Back in the day, it was the norm for monsters to have random HP. In the past decade or so, it seems the default is to have all PCs and monsters have the same hit points. We see it in on the monster stat blocks, and it's even there in 5e.
I've heard the arguments for why non-random hp is a good thing. From the PC perspective, it's usually from someone who can't stand having another PC roll better than them and they feel cheated.
But looking at 5e, and some of the spell descriptions therein, I think random HP is very important. Many of the spell effects won't take effect unless the target has X HP or fewer. The problem I foresee with static HP is that the players will use out of character knowledge to plan their tactical use of spells.
"I know the dragon has 188 HP, and my power word spell doesn't work unless it has 100 or fewer, so I'm gonna wait until it goes below 100 to cast it."
That doesn't feel right to me. I know some people will prefer it that way because they don't want to "waste" a spell, but to me, that never quite knowing is something that adds to the game. My PC won't know when the monster will suddenly have 100 hp, so you need to decided if the risk is worth it.
I've heard the arguments for why non-random hp is a good thing. From the PC perspective, it's usually from someone who can't stand having another PC roll better than them and they feel cheated.
But looking at 5e, and some of the spell descriptions therein, I think random HP is very important. Many of the spell effects won't take effect unless the target has X HP or fewer. The problem I foresee with static HP is that the players will use out of character knowledge to plan their tactical use of spells.
"I know the dragon has 188 HP, and my power word spell doesn't work unless it has 100 or fewer, so I'm gonna wait until it goes below 100 to cast it."
That doesn't feel right to me. I know some people will prefer it that way because they don't want to "waste" a spell, but to me, that never quite knowing is something that adds to the game. My PC won't know when the monster will suddenly have 100 hp, so you need to decided if the risk is worth it.
Importance of random HP in 5e
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