
The lots of hp idea was specifically for player characters and not monsters. I like damage divider idea.
Reminds me of fairies in T&T. They have little CON, but their LUCK makes them almost impossible to hit. They do tend to die easily if they get hit, though.
ReplyDeleteStuart:
ReplyDeleteAs soon as you start thinking of them as "don't-get-hit-points" it changes your views on what should get a lot them. :)
That is the best way I've seen it put, ever. I'm so writing that down.
Alex Schröder:
Interesting idea. Add Dex instead of Con bonus to hp. Perhaps apply the Con bonus when rolling on Trollsmyth's Death and Dismemberment chart?
I wouldn't, personally. First of all, I'm not sure how being very healthy will help you with getting stabbed through the splanch. You might take longer to die, but you're still a dead man walking. Second, as hit points quantify the number of times you don't get stabbed and not how good you are at not getting stabbed every time, constitution (as stamina and endurance) would fit better than dexterity (as speed and coordination), in my opinion. Hit points represent how long you last (quite literally).
I guess it depends on the way they're trying to kill you. When each attack is an attempt on your life (and not some sort of subdual attempt), it matters whether they're trying to shoot you dead or strangle you, and whether you want to make a distinction between them. In the process of getting strangled you're actually dying, but can recover if you can get them to stop strangling you before you die, until you actually die, at which point there's not much anyone can do. While getting shot at is more of an all-or-nothing affair, where the cure for being narrowly missed is a cup of tea and a good night's sleep, but being shot requires extensive surgery to stop you from dying.
I think both can work from the same hit points (or don't-get-hit-points, thanks), but it requires some creative refereeing.
Pathfinder 3.75 actually has the HP pretty high for the pixie. I'm playing one in my current D&D game and she is 12th lvl w/101 HP. Granted, I have 8 lvls of rogue, so she's not JUST a pixie.
ReplyDelete