THP Generation

[Bohrdumb]

I'm putting together a character for a one-shot and I thought generating Temp Hit Points might be a fun slant to take on my character.

Right now I'm looking at Battlemaster Fighter for Rally, and taking the Inspiring Leader feat. I'll likely also MC Bard for some actual healing.

We're playing at level 5 and I'm wondering if there are other options I'm missing?

[Spectre9000]

The problem with focusing on THP is that they don't stack. You'll only ever have THP from one source, and whatever the max for that source is, is the max amount of THP you'll ever have. Trying to use multiple sources to generate THP is a bit redundant, unless you expect to lose them as soon as you gain them.

[Bohrdumb]

The problem with focusing on THP is that they don't stack. You'll only ever have THP from one source, and whatever the max for that source is, is the max amount of THP you'll ever have. Trying to use multiple sources to generate THP is a bit redundant, unless you expect to lose them as soon as you gain them.

Cool. So are there other options of THP generation that I should consider? Or other elements that would fold into my goal?

[RulesJD]

Cool. So are there other options of THP generation that I should consider? Or other elements that would fold into my goal?

Are you trying to generate them for yourself or your allies?

If for yourself, go Warlock. Invocation to cast False Life at will means +8 temp hp at all times. Fiend pact for Temp HP on kill for in-combat healing. Armor of Agathys for THP that's also damaging.

Also, look into Abjuration wizards. Their ward isn't THP so it can stack with THP sources.

[MaxWilson]

Also look into Necromancer's Grim Harvest, which is real healing so stacks.

For example, a Necromancer 2/Fiend Warlock X can cast Vampiric Touch V or Armor of Agathys V and suck down 10 to 15 real HP plus 15 temp HP on every Armor of Agathys kill. Combine with Blade Ward/Stoneskin/barbarian rage for twice the fun.

[Theodoxus]

Also look into Necromancer's Grim Harvest, which is real healing so stacks.

For example, a Necromancer 2/Fiend Warlock X can cast Vampiric Touch V or Armor of Agathys V and suck down 10 to 15 real HP plus 15 temp HP on every Armor of Agathys kill. Combine with Blade Ward/Stoneskin/barbarian rage for twice the fun.

Just remember, the "official" ruling on AoA is that temp HPs from other sources don't fuel it. So, if you run low on the temp from AoA and boost your THP from Fiend, the AoA drops completely.

Of course, your DM can rule it however they want - but if they're a follower of Crawford, they'll probably go with his ruling.

[coredump]

Just remember, the "official" ruling on AoA is that temp HPs from other sources don't fuel it. So, if you run low on the temp from AoA and boost your THP from Fiend, the AoA drops completely.

Of course, your DM can rule it however they want - but if they're a follower of Crawford, they'll probably go with his ruling.

It's not just Crawford. The rules are already pretty explicit about how THP work. The DM can change those rules, but it is clearly a change.

[Spectre9000]

Just remember, the "official" ruling on AoA is that temp HPs from other sources don't fuel it. So, if you run low on the temp from AoA and boost your THP from Fiend, the AoA drops completely.

Of course, your DM can rule it however they want - but if they're a follower of Crawford, they'll probably go with his ruling.

The idea would be to get Abjuration Ward, fill it with Armor of Agathys/Blade Ward/infinite Armor of Shadows/Shield as last resort and utilize its HP (note: not THP) as your primary source of damage absorbtion relying on the THP only as a last resort. The problem is you have to commit to Wizard, and I'm not sure that's what you want, as you seem to want to be in melee (spells cast in melee get disadvantage which is in contrats to Armor of Agathys).

This could work with a Cleric(Tempest/War) 1, Warlock 2, and Wizard (Abjuration) 17 build. You'd have a Shield, Heavy Armor (Plate), and Shield of Faith for a total AC of 22 (27 with Shield). You'd have 39 (Wizard Level x2 + Int Mod) HP on your shield at level 20, which combined with Blade Ward against non-magical damage would effectively be 78 HP. You can further mitigate damage by using sanctuary to require a Wis Save to attack you. You could simply be a damage soak dealing damage every time something actually manages to hit you. You'd be a bit MAD, needing Wis 13, Int 20, Con 14, Cha 13, but wouldn't be too bad going Human for final stats of 15/9/14/15/13/13. The you can flavor your character at Wizard level 4 with Keen Mind, Linguist, Observant, or Resilient (Int), then at 8 and 12, select ASI (Int) to reach 20 Int for +5 to your shield, and you can use your final ASI for any one of War Caster (for advantage on Concentration checks), Crossbow Expert (to negate disadvantage on spell attacks cast in melee), Elemental Adept (To ignore cold resistance for Armor of Agathys), or Toughness (for increased real HP). Incidentally, Armor of Agathys, cast as say 8th level, would give 40 THP, which would give you 158 damage (79 magical damage) to absorb before anything even touches your HP, which, at level 20, would be 10 +(2D8+2)*2 + (1D6+2)*17 or roughly 123 HP, for an overall total of 404 HP against nonmagical with Blade Ward, or 202 HP without or against magical.


(404 HP not found >.>)

[MaxWilson]

Just remember, the "official" ruling on AoA is that temp HPs from other sources don't fuel it. So, if you run low on the temp from AoA and boost your THP from Fiend, the AoA drops completely.

Of course, your DM can rule it however they want - but if they're a follower of Crawford, they'll probably go with his ruling.

Yes, of course. I never meant to suggest otherwise, but I see my writing was unclear so let me clarify:

Say I am a Necromancer 2/Warlock 9 with 78 HP and Cha 20. I cast Vampiric Touch and wade into melee with a bunch of orcs, cackling madly and doing 5d6 per hit, regaining half that much in HP. I may take some damage, but every time I get a kill I'll get 14 temp HP from Dark One's Blessing and an additional 15 HP in healing. I should get a total of about 29 HP in healing on most rounds, but let's say there's an awful lot of orcs and I'm taking 50 HP of damage per round. After three rounds I'm down to 18 HP and I hit my panic button: cast Armor of Agathys V. That gives me 25 temp HP (overriding the 14 temp HP I had before). The next three hits from a orc will go like this:

Hit #1: orc hits for 9 HP of damage. He takes 25 HP of damage and dies. I regain 10 HP (new total: 28 HP) and have 16 temp HP left.
Hit #2: orc hits for 9 HP of damage. He takes 25 HP of damage and dies. I regain 10 HP (new total: 38 HP) and have 7 temp HP left.
Hit #3: orc hits for 9 HP of damage. He takes 25 HP of damage and dies. I regain 10 HP (new total: 46 HP) and have 14 temp HP left (Dark One's Blessing replaced my now-defunct Armor of Agathys).

If I had resistance somehow from Blade Ward/Stoneskin/whatever I would have killed 6 orcs instead of 3 and would therefore have healed 60 HP instead of 30, and would probably be at or near full health at the end of the fight.

[Spectre9000]

Yes, of course. I never meant to suggest otherwise, but I see my writing was unclear so let me clarify:

Say I am a Necromancer 2/Warlock 9 with 78 HP and Cha 20. I cast Vampiric Touch and wade into melee with a bunch of orcs, cackling madly and doing 5d6 per hit, regaining half that much in HP. I may take some damage, but every time I get a kill I'll get 14 temp HP from Dark One's Blessing and an additional 15 HP in healing. I should get a total of about 29 HP in healing on most rounds, but let's say there's an awful lot of orcs and I'm taking 50 HP of damage per round. After three rounds I'm down to 18 HP and I hit my panic button: cast Armor of Agathys V. That gives me 25 temp HP (overriding the 14 temp HP I had before). The next three hits from a orc will go like this:

Hit #1: orc hits for 9 HP of damage. He takes 25 HP of damage and dies. I regain 10 HP (new total: 28 HP) and have 16 temp HP left.
Hit #2: orc hits for 9 HP of damage. He takes 25 HP of damage and dies. I regain 10 HP (new total: 38 HP) and have 7 temp HP left.
Hit #3: orc hits for 9 HP of damage. He takes 25 HP of damage and dies. I regain 10 HP (new total: 46 HP) and have 14 temp HP left (Dark One's Blessing replaced my now-defunct Armor of Agathys).

If I had resistance somehow from Blade Ward/Stoneskin/whatever I would have killed 6 orcs instead of 3 and would therefore have healed 60 HP instead of 30, and would probably be at or near full health at the end of the fight.

Add sorc to your classes and Twin and Empower that Vamp Touch, and use Quickened Spell for another Vamp Touch. Heals for days.

[bid]

Add sorc to your classes and Twin and Empower that Vamp Touch
Range: self.

[Spectre9000]

Range: self.

Ok, so forgot about the range requirement on twinned... God that really is such a finicky metamagic....

[RulesJD]

Add sorc to your classes and Twin and Empower that Vamp Touch, and use Quickened Spell for another Vamp Touch. Heals for days.

If I understand what you're suggesting, that's not how Quicken works either.

[MaxWilson]

If I understand what you're suggesting, that's not how Quicken works either.

However, you could Quicken Blade Ward on the same round you cast Armor of Agathys V, which would give you 60 HP of healing instead of 30 on that round.

[Spectre9000]

If I understand what you're suggesting, that's not how Quicken works either.

Man, 0 for 2... forgot about not being able to cast two non-cantrip spells in the same round... -_- Ugh, rough day. That post was mostly as a quick jest though, considering how quickly you'd run out of spell points and slots.

[Flashy]

You could still extend or empower it though!

[Foxhound438]

Also look into Necromancer's Grim Harvest, which is real healing so stacks.

For example, a Necromancer 2/Fiend Warlock X can cast Vampiric Touch V or Armor of Agathys V and suck down 10 to 15 real HP plus 15 temp HP on every Armor of Agathys kill. Combine with Blade Ward/Stoneskin/barbarian rage for twice the fun.


The idea would be to get Abjuration Ward, fill it with Armor of Agathys/Blade Ward/infinite Armor of Shadows/Shield as last resort and utilize its HP (note: not THP) as your primary source of damage absorbtion relying on the THP only as a last resort. The problem is you have to commit to Wizard, and I'm not sure that's what you want, as you seem to want to be in melee (spells cast in melee get disadvantage which is in contrats to Armor of Agathys).

This could work with a Cleric(Tempest/War) 1, Warlock 2, and Wizard (Abjuration) 17 build. You'd have a Shield, Heavy Armor (Plate), and Shield of Faith for a total AC of 22 (27 with Shield). You'd have 39 (Wizard Level x2 + Int Mod) HP on your shield at level 20, which combined with Blade Ward against non-magical damage would effectively be 78 HP. You can further mitigate damage by using sanctuary to require a Wis Save to attack you. You could simply be a damage soak dealing damage every time something actually manages to hit you. You'd be a bit MAD, needing Wis 13, Int 20, Con 14, Cha 13, but wouldn't be too bad going Human for final stats of 15/9/14/15/13/13. The you can flavor your character at Wizard level 4 with Keen Mind, Linguist, Observant, or Resilient (Int), then at 8 and 12, select ASI (Int) to reach 20 Int for +5 to your shield, and you can use your final ASI for any one of War Caster (for advantage on Concentration checks), Crossbow Expert (to negate disadvantage on spell attacks cast in melee), Elemental Adept (To ignore cold resistance for Armor of Agathys), or Toughness (for increased real HP). Incidentally, Armor of Agathys, cast as say 8th level, would give 40 THP, which would give you 158 damage (79 magical damage) to absorb before anything even touches your HP, which, at level 20, would be 10 +(2D8+2)*2 + (1D6+2)*17 or roughly 123 HP, for an overall total of 404 HP against nonmagical with Blade Ward, or 202 HP without or against magical.


(404 HP not found >.>)

seems you guys have lost the context, OP asked about a 5th level one-shot.

To actually answer the question, i think that bladelock is pretty good even at that level, as is long death monk for similar reasons. Not sure taking a feat for it is great, especially if you're point-buying, +4 power stat is pretty important.

Vuman can pull it off, but you're giving up sharpshooter/great weap master/etc for it.

[MeeposFire]

Man, 0 for 2... forgot about not being able to cast two non-cantrip spells in the same round... -_- Ugh, rough day. That post was mostly as a quick jest though, considering how quickly you'd run out of spell points and slots.

Well you could take fighter levels and action surge.

[Arkhios]

Heroism is quite solid spell as a resource for THP, as it refreshes each turn. However, the amount of THP is equal to your casting modifier, which can't go higher than 5 unless you get a powerful magical boost (not likely to happen until at level 20 or so).
You do get immunity to fear as a bonus, though, and with higher than 1st level slot you can target more than one with it.

Also, Aid is a nice boost to HP. It increases up to 3 targets' current and maximum HP by 5 for 8 hours (conc free!), incresing by 5 HP per each slot level above second.
It's almost like THP, but not really.

Both are Paladin spells, Heroism at first level and Aid at second, so they're well within 5th level character's reach, even as pure paladin.