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Cedrass
2009-05-23, 10:25 PM
There's one thing I never really paid attention to in D&D and that would be Temporary Hit Points.

That's because, in my group, since we've began playing D&D 3.0/3.5, we've considered Temp HP as a boost that goes away after a while, so let's say I gained 10 Temp HP from a spell that lasts 5 minutes, after 5 minutes, we'd lose that same amount of HP, even if those Temp HP were gone due to damage or whatnot.

But I since got the Rules Compendium and it seems we were wrong. As I read it, it get the impression you lose those excess HP only if your total of HP is higher than the total you had when you got the Temp HP.

Is that how it works?

Douglas
2009-05-23, 10:29 PM
Yes, and that's how it worked before Rules Compendium too. Temp HP are essentially proactive healing with a time limit. If you get hurt before the time limit is up, temp HP absorb the damage until they're gone. When the time limit expires, the temp hp go away but your actual hp are not affected.

The rules (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/injuryandDeath.htm#temporaryHitPoints).

Cedrass
2009-05-23, 10:39 PM
Yeah I figured it didn't change suddenly. Thanks for clearing that up!

Roderick_BR
2009-05-23, 10:54 PM
It's easier if you treat it as a secondary HP pool.
Let's say, you have a total of 60 HP. You take damage, and is reduced to 55.
Then you gain 10 temporary HP. You have then 55 HP and 10 THP.
When you take damage, you deduce it first from THP. When it reaches 0, the rest of the damage goes to your normal HP as normal.
So, if you take 12 points of damage, you lose your 10 THP, and loses 2 HP.
When the THP is reduced to 0, it ends.

By the time the effect ends, any THP you have, if any, automatically vanishes.
So, if you spent all your THP, it doesn't matter when the time runs out. You already have none. But if, let's say, you have 55 HP and 6 THP left, you lose those 6 points of THP. Your normal 55 HP won't be affected.

tyckspoon
2009-05-23, 11:10 PM
That's because, in my group, since we've began playing D&D 3.0/3.5, we've considered Temp HP as a boost that goes away after a while, so let's say I gained 10 Temp HP from a spell that lasts 5 minutes, after 5 minutes, we'd lose that same amount of HP, even if those Temp HP were gone due to damage or whatnot.

Is that how it works?

As mentioned, Temp HP don't work like that. But extra HP gained from temporary Constitution changes do; when your Con goes up, you gain HP. When it goes down, you lose HP (technically, you don't take damage.. you just lose HP. Generally easier to think of it as taking damage, tho.) So it's possible for a Barbarian to keel over dead if he got badly beat up while raging, or for somebody to fall unconscious when their Bear's Endurance runs out.

ericgrau
2009-05-24, 09:24 AM
One of my favorite wizard/sorcerer spells is false life. Cast it in the morning with the mage armor, have temp HP all day (or until it's destroyed). Once you get to higher levels you can empower it too, for more HP. It's almost as good as +4 con (that doesn't have the problems of temporary con).

Gorbash
2009-05-24, 11:54 AM
One of my favorite Wizard combos is False Life + Heart of Earth, meaning you would have HP as much as a Barbarian. Gods forbid you also cast Greater Heroism and Channeled Lifetheft... Odds are, you won't use a 6th lvl slot for casting Heroism and when 8th lvl spells become available you'll be immune to it anyway (Mind Blank), but False Life + Heart of Earth + Channeled Lifetheft is a really good way to drastically increase your survivability. My HP on 12th lvl are somewhere in 130s.

Keld Denar
2009-05-24, 12:01 PM
Empowered False Life + Heart of Earth + friendly Hero's Feast + Minor Shapeshift.

You have more HP than O'Chul!

ShneekeyTheLost
2009-05-24, 12:04 PM
Stone Power from Tome of Battle is another good one. Take a -5 on all attacks this turn to get +10 temporary hit points this turn.

Since it specifies THIS TURN, the effect ends at the end of the turn. So next turn, you can take a -5 and get a different set of 10 temporary hit points.

This means if you did this, and were hit on turn 1 for 8 points, on turn 2, it was like you were never hit. In effect, DR, without being able to be bypassed.

Plus you combo it with Shards of Granite for much fun.

Curmudgeon
2009-05-24, 12:17 PM
Note that, while you can't benefit from multiple castings of the same spell that provide temporary hit points, you can get temporary hit points from multiple different spells.
Temporary hit points from two applications of the same effect don’t stack; instead, the highest number of temporary hit points applies in place of all others. Temporary hit points from different sources stack, but you must keep track of them separately. While you don't get to add the totals, you take the best of multiple castings of the same spell. So you can keep hitting with Vampiric Touch and if you happen to make a higher number you replace your previous temporary hit point number from the spell. If you make a critical hit (a natural 20) and confirm it, you'll get to roll the damage twice and make that your temporary hit point total.

shadzar
2009-05-24, 12:26 PM
Depending on your DM and the edition they feel best with, you may be able to heal and not lose THP, but healed HP goes directly to the regular HP.

Any remaining THP will still be used first.

I know that you could in the 3.5 game I played because the DM read it as such, since healing didn't indicate losing THP. So hile you can only gain THP once until they run out, you can still heal to max for normal HP while still having THP. Ask your DM to make sure though.