Hit points: Difference between revisions

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(Verify the logic about new temp HP overwriting, or not, based on the *initial* value instead of the *current* value; I used Dark One's Blessing and False Life to confirm. Also add a few more scenarios around hit point maximums.)
(update with current behavior of Temporary HP; Heroism (the example previously used) appears to be an exception)
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'''Temporary Hit Points''' are additional Hit Points that are lost before your base Hit Points.
'''Temporary Hit Points''' are additional Hit Points that are lost before your base Hit Points.


You can only have one set of Temporary Hit Points at a time, and healing can't restore them. A second source of Temporary Hit Points will overwrite the first if the second gives more Temporary Hit Points than the first source's ''initial'' value, regardless of how much of that initial value remains.
Casting [[False Life]] with a level 1 slot gives you 7 Temporary Hit Points. Damage you suffer from any source will come out of this pool first. Once all 7 temporary HP are gone, any remaining damage overflows to your normal Hit Points. For example, if you cast [[False Life]] and then suffer 4 damage, you have 3 temporary HP remaining. If you suffer another 5 damage, you lose the remaining Temporary Hit Points, and the leftover 2 damage goes to your regular Hit Points.


Example: Level 1 [[Heroism]] applies 5 Temporary Hit Points when cast, and again each turn until it expires; and Level 1 [[False Life]] gives a one-time 7 Temporary Hit Points. If you have Heroism on you, and then you use False Life, you will have 7 Temporary Hit Points instead of 5. If you take 4 damage, you will have 4/7 Temporary Hit Points, but Heroism's 5 will still not overwrite that, neither through its per-turn applications, nor if you receive another casting of Heroism. However, if you lose that remaining 4/7 Temporary Hit Points, the next per-turn application of Heroism (if it's still active) will give  you 5/5 Temporary Hit Points.
You can only have one set of Temporary Hit Points at a time, and healing can't restore them.


Taking damage to your Temporary Hit Points will still cause a Concentration check (when Concentrating), even if the damage doesn't overflow into your base Hit Points.
Taking damage to your Temporary Hit Points will still cause a Concentration check (when Concentrating), even if the damage doesn't overflow into your base Hit Points.


Temporary Hit Points do not remove [[Condition#Downed|Downed]] and disappear after a [[Long Rest]].
Temporary Hit Points do not remove [[Condition#Downed|Downed]], and disappear after a [[Long Rest]].


===Stacking Temporary Hit Points===
Temporary Hit Points don't combine like you might expect. Usually, casting a second Temporary Hit Point ability ''overrides'' the existing one. For example, if you cast [[False Life]] with a level 1 slot, you gain 7 Temporary Hit Points. If you step in a trap and lose 5 of them, you still have 2 left. If you cast [[False Life]] again, you don't end up with 2+7=9 Temporary Hit Points, you still just have 7.
This also applies if the second source of Temporary Hit Points is larger than the first. Casting [[Armor of Agathys]] at level 3 grants 15 temporary HP. These will override your existing 7, not add to them.
There is a special case if the second source is smaller than the first. If you've taken 10 damage since casting that level 3 [[Armor of Agathys]], you have 5 Temporary Hit Points left. If you now cast [[False Life]], it does not overwrite your total with 7, it simply adds 7, for a total of 12. This is because it's still under the "cap" of 15 introduced by [[Armor of Agathys]]. A final casting of [[False Life]] brings you back up to 15, and the "extra" 4 temporary HP are lost.<ref group=Note>[[Heroism]] appears to be the only ability that does not follow this pattern. If the current cap is 5 temporary HP or less, it behaves normally, refilling the pool to 5 HP every turn. If the current cap is higher, say 7 HP from [[False Life]], Heroism has no effect at all.</ref>
Effectively, there's a hidden cap, and a current value. An ability that grants N Temporary Hit Points first raises the cap to N, if necessary, and then adds N temporary HP to the current pool.


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