This
variant is inspired by the way Hit Dice work in OD&D.
The kind of
die a character rolls for hit points is determined by his race, not his class. The
table below shows the Hit Dice for the most common races:
|
Race
|
Hit Die
|
|
Dwarf
|
d8
|
|
Elf
|
d6
|
|
Gnome
|
d6
|
|
Half-elf
|
d8
|
|
Halfling
|
d6
|
|
Half-ogre
|
d10
|
|
Half-orc
|
d8
|
|
Human
|
d8
|
For the
races of the Weird Opera world they are:
|
Race
|
Hit Die
|
|
Botanoid
|
d6
|
|
Gnome
|
d6
|
|
Morlock
|
d8
|
|
Neanderthal
|
d10
|
|
Nine-Lives
Cat
|
d8
|
|
Paragon
|
d6
|
|
Pig
|
d10
|
|
Porcine
|
d8
|
|
Human
|
d8
|
One die is
rolled at first level, but further dice are not rolled at every level of
experience. A character’s class determines at which level he gains another Hit
Die. For example, a cleric gains his second Hit Die at 2nd level,
but doesn’t get his third Hit Die until level 4. A magic-user gets a Hit Die
every other level.
At levels
at which a class doesn’t get a full Hit Die, he gains a flat number of hit
points, usually 1 or 2. The following table shows the Hit Die progression for
the four main classes:
|
Level
|
Cleric
|
Fighter
|
Magic-user
|
Thief
|
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
(+1
hp)
|
(+2
hp)
|
|
3
|
(+2
hp)
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
(+2
hp)
|
3
|
|
5
|
4
|
5
|
3
|
(+4
hp)
|
|
6
|
(+4
hp)
|
6
|
(+3
hp)
|
4
|
|
7
|
5
|
7
|
4
|
5
|
|
8
|
6
|
8
|
(+4
hp)
|
(+6
hp)
|
|
9
|
(+6
hp)
|
9
|
5
|
6
|
|
10
|
7
|
(+3
hp)
|
(+5
hp)
|
7
|
|
11
|
8
|
(+6
hp)
|
6
|
(+8
hp)
|
|
12
|
(+8
hp)
|
(+9
hp)
|
(+6
hp)
|
8
|
|
13
|
9
|
(+12
hp)
|
7
|
9
|
|
14
|
(+10
hp)
|
(+15
hp)
|
(+7
hp)
|
(+10
hp)
|
|
15
|
(+12
hp)
|
(+18
hp)
|
8
|
10
|
|
16
|
(+14
hp)
|
(+21
hp)
|
(+8
hp)
|
(+12
hp)
|
|
17
|
(+16
hp)
|
(+24
hp)
|
9
|
(+14
hp)
|
|
18
|
(+18
hp)
|
(+27
hp)
|
(+9
hp)
|
(+16
hp)
|
|
19
|
(+20
hp)
|
(+30
hp)
|
10
|
(+18
hp)
|
|
20
|
(+22
hp)
|
(+33
hp)
|
(+10
hp)
|
(+20
hp)
|
Further
Notes:
* Fighters
gain one Hit Die type greater than normal for his race. For example, a human
fighter would uses d10 for Hit Dice.
* Paladins
and rangers use the fighter progression, but don’t get the greater die type.
* Druids
and monks use the cleric progression.
* Illusionists
and spelldancers use the magic-user progression.
* Assassins
use the thief progression.
I've been playing this way for several years now, using racial hit dice plus OD&D style hit die progression. Hit dice range from 1d4 for pixies on up. I don' t think it's necessary to give fighters an extra boost; paladins and rangers pay for their abilities through XP costs. There is also no reason to stop giving out hit dice at 9th level. Gary only did that because his system required a hit die per level. Instead you can just give them one hit die every two or three levels. Finally, for things like dragons, ogre and giant PCs, their hit dice size will increase as they age; starting around a d8 and increasing in size after a fixed number of years.
ReplyDeleteI don't have giant or dragon PCs, but I will probably give monsters different die sizes for Hit Dice as well (the way Adventures Dark and Deep does it).
DeleteI'm looking into rules made possible by the difference between level and HD characters have in this system. For example, maybe they could use the same attack roll table, basing attack strenght on HD instead of class and level.
Giving big monsters larger hit dice is a way to let them be hard to kill (more hit points) without also auto-hitting the PCs.
DeleteUsing HD as an attack bonus is something I do as well but you can do that with OD&D as well. It matches fairly close to OD&D's Fighting Capability. My to-hit system is based on comparing HD vs HD rather than HD vs AC, which is probably further than you'd like to go.
I'll probably go with using HD as attack bonus, and ascending AC.
Delete