level 3, 3 max HP, what is the best way to protect my character?

[Pinkie Pyro]

Due to low con (-3 penalty) and a flaw (-1 HP per level) along with rolling 4 or less on all my hit die, my gunslinger/rogue/alchemist is level 3 with 3 HP.

We are starting at level 3 with normal wealth per level, as well as 1 Free (DM approved) starting magical item.

Any suggestions? pretty much anything allowed, even custom magic items (only using pre-made spells, of course) but my DM will shoot down anything too crazy.

[Jeraa]

Due to low con (-3 penalty) and a flaw (-1 HP per level) along with rolling 4 or less on all my hit die, my gunslinger/rogue/alchemist is level 3 with 3 HP.

We are starting at level 3 with normal wealth per level, as well as 1 Free (DM approved) starting magical item.

Any suggestions? pretty much anything allowed, even custom magic items (only using pre-made spells, of course) but my DM will shoot down anything too crazy.

You should have more hit points than that. Gunslingers have a d10 HD, while rogues and alchemists have a d8. You get maximum hit points at 1st level. Even with the large penalties, that should still be either 4 or 6 HP at 1st level alone (depending on what your first class was). Rolling bad for the additional levels (1 hp each), your hit point total should be either 6 or 8, depending on what your first class level was.

[(Un)Inspired]

Don't go adventuring.

[Red Fel]

Due to low con (-3 penalty) and a flaw (-1 HP per level) along with rolling 4 or less on all my hit die, my gunslinger/rogue/alchemist is level 3 with 3 HP.

We are starting at level 3 with normal wealth per level, as well as 1 Free (DM approved) starting magical item.

Any suggestions? pretty much anything allowed, even custom magic items (only using pre-made spells, of course) but my DM will shoot down anything too crazy.

Miss chance is the biggest. That, and smart mobility. You're playing a gunslinger; use range. Better yet, use concealment (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/combat#TOC-Concealment). There are multiple ways to get it; find one that works for you. Having a 20% chance to say "Nope" to any incoming attack is pretty darn useful. Depending on your available wealth, a Cloak of Displacement (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/c-d/cloak-of-displacement) or Cloak of Flash and Shadow (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/c-d/cloak-of-flash-and-shadow) may be good choices.

On the Alchemist side, two formulae that might help you are Blend (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/b/blend) (if you're Elven), or Shadow Bomb Admixture (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/shadow-bomb-admixture) (if you can overcome concealment).

As an aside, what are you doing with three different classes at level 3? I'm not saying that's wrong, but it strikes me as a remarkably terrible idea, particularly when some of those classes have been combined into hybrid classes (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/hybrid-classes) already.

[Honest Tiefling]

I wonder if a cheap mount might help to run away. In a jiffy, it might also buy you a round or two.

[Pinkie Pyro]

You should have more hit points than that. Gunslingers have a d10 HD, while rogues and alchemists have a d8. You get maximum hit points at 1st level. Even with the large penalties, that should still be either 4 or 6 HP at 1st level alone (depending on what your first class was). Rolling bad for the additional levels (1 hp each), your hit point total should be either 6 or 8, depending on what your first class level was.

Oh yeah, forgot about that, +5 HP for me... still going down in 1 hit though :c


Miss chance is the biggest. That, and smart mobility. You're playing a gunslinger; use range. Better yet, use concealment (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/combat#TOC-Concealment). There are multiple ways to get it; find one that works for you. Having a 20% chance to say "Nope" to any incoming attack is pretty darn useful. Depending on your available wealth, a Cloak of Displacement (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/c-d/cloak-of-displacement) or Cloak of Flash and Shadow (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/c-d/cloak-of-flash-and-shadow) may be good choices.

On the Alchemist side, two formulae that might help you are Blend (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/b/blend) (if you're Elven), or Shadow Bomb Admixture (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/shadow-bomb-admixture) (if you can overcome concealment).

As an aside, what are you doing with three different classes at level 3? I'm not saying that's wrong, but it strikes me as a remarkably terrible idea, particularly when some of those classes have been combined into hybrid classes (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/hybrid-classes) already.

Thanks for the suggestions, I think I'll be getting the cloak of displacement.

[Jack_Simth]

Due to low con (-3 penalty) and a flaw (-1 HP per level) along with rolling 4 or less on all my hit die, my gunslinger/rogue/alchemist is level 3 with 3 HP.

We are starting at level 3 with normal wealth per level, as well as 1 Free (DM approved) starting magical item.

Any suggestions? pretty much anything allowed, even custom magic items (only using pre-made spells, of course) but my DM will shoot down anything too crazy.

Bring a backup character sheet, as you are very likely to die in the first session. You've got a character that is only marginally more durable that the sheet upon which it's written. Seriously, a minimized Scorching Ray at minimum caster level will put you into the negatives. Even with the forgotten 5 extra HP, a single Scorching Ray will usually put you in death's door (4d6 averages 14 - vs. you 8 HP, so -6), and has something like a 25% chance of killing you outright. A hit from your basic Greatsword-wielding Str-18 Fighter will almost always (35 in 36 chance) knock you out of the fight, and has a chance of killing you outright in one blow (2d6+6 averages 13, caps at 18). If the fighter Power Attacks, you're dead in the average damage hit (power attack for 3, and that becomes 2d6+12, average 19). A +6 Belt of Con might help, but YIKES. Unless you're doing something like piloting an Apparatus of the Crab (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/a-b/apparatus-of-the-crab) (which takes the hits for you, and denies line-of-effect), you're not going to live long.

[Pinkie Pyro]

Bring a backup character sheet, as you are very likely to die in the first session. You've got a character that is only marginally more durable that the sheet upon which it's written. Seriously, a minimized Scorching Ray at minimum caster level will put you into the negatives. Even with the forgotten 5 extra HP, a single Scorching Ray will usually put you in death's door (4d6 averages 14 - vs. you 8 HP, so -6), and has something like a 25% chance of killing you outright. A hit from your basic Greatsword-wielding Str-18 Fighter will almost always (35 in 36 chance) knock you out of the fight, and has a chance of killing you outright in one blow (2d6+6 averages 13, caps at 18). If the fighter Power Attacks, you're dead in the average damage hit (power attack for 3, and that becomes 2d6+12, average 19). A +6 Belt of Con might help, but YIKES. Unless you're doing something like piloting an Apparatus of the Crab (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/a-b/apparatus-of-the-crab) (which takes the hits for you, and denies line-of-effect), you're not going to live long.

Yes, luckily I was also able to afford an amulet of tears to start with, so at least that's a tiny bit extra HP.

As durable as a piece of paper...I kinda want to nickname him "paper cuts" now...

[Marlowe]

https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/252x373q90/538/qy4XUJ.jpg

[goto124]

Bring a backup character sheet, as you are very likely to die in the first session.

Would it be better to just create an entirely new character with resonable HP? Immediately, instead of playing Paper Cuts?

May I ask, what Paper Cuts' build is? What sort of personality were you trying to achieve with him/her? Perhaps we could suggest a build that doesn't die from a paper cut.

What system is it, DnD 3.5? PF?

[Magma Armor0]

In short: tactics. Don't ever let yourself be too close to your enemies. Keep a meatshield between you and the hostiles. Don't ever end a turn within 1 move of them, or they'll kill you quickly.
miss chances and AC are nice. Bizarrely, if you can find a good spot to hide and take potshots, going prone voluntarily may help, with the AC bonus vs ranged attacks and all.
and for mercy's sake, max your stealth check. They can't stab what they can't see.

[Sith_Happens]

Due to low con (-3 penalty) and a flaw (-1 HP per level)

http://i2.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/006/482/template.jpg

[The Grue]

How did you even get a -3 to Con? That means your character has a Con score of 4. How...how did you even get that? Did you roll 4d6 and get all 1's?

[Sith_Happens]

How did you even get a -3 to Con? That means your character has a Con score of 4. How...how did you even get that? Did you roll 4d6 and get all 1's?

Could have a 5, penalties round down just like bonuses do, which means their absolute values round up.

[Crake]

Doesn't the flaw that gives you -1 hp/level specifically say that it can actually reduce your hp at any given level to 0? That means your assumption of having the minimum 1 hp per level may actually result in 0hp at each level, but of course, max hp at level 1. Still, that's a dangerous game to play.

[JDL]

Reroll.

Con is not a dump stat.

You may have awesome ranks in Profession (Hairdressing) but if you plan to adventure at any point, you need to build a character that can actually take a hit. Con should be your second or third highest stat on your character sheet if you're a specialist in something like spellcasting, or if you're a pure melee it is wise to consider putting your highest ability score into Con. It doesn't matter how good your damage output is per round, it's zero when you're dead. Glass cannon builds are one trick ponies that end up as a greasy smear on the ground in any serious battle. Your best defense against damage isn't AC or concealment, it's gobs and gobs of hit points that force the enemy to really work to take you down.

Con is NOT a dump stat.

[Marlowe]

Pray for a reroll. Pray for a new character. Pray for an Angel of Merciful Undeathitudeness to swoop down on wings of bone and sinew and transform you into a Necropolitan with a shake of a withered digit and a disbelieving quip. Or whatever Necropolitan is in PF.

At this point you're endangering your own party by being there. Encounters are generally not balanced on the assumption that a PC has the HP of a 1st level Commoner. Unless the DM is pulling his punches to let you pull through, which I can't see being good for the campaign. There's optimised, there's semi-optimised, there's competent, there's semi-competent, there's incompetent, and then there's this guy. Who has no business adventuring and should be back home cleaning out the gerbil cages. After somebody else has drugged the gerbils so they don't get too aggro.

Is this harsh? Yes, it's harsh. Anyone think it's too harsh? Did you do this to yourself? Is this some hilarious challenge the DM has thought up?

[Kristinn]

Just don't play this character. Simple as that. You cant have 4 or 5 Con. You just can't. Period. Unless you are a lvl. 6+ Druid with Natural Spell playing 3.5 pre-errata stating your hit points are not modified by your new Con-score.

And then you add a -1 HP/lvl flaw on top? Either you are popping your DnD/SRD/PF cherry not expecting to see blood on the sheets, or you think playing 2-3 different characters every session sounds fun. Either way roll up some real stats (min 12 for Con, as for any other character in this game) and beg your DM on all fours to switch them, or retire your dice.

[RoboEmperor]

1. Get your hands on false life. Hire a wizard, or get one of your party wizards to do that for you
2. Bribe the DM secretly to not kill your character. He'll just focus on your other teammates.
3. stay waaaaaaaaay back from your party, and join the fight on turn 3, which is how long it'll take you to get into combat range
4. Hire mercenaries. Do #2 except don't join the fights. Have the mercenaries contribute in your stead. Hopefully DM will split XP with you and say mercenaries are factored into your CR

Remember, even with only a 5% chance to get hit, you WILL get hit, especially v.s. fireballs and the like.

1hp wizard is totally doable. Stay invisible 24/7, stack miss chances and temp hp, always stay in polymorph, etc.
1hp nonwizard... eh... no, unless you're a druid, but seeing how GS is mentioned I'm guessing this is PF, in which case no. To my knowledge druids don't even have half the defensive spells wizards have.

[VincentTakeda]

Petition your gm to allow pathfinder's retraining rules.

[goto124]

Come to think of it, you could just reroll your stats such that you don't get a negative number on your Con modifier (at least, better than -3), and have at least 12 Con. Perhaps get rid of the Flaw too. You can play with the exact same build otherwise.

Flaws are for pure RP reasons, since they don't give any bonuses, is that right? Which means a flaw is never needed either...

[u-b]

Well, I see no problem with this, really. He'll need some INT and some Craft and he better be Small (like a Gnome), but having that and a gunslinger/alchemist... you just build a cart out of some strong barrel, get a pair of warhorses to pull it and load your long rifle. Oh, yeah, and have a big tower shield on small wheels for going into dungeons.

Does that solve the problem?

[ericgrau]

Having a 20% chance to say "Nope" to any incoming attack is pretty darn useful.
And an 80% chance to roll a new character. Or lets say you stack multiple and only have a 50% chance to roll a new character. Per hit. If he super optimizes maybe he'll last an entire 5 hits... before he has to reroll a new character. And he's still at full health for the first 4 hits, so he can't heal or do anything to reset his time left alive. He might very well lose his character on the first hit even with a good miss chance.

Ya time to reroll lol. Or get temp hp. Or do not adventure. Build the ultimate party crafter who stays in the city behind locked doors. Until your foes find out and assassinates you. Hmm, better layer on disguises, hideaways and false suppliers with Batman like paranoia.

[P.F.]

Due to low con (-3 penalty) and a flaw (-1 HP per level) along with rolling 4 or less on all my hit die, my gunslinger/rogue/alchemist is level 3 with 3 HP.

We are starting at level 3 with normal wealth per level, as well as 1 Free (DM approved) starting magical item.

Any suggestions? pretty much anything allowed, even custom magic items (only using pre-made spells, of course) but my DM will shoot down anything too crazy.

Be totally ineffectual.

No. Really. You obviously didn't make this character to be a no-fun-to-play über-game-min-max-optimized "I-win-D&D" game-breaking munchkin. Own it. Your character can't get hit, ever. So don't.

Don't deal damage. Don't throw bombs. For God's sake don't shoot at anything. Don't use your alchemy for anything other than buffing yourself and other party members, and the latter only before a battle, never during. At higher levels you can try occasional plinking, the damage will add up over the course of an entire session, but mustn't be enough to seriously injure any particular enemy.

No one targets the cook. At least, no one targets the cook first. The DM needn't pull any punches, as long as he's targeting the characters and not the players, this tactic will keep you safer than any AC-boost, miss chance, or whatnot ever could. You still run the risk that a random volley will target you before they realize shooting at you is a waste of arrows, so keep out of sight if you can.

I once had a Bard who used this tactic, he had way more hp than your character but was still a one-hit character. His schtick was an encyclopædic collection of scrolls and oddball magic items, knowledges, social skills, basically lots of non-combat things, and just enough Inspire Courage to help without being enough of an asset to draw fire. He lived through several sessions until I made the mistake of casting a healing spell in battle. He died the next round.

So no combat healing, either. It makes you look like a target.

[the_david]

May I ask, why are you multiclassing? Because that, along with the low constitution and the flaw makes me wonder about your level of system mastery. Do you have any other goal for your character besides Dies Horribly?

[Taveena]

Faerie Mysteries Initiate will let you use Intelligence instead of Constitution for hit points. I can only hope you didn't dump that as hard.

EDIT: Whoops, sorry, gunslinger, this is PF. Use DSP's Altered Life + Unnatural Resilience.

[SinsI]

Can't you convert yourself into undead, i.e. necropolitan? This way you get d12 and no CON penalties.

[Banjoman42]

I have a player with a similar problem. Converting to undead is probably your best option. At early levels, chug potions of bear's endurance and try to get as many defensive based items as possible. Sell every item you own that isn't a defensive item and buy an amulet of health and a manual of bodily health. Don't bother with anything else, because survival is your main priority until you can permanently boost you constitution.

Also, bug the heck out of your spellcasters to research spells that can boost you CON more than bear's endurance.

[ericgrau]

For temp hp IIRC MiC has the heartening enchant for a shield. You activate it as an immediate action. So as long as you can survive to your first turn, or if somehow you're not flat-footed before your first turn, you can pop your temp hp boost. MiC also has varying levels of ironward diamonds. You stick one in your armor and get DR. The DR applies to a limited number of blows but it's way more than enough blows to kill you so that doesn't matter. These were both a great help on a character I had with a lot of LA. Also should work with undead-ness unlike con items, so if you can't become undead right away you can use these in the meantime and when you do change you won't lose anything.

[Pinkie Pyro]

Just as a final update: the campaign is over, it was a rather short one, but we were doing it almost every other day, and it was still sizable.

through superior tactics and an incredible amount of dumb luck, Flinte "Paper Cuts" Locke was in fact the only character to not die, though he still took a few hits.
he ended the campaign with a grand total of 12 maximum hit points. he wasn't too terribly effectual, but he was able to assist others, and that was good.


Faerie Mysteries Initiate will let you use Intelligence instead of Constitution for hit points. I can only hope you didn't dump that as hard.


... yeah, this would have helped a lot. guess i'll remember it for next time, thanks.

[Lathund]

Huzzah! You live!