In modern games, we’ve become accustomed to large pools of Hit Points and healing resources. Hit Dice give a sense of size and average HP, and can be used for monster healing.ĭ4: Small, Halfling, Youngster, Gnome, Kobold or Goblin.ĭ8: Medium: Warrior, Giant Insect, Bear, Giant Bat or Roper.ĭ10: Large: Bugbear, Umber Hulk, Demons and Devils, Armored Knightĭ20: Gargantuan: Dragon, Sea Monster, Titans and things of nightmare. If successful, expend 1 Hit Die, roll and recover that many HP. Grit Your Teeth: In combat or danger, make a Constitution roll against DC 10. Medical Aid: When non-magical medicine, bandages, or tinctures are used, roll 1 Hit Die, without needing to ‘expend’ it. Rest: In short rests, expend Hit Dice as normal, rolling each to determine HP regained in rest and safety. When recovering, HARDCORE MODE offers three ways to use Hit Dice: It is possible to have 5 HP at 5th level. No Constitution modifier applies, no re-rolls, no max outcomes. Hit Points Using Your HDĪt each Level, roll your class Hit Die and add that to your MAX HP. These are the scores you keep until that character is killed in play.Īt first, this may seem brutal or ‘too weak,’ but in time you’ll see that this age-old method gives rise to more interesting, emergent stories and play. Proceed thus, in sequence, rolling six times. You’re locked in.įor each attribute, roll 3d6 ONCE.
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When creating a PC in HARDCORE MODE, it is imperative to employ ‘the honor system.’ No fudging, no going back, no crumpling up the sheet and calling it a mining accident.
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Character FlawsĮveryone knows what to do with a 16 Strength or 18 Dexterity, but how to deal with a 6 Intelligence or 7 Constitution? Be ye doomed? You are a hero of substance! Stand fast! Here are a few ideas to explain your worst stats. This summary can also be handy to brief players on what your game will include beyond standard 5e.Įverything in HARDCORE MODE supposes the use of the core books. Here’s your one-page cheat sheet of elements in HARDCORE MODE. Challenge becomes a word often heard at the table, and the GM feels a pressure that isn’t easy to satisfy. After a few life cycles, players are looking closer, thinking deeper, and asking for more substance. In a game’s maturity, the chase of character evolution has limits. Some blaze forward into innovation, others recapture classic elements, and they’re all right. As this process unfolds, groups and tables diversify. Once an edition of a popular RPG reaches a certain age, the rules hackers and home-brewers (like you) begin creeping out from their subterranean hidey holes.
Leave minutia to scholars and historians. Focus on the sharp, the sinister, the immediate.Go fast, go big, and let little details remain unspoken.
Be ready for death to be part of play, not an ending. Killing characters is not your specialty, but when death does come, be decisive, have follow up plans and prep. Get the dice out in the open, and be a guardian of their absolute authority, even when they are cruel. The numbers will be harsh, the rolls volatile. In HARDCORE MODE, you will be building and running encounters for a far narrower, more committed player set.Īs a HARDCORE GM, you will live by a code: Fifth edition is, by design, built for a wide audience.