Amulet of Health and antimagic

[Darkstar952]

Just wondering how other people would rule the interaction between these particularly regarding a creatures hit points. For those AFB the amulet of health increases the creatures CON score to 19. If we assume the character wearing the amulet has a standard CON of 10 then while wearing the amulet they effectively have additional hit points equal to level x 4. But the question came up how to handle their health when they enter and then leave an antimagic area.

My thoughts are that the CON mod is affecting the calculation of the creatures MAX HP, so when they enter the antimagic field their MAX HP will drop to the new lower level, this would also cause their current HP to fall to the new MAX if it was above it. Then when they leave the antimagic field their MAX HP increases again but their current HP stays at the same lower level.

Does this seem reasonable to people, how else might it work?

This has come to focus because the group I DM know they are going to be facing off against a Beholder so will most likely be in and out of antimagical fields multiple times throughout the encounter, and I want to avoid it seeming like I am purposely screwing over this player.

[Justin Sane]

To prevent headaches, my group treats anti-magic fields as "suppress all active spells and non-attuned magic items".
Not worth the trouble of going any further, in our experience.

[hymer]

Does this seem reasonable to people, how else might it work?
It seems someone has decided to forego the standard adventurer's tax of 14 con, and now they are paying a bit of a price for it.
I would have the max and current hp all move together both down and up, but someone at 0hp stays at 0 even if the cone is aimed elsehwere after. Mostly because it's easier that way.

If I did not feel the player was being a little min-maxy, I would simplify the whole issue, just to avoid the complication. Max HP goes up and down, but current hp stays the same. Any excess hp is temp hp until the amulet comes back online again.

[Spore]

I would adjust HP and max HP. If the 10th level player has 40/140 HP outside the AMZ and then gets hit by the AMZ, he drops to 0/100 and falls unconscious. He might wake up after the AMZ is gone but he is still prone. If I am not a caster/somewhat adept in melee, I would however purposely stand in the AMZ since it makes you immune to the nasty rays.

[Rukelnikov]

Just wondering how other people would rule the interaction between these particularly regarding a creatures hit points. For those AFB the amulet of health increases the creatures CON score to 19. If we assume the character wearing the amulet has a standard CON of 10 then while wearing the amulet they effectively have additional hit points equal to level x 4. But the question came up how to handle their health when they enter and then leave an antimagic area.

My thoughts are that the CON mod is affecting the calculation of the creatures MAX HP, so when they enter the antimagic field their MAX HP will drop to the new lower level, this would also cause their current HP to fall to the new MAX if it was above it. Then when they leave the antimagic field their MAX HP increases again but their current HP stays at the same lower level.

Does this seem reasonable to people, how else might it work?

This has come to focus because the group I DM know they are going to be facing off against a Beholder so will most likely be in and out of antimagical fields multiple times throughout the encounter, and I want to avoid it seeming like I am purposely screwing over this player.

That's how we do it too.

[Pex]

It seems someone has decided to forego the standard adventurer's tax of 14 con, and now they are paying a bit of a price for it.
I would have the max and current hp all move together both down and up, but someone at 0hp stays at 0 even if the cone is aimed elsehwere after. Mostly because it's easier that way.

If I did not feel the player was being a little min-maxy, I would simplify the whole issue, just to avoid the complication. Max HP goes up and down, but current hp stays the same. Any excess hp is temp hp until the amulet comes back online again.

How could the player be min-maxy, not that that's a terrible horrible thing anyway, when it's your fault as DM the player has the magic item in the first place? The DM is the one who had to make it exist in the campaign.

[hymer]

How could the player be min-maxy, not that that's a terrible horrible thing anyway, when it's your fault as DM the player has the magic item in the first place? The DM is the one who had to make it exist in the campaign.
Off the top of my head, two ways: The DM said that they could pick an item to start with (or some variant on that theme). Or the item could already exist in the campaign, possibly owned by the party, when the new PC was brought in.
I'm not saying that min-maxing is inherently bad. But I am saying that it comes with drawbacks, and that's the tradeoff the player made.

[Lunali]

I think I would give them the reduced con bonus for anything that used it while in the field, but leave HP alone unless they were in the field for a short rest worth of time or longer.

[Arcangel4774]

If it was automated and not messy id say do it by percents. But then youd have to have a calculator or a mathematician at the table in many cases. On the other hand these fancy internet blocks we keep in our pocket tend to have calculators

[qube]

At m table,
- when you level & your max hp go up, your current hp also go up.
- when you attune to your amulet of health, your max hp & current hp go up.

As such, when it puts you in antimagic, the opposite happens. you lose your hp
(conform with how 3/3.5 dealing with CON decreases. (I don't recall 4E having forced ability score decreases) )

[Pex]

Bite the bullet and go with the worst case - the hit points decrease and restore as the antimagic field moves. Do the math and use the eraser. It's for this one battle, accept the inconvenience. You have to be fair about this. Other magic items aren't in use either. No extra damage from magic weapons. No extra AC from Ring of Protection or shield/armor magic bonus. No gauntlets of ogre power.

The amulet is a magic item like any other. You're not picking on the player. If every major combat had an Antimagic field of some kind then you'd be picking on him, but since there aren't you're not. It's a vulnerability, so he needs to be careful. He's not going to like it, but that doesn't mean it won't be fun.

[Demonslayer666]

I don't think the item should stay active in this situation. Their con score should adjust, and lower their HP (and all con related stuff). I would make it a temporary thing though, and not break the attunement.

For this fight, you could simply track the damage taken instead of current hit points, and adjust the max HP as needed.

If damage goes above max HP, you go unconscious and are at 0 HP.

You don't really need to track current HP, and if you need it (Divine Word) you can calculate it.

[Angelalex242]

I feel evil.

If a player has 36 hit points left, and gains 40 from an amulet...

And then enters an antimagic field....

Not only is he unconscious, he's making death saves as his other wounds cause him to bleed out suddenly.

[Darkstar952]

Thank you all for the input, I'll probably go with the idea of recording damage taken, then adjusting max hp depending on if they are in or out of the AMF, and then determining if they are still up.

Just as an additional note, this wasn't a player trying to min/max or anything, they suffered through the first 8 levels with a terrible CON mod before the item turned up in a random treasure roll.

[hymer]

Just as an additional note, this wasn't a player trying to min/max or anything, they suffered through the first 8 levels with a terrible CON mod before the item turned up in a random treasure roll.
As Riker once said, Fate protects fools, little children, and ships called Enterprise. :smallwink:
But seriously, must have felt great for that player when that amulet turned up in a random drop. I kinda know the feeling. :smallbiggrin:

Btw, Riker had some great lines in that episode. That's the one where he shouted "If it should become necessary to fight, could you arrange to find me some rocks to throw at them?" That always cracks me up.