Initial CON determines end game HP

[bunnies]

I read this rumour sometime back:

A hero who has 3 initial CON will have, on average, less hp at clvl 50 than one who starts with 18/50 CON.

True or false?

[edit] Assuming that both have 18/** CON at clvl 50

[Derakon]

False.

Your hitpoints are given by two things. First, you get a roll of your hit die once for each level you gain. So for example, a character with a d12 hit die will start with 12HP, get anywhere from 1-12HP when they hit level 2, etc. On average they get 6.5HP from hit dice each level, so on average at level 50 they'll have (12 + 49 * 6.5) = 330HP from their hit dice.

Second, you get a bonus or penalty to your HP based on your CON score (you have to have really terrible CON to get a penalty though). This bonus applies once for each level you have, and is recalculated every time your CON changes. So for example, if your current CON gives you 2 bonus HP per level, and you're level 35, then you'd get 70 extra HP. If you then gain enough CON to get to 3 bonus HP per level, then your max HP would jump to 105.

Back in the days of Moria, your HP were not re-updated like this. So if you increased your CON after gaining a bunch of levels, then you'd have fewer HP than you were "supposed" to have, because the CON bonus only applied to levels gained after your CON increased. This lead to silly things like people standing next to weak experience-draining monsters, getting drained to level 1, and then restoring their lost levels to force HP recalculation. Modern Angband doesn't require that though. You'll always have all the HP you deserve.

[Estie]

What does a potion of new life in ToME 2 do, reroll all your dice ? And what exactly is the life rating that I remember from some versions/variants ?

[Derakon]

Yes, it rerolls your dice. All of your dice are rolled when you make your character (or when you drink that potion), and your life rating is basically a percentage measure of how you compare to the average. A life rating of 100/100 is average, 120/100 would be 20% better than average, etc.

[PowerWyrm]

I read this rumour sometime back:

A hero who has 3 initial CON will have, on average, less hp at clvl 50 than one who starts with 18/50 CON.

True or false?

[edit] Assuming that both have 18/** CON at clvl 50

Not only you get the same hps at level 50 whatever your starting CON is, but hp increases each level are determined at birth-time. So whatever you do in the game regarding CON/level increases, you end up with exactly the same hps.

[Estie]

Yes, it rerolls your dice. All of your dice are rolled when you make your character (or when you drink that potion), and your life rating is basically a percentage measure of how you compare to the average. A life rating of 100/100 is average, 120/100 would be 20% better than average, etc.

Ah thanks; what I was missing was the part that all dice are rolled at character creation. With that, it makes sense now.