Basic Fantasy RPG Forums

First level players get max hit points at the start of the game. Of course, the world is brutal and some don't make it to 2nd level even then.

You could even borrow the idea of "temporary hit points" from 5e, for low level characters. Like a little fate-bubble that surrounds them but when it's gone, it's gone for good. There's a lot of different varieties and methods you could use.

You could also go full Dave Arneson and roll a d6 to see how many d6s they roll for HP at level 1. That was some really experimental, super early stuff, though, and maybe better suited to a one shot or west marches game than a conventional campaign.

I had once worked on a series of necromantic spells for more neutral or even good aligned necromancers. At first level, I allowed a necromancer to do two things:

1) bind wounds, which would heal 1d6 hit points worth of damage by forcing the body to heal faster. The target has to make a saving throw vs spell or permanently lose one hp (my reasoning being that the fast growing flesh and bone was actually weak by not growing back properly or by using divine healing).

2) Consumption, which would allow the the person to convert one point of constitution into 1d10 temporary hit points, hit points lasted for like a couple of rounds I think per level. The idea here was based off adrenaline rushes. Basically you pump out a lot of adrenaline and do crazy stuff that destroys your body, but the necromancer can make that happen magically. Now, you do gain the point back, at x2 rate. So if you rolled 5 hit points, it would take ten days of rest to get the point of constitution back. And this represents the sheer strain you have put on your body.

I should really write these up for our various spell lists but most people HATE magic users having the ability to heal.

I've toyed with the metaphysical implications of clerical magic as opposed to spell book magic in my game worlds before. Like why Magic-Users can't turn sticks to snakes and why Clerics can't cast magic missile, etc. Asking yourself the reason why as a GM might flesh out your world more even if players never discover that lore through play. Of course the gameplay reason is balance and party roles, etc. More than anything else.

Actually that's what spurred it! I had been working on a campaign setting where people believed in Gods - but they didn't actually exist. As a result, clerical magic didn't exist either - and so healing became available through necromancy. Church Mages were typically the masters of the skill and often credited the various divine beings with granting them the power, but anyone with magical talent could technically master the spells.

Tazer_The_Yoot wrote: ↑Sat Feb 06, 2021 12:13 pm I've toyed with the metaphysical implications of clerical magic as opposed to spell book magic in my game worlds before. Like why Magic-Users can't turn sticks to snakes and why Clerics can't cast magic missile, etc. Asking yourself the reason why as a GM might flesh out your world more even if players never discover that lore through play. Of course the gameplay reason is balance and party roles, etc. More than anything else.

I put my supplement up! Beneficial Necromancy in the workshop!

Well, if we're going to be pushing our own stuff, too ...

I am working on a supplement to cover the whole idea of a setting with no gods. (People may or may not actually believe in gods, but regardless they don't exist.) It talks through implications of that and how to make things work with only fluff changes and no mechanical changes to BFRPG. The current draft is here:
No Gods thread

For divine magic, it is powered by an individual's pure beliefs. So, despite not coming from gods, it is still possible to "fall" and lose access to magic by either violating or losing those beliefs. No special magic and no additional rules and no changes to existing rules.