Basically the title of the thread but I shall flesh it out slightly.
I am the Dm for my group and there is a chance for a risky encounter coming up so I was just checking on how beat up the players are to see if I needed to tweak the encounter when I noticed that one of my players max health was slightly to high. Overall a couple extra hit points doesn't really make much difference so I was wondering on whether it was worth the confrontation over it? (We recently had a private discussion about a separate issue that has since been resolved and I don't want to come across as picking/bullying this player.) Any advice would be worth it.
Below is the player's stats in case I have miscalculated (I believe max possible to be 27-the player has no feats/magic items.)
First, are they a Hill Dwarf? They get +1 max HP per level, so in theory, if they rolled really well, a 7 on one of their level ups and an 8 on the other (a 3 in 64 chance of doing that or better), then the max HP is correct. Alternatively, there might be a feature of another race that does the same.
Assuming not, and there is no other known explanation:
You might want to bring it up obliquely. "You have a max HP of 29? How did you manage that? I thought that the highest you could get was 27?" Somethibg not accusatory and let's them do the maths with you. If they say it was a mistake, then leave it at that. Let them have the choice to keep the current HP or knock it down to 27. Be loose with it though - it's not a big deal even if it were intentional. It's not game breaking either.
That will only work if they're easy going and won't get defensive. If they might, you have to decide if it's really worth the confrontation. Bear in mind that if it's a genuine mistake, this could help them know the rules better. The phrasing in the PHB is terrible - to the point of being wrong, IMO. I read the bit about "plus your constitutional modifier per class level after the first" and thought it meant that each time you levelled up, you added your constitution modifier times your (level minus one). If he's made the same mistake, that could easily be why it's so high. My point being that it could easily just be a genuine mistake which could be rectified just by having a chat and seeing how he's come to that total. Alternatively, you could just watch what he does when he does the calculations and see what he's doing wrong.
If he just going to get defensive though, you won't help matterrs by confronting him, and it's only D&D at.thebend of the day - a few extra.HP aren't going to kill anyone. Best just to leave it be. Personally, I guide the players through the process. Any disagreements will usually surface then..
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
There's also a known issue where if you select manually rolled hit dice before selecting your class (which will always happen on a new character sheet, since hit dice preferences are on page 1, before you select race or class), the character sheet doesn't know what hit dice to use yet, so goes big rather than going home, and gives folks a d12. So there could also be 4 extra points floating around from that.
Also sometimes people just brain fart. I was leveling up my cleric last month, looked at my roll history (which is manually tracked in my notes, the sheet doesn't provide this history automatically), looked at my HP, looked at my roll history again, tilted my head, and went 'WTF did I do?' I had way more HP than I should, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. I asked my DM if he could remember any boons or temp effects I might've forgotten about. Neither of us could ever figure out if it had come from somewhere, or what math I might've accidentally done wrong (I wasn't off by a factor divisible by my CON mod, for example, so no accidentally adding that in twice), so I just reset it to where my roll history suggested it should be. I have no idea how long it had been wrong, but it was several games, at least.
It's also possible that as a moon druid they put a beast's stats in there for some reason, and forgot to swap back? It's unlikely, since the extras tab lets you track HP, but if for some reason they don't know about it, maybe?
By the rules it's very unlikely, but not completely impossible. Do you use DDB's charsheet or something less automated? And how are hp determined, fixed or rolled? If using DDB, my money'd be on a technical issue, as in pocketmouse's example.
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It’s only 2 HP. I wouldn’t worry about it. Especially with a Moon Druid.
2 over max and that is something that can be a real issue if it continues that way. But that bug Pocketmouse mentioned is the one I was thinking of and is the most likely culprit.
Thank you all involved. I was unaware of the bug that Pocketmouse mentioned and brain farts (love that saying) are always possible. While I realize worrying over 2 hp from what is possible comes across as being pedantic my main concern, as Kotah alludes to, is if this continues then the gap will just continually widen and there is already a noticeable difference between this player (who rolls) and the rest of the party that use d8s (They take the average).
I think, due to the known issues already mentioned, I will just make a mental note to keep track of health rolls in the future and mention it down the road if it continues to manifest as an issue. Thank you once more for the healthy internet discussion.
A DM asking a player to double check his own character sheet for a possible mistake is not bullying.
What you also have to consider is fairness. It's not fair to all your other players if you knowingly let one of them get extra HP every level.
As a DM i wouldn't have a problem asking, even less as a player, especially with digital tool use, glitch is a possibility. If it's human error, i would probably apologise for the mistake and thank you for spotting it.
When I made my PC on here for a campaign that's been running for awhile I put in the HP I had rolled, I included my con modifier, but didn't notice dndbeyond added it again! I didn't notice it first, so maybe that is what happened.
Or his is cheating, and you have to think about if you want to play with a cheater or not.
Basically the title of the thread but I shall flesh it out slightly.
I am the Dm for my group and there is a chance for a risky encounter coming up so I was just checking on how beat up the players are to see if I needed to tweak the encounter when I noticed that one of my players max health was slightly to high. Overall a couple extra hit points doesn't really make much difference so I was wondering on whether it was worth the confrontation over it? (We recently had a private discussion about a separate issue that has since been resolved and I don't want to come across as picking/bullying this player.) Any advice would be worth it.
Below is the player's stats in case I have miscalculated (I believe max possible to be 27-the player has no feats/magic items.)
Level 3 moon druid
con modifier +1
Max health 29
Which part are you concerned about, that they didn't roll 3 eights, or that they miscalculated the bonus.
Basically the title of the thread but I shall flesh it out slightly.
I am the Dm for my group and there is a chance for a risky encounter coming up so I was just checking on how beat up the players are to see if I needed to tweak the encounter when I noticed that one of my players max health was slightly to high. Overall a couple extra hit points doesn't really make much difference so I was wondering on whether it was worth the confrontation over it? (We recently had a private discussion about a separate issue that has since been resolved and I don't want to come across as picking/bullying this player.) Any advice would be worth it.
Below is the player's stats in case I have miscalculated (I believe max possible to be 27-the player has no feats/magic items.)
Level 3 moon druid
con modifier +1
Max health 29
Double check his race, class, and stats. If does not add up ask them if they made a math mistake. If your math does not match their math, correct them. If they STILL make the math mistake, they are cheating. Boot them out the door because already they have ticked you off.
Given their reference to the bug, OP already implied they use the DDB charsheet. That means there's no real math involved. Doesn't mean the player can't be cheating, but my money's on a technical issue. Shouldn't be hard to verify.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Basically the title of the thread but I shall flesh it out slightly.
I am the Dm for my group and there is a chance for a risky encounter coming up so I was just checking on how beat up the players are to see if I needed to tweak the encounter when I noticed that one of my players max health was slightly to high. Overall a couple extra hit points doesn't really make much difference so I was wondering on whether it was worth the confrontation over it? (We recently had a private discussion about a separate issue that has since been resolved and I don't want to come across as picking/bullying this player.) Any advice would be worth it.
Below is the player's stats in case I have miscalculated (I believe max possible to be 27-the player has no feats/magic items.)
Depends.
First, are they a Hill Dwarf? They get +1 max HP per level, so in theory, if they rolled really well, a 7 on one of their level ups and an 8 on the other (a 3 in 64 chance of doing that or better), then the max HP is correct. Alternatively, there might be a feature of another race that does the same.
Assuming not, and there is no other known explanation:
You might want to bring it up obliquely. "You have a max HP of 29? How did you manage that? I thought that the highest you could get was 27?" Somethibg not accusatory and let's them do the maths with you. If they say it was a mistake, then leave it at that. Let them have the choice to keep the current HP or knock it down to 27. Be loose with it though - it's not a big deal even if it were intentional. It's not game breaking either.
That will only work if they're easy going and won't get defensive. If they might, you have to decide if it's really worth the confrontation. Bear in mind that if it's a genuine mistake, this could help them know the rules better. The phrasing in the PHB is terrible - to the point of being wrong, IMO. I read the bit about "plus your constitutional modifier per class level after the first" and thought it meant that each time you levelled up, you added your constitution modifier times your (level minus one). If he's made the same mistake, that could easily be why it's so high. My point being that it could easily just be a genuine mistake which could be rectified just by having a chat and seeing how he's come to that total. Alternatively, you could just watch what he does when he does the calculations and see what he's doing wrong.
If he just going to get defensive though, you won't help matterrs by confronting him, and it's only D&D at.thebend of the day - a few extra.HP aren't going to kill anyone. Best just to leave it be. Personally, I guide the players through the process. Any disagreements will usually surface then..
An alternative is to watch them
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
There's also a known issue where if you select manually rolled hit dice before selecting your class (which will always happen on a new character sheet, since hit dice preferences are on page 1, before you select race or class), the character sheet doesn't know what hit dice to use yet, so goes big rather than going home, and gives folks a d12. So there could also be 4 extra points floating around from that.
Also sometimes people just brain fart. I was leveling up my cleric last month, looked at my roll history (which is manually tracked in my notes, the sheet doesn't provide this history automatically), looked at my HP, looked at my roll history again, tilted my head, and went 'WTF did I do?' I had way more HP than I should, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. I asked my DM if he could remember any boons or temp effects I might've forgotten about. Neither of us could ever figure out if it had come from somewhere, or what math I might've accidentally done wrong (I wasn't off by a factor divisible by my CON mod, for example, so no accidentally adding that in twice), so I just reset it to where my roll history suggested it should be. I have no idea how long it had been wrong, but it was several games, at least.
It's also possible that as a moon druid they put a beast's stats in there for some reason, and forgot to swap back? It's unlikely, since the extras tab lets you track HP, but if for some reason they don't know about it, maybe?
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
It’s only 2 HP. I wouldn’t worry about it. Especially with a Moon Druid.
Professional computer geek
By the rules it's very unlikely, but not completely impossible. Do you use DDB's charsheet or something less automated? And how are hp determined, fixed or rolled? If using DDB, my money'd be on a technical issue, as in pocketmouse's example.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Thank you all involved. I was unaware of the bug that Pocketmouse mentioned and brain farts (love that saying) are always possible. While I realize worrying over 2 hp from what is possible comes across as being pedantic my main concern, as Kotah alludes to, is if this continues then the gap will just continually widen and there is already a noticeable difference between this player (who rolls) and the rest of the party that use d8s (They take the average).
I think, due to the known issues already mentioned, I will just make a mental note to keep track of health rolls in the future and mention it down the road if it continues to manifest as an issue. Thank you once more for the healthy internet discussion.
A DM asking a player to double check his own character sheet for a possible mistake is not bullying.
What you also have to consider is fairness. It's not fair to all your other players if you knowingly let one of them get extra HP every level.
As a DM i wouldn't have a problem asking, even less as a player, especially with digital tool use, glitch is a possibility. If it's human error, i would probably apologise for the mistake and thank you for spotting it.
Also what race is the character if the character is a hill dwarf he gets a bonus hp each level.
When I made my PC on here for a campaign that's been running for awhile I put in the HP I had rolled, I included my con modifier, but didn't notice dndbeyond added it again! I didn't notice it first, so maybe that is what happened.
Or his is cheating, and you have to think about if you want to play with a cheater or not.
Which part are you concerned about, that they didn't roll 3 eights, or that they miscalculated the bonus.
Just watch them roll from now on.
Double check his race, class, and stats. If does not add up ask them if they made a math mistake. If your math does not match their math, correct them. If they STILL make the math mistake, they are cheating. Boot them out the door because already they have ticked you off.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
Given their reference to the bug, OP already implied they use the DDB charsheet. That means there's no real math involved. Doesn't mean the player can't be cheating, but my money's on a technical issue. Shouldn't be hard to verify.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
If your not having your player roll stats and hp in front of you... you'd have seen this earlier if you had.