Goodman Games

Do you bother recalculating hit points when a character loses Stamina?

What about if the loss is temporary instead of permanent?

Just curious. Since most fantasy-RPG iterations using hit points usually want you to do that sort of namby-pamby math juggling, I'm naturally kind of leaning away from it. But I'm curious what the crowd of more experienced Judges thinks.

How does it go down at your table?

Starhawk wrote:Do you bother recalculating hit points when a character loses Stamina?

What about if the loss is temporary instead of permanent?

Just curious. Since most fantasy-RPG iterations using hit points usually want you to do that sort of namby-pamby math juggling, I'm naturally kind of leaning away from it. But I'm curious what the crowd of more experienced Judges thinks.

How does it go down at your table?

There was a suggestion in a recent thread that a PC get -1 to all rolls for every 3 point of ability loss. It short-circuits the rules, but it's simple and I kind of like that. I'm going to try it in my next session(s), starting this weekend.

I don't find the math namby-pamby at all.

And I think tracking it makes the damage mean something in game, and drives exploration/adventuring choices. Those choices are the RP in RPG, after all.

Is it really so hard to say "Your Stamina went down four points, which means you have a -1 modifier, rather than that zero. You're 2nd Level, so you lose 3 hp until that Stamina comes back enough to move you into zero-modifier territory again"?

It doesn't seem any harder than tracking hp to begin with.

It's funny - recalculating HP when characters lose stamina never even occurred to me.

My understanding was that the point of stamina that drops off every time you are downed would simply catch up to you eventually via worse future hp rolls, and a destroyed fortitude roll. And it is probably secondary to the luck number anyway - Luck will probably be dropped quicker than stamina and end the characters life well before significant stamina loss becomes an issue.

Doesn't retrospectively changing HP totals unfairly disadvantage higher level characters? Especially those without a good hit die or those who didn't roll so well in the first place..

maxinstuff wrote:...Doesn't retrospectively changing HP totals unfairly disadvantage higher level characters? Especially those without a good hit die or those who didn't roll so well in the first place..

You don't have to track things that way, obviously. But I like to do so.

If you're none too able to fend off damage and fatigue to begin with (low hp), and then something saps your Stamina (sickness, infection, perhaps), aren't you less able to fend off damage and fatigue? Alternately, if something soups up your Stamina, shouldn't you then be more, uh, stout?

Just having a lower or higher Stamina somewhat reflects that, but adjusting hp goes further. Not everyone is going to want to go further, but it can be some good drama.

I have the players adjust their Maximum HP, not necessarily their current HP. Current HP only drops after Stamina loss if it exceeds Max HP. Makes sense to me and I haven't had a problem with it. Been doing it that way for a long while, even back when Stamina was called Constitution.

GnomeBoy wrote:I don't find the math namby-pamby at all.

And I think tracking it makes the damage mean something in game, and drives exploration/adventuring choices. Those choices are the RP in RPG, after all.

Is it really so hard to say "Your Stamina went down four points, which means you have a -1 modifier, rather than that zero. You're 2nd Level, so you lose 3 hp until that Stamina comes back enough to move you into zero-modifier territory again"?

It doesn't seem any harder than tracking hp to begin with.

You forgot the FORT save modification also

Skyscraper wrote:You forgot the FORT save modification also

Oily carp! You're right -- now I see why it's too much trouble...

*ducks thrown game books, bottles of mountain dew, and a shoe*

GnomeBoy wrote:

Skyscraper wrote:You forgot the FORT save modification also

Oily carp! You're right -- now I see why it's too much trouble...

*ducks thrown game books, bottles of mountain dew, and a shoe*

I throw a d16 at you!

Skyscraper wrote:

GnomeBoy wrote:

Skyscraper wrote:You forgot the FORT save modification also

Oily carp! You're right -- now I see why it's too much trouble...

*ducks thrown game books, bottles of mountain dew, and a shoe*

I throw a d16 at you!

Nah. I use the d16. I throw a d5.

I can never get those to roll right.

smathis wrote:

Skyscraper wrote:

GnomeBoy wrote: Oily carp! You're right -- now I see why it's too much trouble...

*ducks thrown game books, bottles of mountain dew, and a shoe*

I throw a d16 at you!

Nah. I use the d16. I throw a d5.

I can never get those to roll right.

Damn. The d5 is the larger of the two...

*readies the bactine; makes 'bracing' face*

GnomeBoy wrote: Damn. The d5 is the larger of the two...

*readies the bactine; makes 'bracing' face*

Don't worry too much. Ask Doug and Harley. I roll TERRIBLY.

Like epically... horribly... might be good if we were playing a tabletop golf-game bad...