Determining a character's hit point total

For this game hit points will be determined by rolling, not by calculating a maximum or average value. The first level hit points (which under normal rules are always calculated at maximum) will also be rolled.

In addition the hit point value will be recalculated (re-rolled) at the start of each session (or at key breaks between adventures and adventure stages) as advised by the GM.


Some of the reasoning behind the idea

Overall everyone will have lower hit points then in a normal game. This mechanic is also going to be used for NPCs and monsters (who will have hit point totals "as rolled" and not some inflated average or re-rolled total). This should see combatants on both sides go down a bit quicker, and I'm hoping it will make combat faster and more dangerous.

Another consequence of this is some feats and abilities become more useful. The relative value of hit point bonuses from constitution, feats and spell effects is higher. Cleave feats should be usable more often, and sneak attacks and other damgae bonuses may be help to dispatch a guard quickly. Feats that increase the chance to hit a target or avoid an attack now have more relative value, as do abilities that help win the surprise the round and initiative.

This will also mean that your character often has hit point totals lower then what you had in a previous session. In terms of role playing and narrative, this is your character not being quite at their peak (possibly from fatigue, a hangover, an illness, a nasty injuring that is still healing, etc). Likewise a character with higher then normal hit points is fresh, focused and driven to keep standing in the face of difficult odds. I think it will be a fun mechanic for player characters to have hit points higher or lower then normal, but to have that result for a limited time rather then the life of the character.