Post by waysoftheearth on Nov 17, 2010 5:54:56 GMT -6
One paltry hit point can be the difference between life and death for a PC, so most players take their Hit Dice pretty seriously. A good roll can make a PC stout or bold, while a poor roll can make him vulnerable or frail.
But which class has the most Hit Dice? It may not be quite as obvious as it looks...
Consider the OD&D Hit Dice progressions from level 1 to level 9 (as per Men & Magic plus Gary Gygax's original pre-Greyhawk Thief class):
...Hit.Dice.Progression
--------------------------
............Hit.Dice
Level..F-M..Clr..Thf..M-U
==========================
..1....1+1...1....1....1
..2.....2....2...1+1..1+1
..3.....3....3....2....2
..4.....4....4...2+1..2+1
..5....5+1..4+1...3....3
..6.....6....5...3+1..3+1
..7....7+1...6....4....4
..8....8+2...7...4+1...5
..9....9+3..7+1...5...6+1
--------------------------
From this alone it would appear that the Fighting-Man is out in front, albeit with the Cleric on a par between levels 2 and 4. But there after it is the Fighting-Man all the way.
It would also appear that while Theives and Magic-Users are behind Fighting-Men and Clerics, they are on par with one another until level 8 from when the Magic-Users pull ahead.
However, if we also consider when these Hit Dice are attained, the picture is quite different. Let's take a look at how many experience points each class requires:
.....Experience.Level.Progression
---------------------------------------
..........Experience.Points.Required
Level....F-M...Cleric...Thief.....M-U
=======================================
..1.........0.......0.......0........0
..2.....2,000...1,500...1,200....2,500
..3.....4,000...3,000...2,400....5,000
..4.....8,000...6,000...4,800...10,000
..5....16,000..12,000...9,600...20,000
..6....32,000..25,000..20,000...35,000
..7....64,000..50,000..40,000...50,000
..8...120,000.100,000..60,000...75,000
..9...240,000.200,000..85,000..100,000
---------------------------------------
Notice that a Thief require only one third as many experience points as a Fighting-Man to attain 9th level, and a Magic-User requires fewer than half as many experience points as a Fighting-Man to attain 9th level.
The Thief and the Magic-User will, thereby, get their Hit Dice correspondingly sooner than the poor Fighting-Man.
With all that in mind, let's take look at a chart of Hit Dice versus experience points earned for each class:
This graphic appears somewhat "busy" at first, but the idea is to pick a number of experience points on the left, and then compare the four classes on that one row.
For example, when 10,000 XP have been attained, a hardened Fighting-Man has 4d6 hit points, a pious Cleric also has 4d6 hit points, our cunning Thief has 3d6 hit points, and our savvy Magic-User has 2d6+1 hit points.
Looking more closely, it is apparent that in the early game (prior to 16,000 XP being attained) the Cleric is on par with -- and even edging ahead of -- the Fighting-Man in terms of hit points. It is not until the Fighting-Man attains 7th level (requiring 64,000 XP) that he genuninely trumps the Cleric in this regard.
And although it initially appeared otherwise above, a Thief can expect to have more hit points than a Magic-User until the mage reaches 8th level -- by which time 75,000 XP have been earned. In fact, due to his rapid advancement, the Thief can anticipate having almost as many hit points as the Cleric and the Fighting-Man until his fellows reach the 3rd level of experience.
So there you have it.
Draw your own conclusions, or not!
But which class has the most Hit Dice? It may not be quite as obvious as it looks...
Consider the OD&D Hit Dice progressions from level 1 to level 9 (as per Men & Magic plus Gary Gygax's original pre-Greyhawk Thief class):
...Hit.Dice.Progression
--------------------------
............Hit.Dice
Level..F-M..Clr..Thf..M-U
==========================
..1....1+1...1....1....1
..2.....2....2...1+1..1+1
..3.....3....3....2....2
..4.....4....4...2+1..2+1
..5....5+1..4+1...3....3
..6.....6....5...3+1..3+1
..7....7+1...6....4....4
..8....8+2...7...4+1...5
..9....9+3..7+1...5...6+1
--------------------------
From this alone it would appear that the Fighting-Man is out in front, albeit with the Cleric on a par between levels 2 and 4. But there after it is the Fighting-Man all the way.
It would also appear that while Theives and Magic-Users are behind Fighting-Men and Clerics, they are on par with one another until level 8 from when the Magic-Users pull ahead.
However, if we also consider when these Hit Dice are attained, the picture is quite different. Let's take a look at how many experience points each class requires:
.....Experience.Level.Progression
---------------------------------------
..........Experience.Points.Required
Level....F-M...Cleric...Thief.....M-U
=======================================
..1.........0.......0.......0........0
..2.....2,000...1,500...1,200....2,500
..3.....4,000...3,000...2,400....5,000
..4.....8,000...6,000...4,800...10,000
..5....16,000..12,000...9,600...20,000
..6....32,000..25,000..20,000...35,000
..7....64,000..50,000..40,000...50,000
..8...120,000.100,000..60,000...75,000
..9...240,000.200,000..85,000..100,000
---------------------------------------
Notice that a Thief require only one third as many experience points as a Fighting-Man to attain 9th level, and a Magic-User requires fewer than half as many experience points as a Fighting-Man to attain 9th level.
The Thief and the Magic-User will, thereby, get their Hit Dice correspondingly sooner than the poor Fighting-Man.
With all that in mind, let's take look at a chart of Hit Dice versus experience points earned for each class:
This graphic appears somewhat "busy" at first, but the idea is to pick a number of experience points on the left, and then compare the four classes on that one row.
For example, when 10,000 XP have been attained, a hardened Fighting-Man has 4d6 hit points, a pious Cleric also has 4d6 hit points, our cunning Thief has 3d6 hit points, and our savvy Magic-User has 2d6+1 hit points.
Looking more closely, it is apparent that in the early game (prior to 16,000 XP being attained) the Cleric is on par with -- and even edging ahead of -- the Fighting-Man in terms of hit points. It is not until the Fighting-Man attains 7th level (requiring 64,000 XP) that he genuninely trumps the Cleric in this regard.
And although it initially appeared otherwise above, a Thief can expect to have more hit points than a Magic-User until the mage reaches 8th level -- by which time 75,000 XP have been earned. In fact, due to his rapid advancement, the Thief can anticipate having almost as many hit points as the Cleric and the Fighting-Man until his fellows reach the 3rd level of experience.
So there you have it.
Draw your own conclusions, or not!