Hit Dice

Hit Dice (HD) serve two main purposes: determining a character's hit points (HP) and serving as a resource for healing during short rests.

Determining Hit Points

• When you create a new character, you use the highest possible roll of your class's Hit Die to determine your maximum hit points. You also add your Constitution modifier to this number.
  • For example, if you're a level 1 Fighter with a Constitution modifier of +2, you start with 10 (the maximum roll of a d10, a Fighter's Hit Die) + 2 = 12 HP.
• As you level up, you'll roll (or take the average result of) an additional Hit Die for your class, and add your Constitution modifier to increase your maximum hit points.

Healing During Short Rests

• During a short rest, characters can roll one or more of their accumulated Hit Dice to regain lost hit points. After the roll, you add your Constitution modifier to the number rolled, and that's how many hit points you regain.
  • For example, if you're a Fighter taking a short rest and you decide to roll one of your d10 Hit Dice, rolling a 7, you would add your Constitution modifier to that roll to determine how many hit points you regain.
• Once you roll a Hit Die, it's spent until you take a long rest, during which you regain up to half of your total number of Hit Dice. So if you're a 4th-level Fighter, you'd regain up to 2 Hit Dice during a long rest.