Matt Hamsmith

1,377 reputation

416

bio	website
	location	Downers Grove, IL
	age	36
visits	member for	1 year, 5 months
	seen	15 hours ago
stats	profile views	9

Software engineer and architect, working primarily with Microsoft technologies for the desktop and the web.

	1,377 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	1 year, 5 months
416 badges		location	Downers Grove, IL		seen	15 hours ago

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May 9	answered	Good techniques for getting player-character backgrounds integrated into the game?
May 9	awarded	Popular Question
Apr 21	awarded	Critic
Apr 11	revised	How do new characters get equipment? Factual correction
Apr 10	answered	How do new characters get equipment?
Apr 7	accepted	How does acquiring a template that changes hit dice affect pre-existing hit points?
Mar 29	comment	How does acquiring a template that changes hit dice affect pre-existing hit points? I understand that the hit die size is changed. That doesn't necessarily mean that hit points are changed at all. You could have 18 hit points from 3d12 or 18 hit points from 3d8. @FallenAngel did find rule text that mentions recalculating hit points, but silence (so far) on exactly how to do that. I'm more curious if there is an official word on how to recalculate hit points, but your two suggested methods are appreciated and well noted.
Mar 29	comment	How does acquiring a template that changes hit dice affect pre-existing hit points? Does "recalculate" necessarily mean reroll? @KRyan pointed out an alternative method. Of the answers so far, this one presents the closest thing to a rule that says what to do with hit points, but it doesn't seem to go far enough on how to actually perform this "recalculation". I'm beginning to think that the DM's discretion is the official fallback.
Mar 28	asked	How does acquiring a template that changes hit dice affect pre-existing hit points?
Mar 24	awarded	Enthusiast
Mar 15	answered	Resolving confusion & conflict re: group's relationship with system rules
Mar 12	answered	How can I tailor an encounter so that a low level, mostly mundane party can defeat a wasp swarm?
Mar 11	comment	Powergamer to Roleplayer For the layman (like me, who had to look this up), the Stormwind Fallacy, as related to this question, is that optimizing a character is not mutually exclusive of roleplaying a character well. Optimizing is governed by the rules of the game. Roleplaying is not.
Mar 4	comment	How to help players who roll really badly? +1 Completely agree. The risk of failure is an important part of every game, otherwise there is little to no sense of fear or urgency in the players. And who wants to play a game that always tilts in their favor? I also think the idea of making failures into story hooks is a great, great idea. Kudos.
Feb 28	revised	Does the Necromancer minion get feats? Content changed based on skeleton template
Feb 28	answered	Does the Necromancer minion get feats?
Feb 28	comment	What's a good mechanic for rewarding players for keeping their characters happy? +1 Plot hooks are the best reward I can think of. I've never met a player who didn't like more attention from the GM.
Feb 28	comment	Mind Control: What's a Dominate Person between allies? @SevenSidedDie Amen to the "alignment is messy". My point #2 is decidedly the weakest point given the (more than I anticipated) breadth of alignment interpretation.
Feb 28	answered	How can the players reduce the workload of a game master?
Feb 28	comment	Mind Control: What's a Dominate Person between allies? +1 I like the very first question, and as my (highly debatable) answer shows, I side with "no". You bring up several good in-game issues with the Dominate spell as used on an ally.