One of the greatest problems in D&D® is the unfair balance created bythe present Hit Point system. Agreed, the present random system does keep things interesting when it comes to fighting monsters, etc. But, the current system lacks consistency for both player character and NPC alike. The design of the "Lacy-Morgan" system started when a case occurred in a game such that a Mage with a 7 Constitution had more Hit Points than a 13 Constitution Fighter.The old system (Greyhawk) works in the long run of averages, but, for the first levels, the wait for the long run can be fatal! Note that this system is also compatible with the new Advanced Dungeons and Dragons® as the extension to d10 is easy.

To determine the Hit Points of the player in question, take the Constitution of player character and roll a d6 - dividing the outcome among the possible spread of numbers. Thus, a player character with Constitution of 7 as a Fighter at 1st level would roll a d6 with a 1, 2, or 3 = 3 Hit Points and a 4, 5, or 6 = 4 Hit Points. This d6 is rolled once at each level and is cumulative. Say the above Fighter got 4 points at 1st level, upon reaching 2nd level, the player character would roll one d6 getting say a roll of "6" - thus he would gain four additional points or a total of 8 Hit Points. Note that the maximums are still imposed in Greyhawk, but, the minimums have been raised considerably. The score is always cumulative and therefore you need only roll one die per level –the average is already worked in and you receive a constant raise in Hit Points as long as you maintain the same Constitution.

If a player character loses Constitution Points, as for Raise the Dead, the new Constitution is applied to any further advances in Hit Die. For example, our fighter gets to 3rd level, dies and is brought back. At 3rd level he rolls a d6 getting 3 Hit Points addition for a total of 11 Hit Points at third Level. After he is raised, his Constitution loses one point. At 4th level, he will, roll on the "5 - 6" table, his new Constitution. Say he rolls a "1". His Hit Points is now 11 + 2 (1, 2 = 2/3, 4 = 3/5, 6 = 4) or a total of 13 Hit Points. If he dies again, the Constitution will change according to the rules on Raising, and could go as low as 3. At Constitution 2, all player characters get only 1 Hit Point and will take twice as long as normal to heal. At Constitution 1, all player characters get only 1 Hit Point for every two levels and take four times the normal period to heal. . . .the time being either days for normal healing or turns for Clerical type. Also at Constitution 1 or 2, all player characters must SDR vs. Poison in addition to the normal Magic against all spells of command and have a 50% (1, 2, 3d6) chance of being "Held" for one melee round/level of caster by a Cleric who attempts to Turn or Control Undead - this due to the player characters almost Undead, near-death state. Note that the percent is somewhat higher than some chances for the Clerics vs. Zombie as the player character still has a mind that can be con-trolled. I play that Evil/Chaotic type Clerics have the same table as the Good/Law types to either control (vs. turn) or summon (vs. dispel) Undead.

While on Undead, the Judge might like to try a new system that compliments the new Hit Points System - that of Undead affects. Instead of Undead taking away Experience Points (why does a 10th level lose more points than a 2nd) have the Undead "Touch of Death" take away Constitution Points. This will result in fewer deaths per melee to Undead (because there are usually more Constitution Points/party than experience), but, the individual effect is greater. I once had a 16 Constitution Fighter go to 6 Constitution due to an encounter with a Spectre. If the Judge wants to maintain the Experience Points loss, he may additionally penalize the victim the loss of level for a short time, at say 1 turn/l level lost - at which time the player reverts to his old level for combat/spell purposes. This gives both a short term and long term effect, allowing the victim to gain experience from Undead encounters.

Until now, I haven’t said anything about the Monsters and their Hit Points. I offer two means of determining Hit Dice and Hit Points for them. The rather obvious is to roll Constitution for each Monster’s Hit Die and add any modifiers after the total is gotten. Two examples: a 2 + 2 Hit Die and a 1 - 1 creature. Constitution for the 2 + 2 is 10, given a Fighter type creature (Judge decision) gets two rolls (a 3 and a 5) for 4 + 5 = 9 Hit Points, then modify with a +2 for 11 total. The 1 - 1 gets a Constitution of 14, given a Fighter type, for (roll a 6) 7 Hit Points and modify with a -1 for 6 total. Unfortunately, this can be somewhat time consuming and isn’t really necessary. The alternate is to arbitrarily assign each Hit Die a value of 5, this being close to the average of a d8 (4.5). Then multiply the modifier by the number of Hit Die and add. Our two examples: 2 + 2 Hit Die becomes 5 (2) plus 2(+2) or 10 +4 = 14 Hit Points for the 2 + 2; 1 - 1 Hit Die becomes 5 (1)plus 1 (-l)or5-1 foratotalof4HitPoints. The rationale is simply that the modifiers represent the Constitution modifiers, so that a Troll (6 + 3) is in essence a 6th level Fighter with the Constitution of a human 18 (+3 in Greyhawk). The tables for Constitution can be expanded for Demons and the like as far as d10 and d12 is concerned. This system allows the Judge to quickly figure the Hit Points for any given creature - with the total bearing some rationale to the human Constitution. Please note that I intend the use of NPCs to be done as humans - that is the Judges Guild material now in print is readily adaptable to this system as the Constitution scores for NPC are already there - just roll the Hit Die for the particular table. Also note that the original Greyhawk restrictions apply as far as Hit Points for level maximums goes - after Lord status, you only get that +2/level.

Hopefully this system is smooth enough for easy use and understanding. It will take care of those complaining "Heroes" with 4 Hit Points fighting for their life against that 16 Hit Point Thief type (but, that ‘%$&*! Thief is only a 4th level!). Good Luck!