Spending hit dice - Rules & Game Mechanics - Dungeons & Dragons Discussion - D&D Beyond Forums (2024)

I really don't understand this spending of hit dice to restore some hit points. Have I lost the hit die? How does this affect my character?

Nick

Hello,

You can only use hit dice to restore HP on specific occasions. Generally during short rest.

A character can spend one or more Hit Dice at the end of a short rest, up to the character's maximum number of Hit Dice, which is equal to the character's level. For each Hit Die spent in this way, the player rolls the die and adds the character's Constitution modifier to it. The character regains hit points equal to the total (minimum of 0). The player can decide to spend an additional Hit Die after each roll. A character regains some spent Hit Dice upon finishing a long rest, as explained below.

And you get back those dice during long rests:

At the end of a long rest, a character regains all lost hit points. The character also regains spent Hit Dice, up to a number of dice equal to half of the character's total number of them (minimum of one die). For example, if a character has eight Hit Dice, he or she can regain four spent Hit Dice upon finishing a long rest.

Other than these you have specific class features that let you heal, and those should tell you if the hit die is expended or not. If it is you cannot use that die during the short rest (or use the ability if you have no more die left).

Hit dice are a resource that replenishes. The amount of hit dice you have left or in total normally has no direct effect to gameplay. (you are not reducing your HP if that was your question).

I hope this answers your question.

Quote from Lovecraft58 >>

I really don't understand this spending of hit dice to restore some hit points. Have I lost the hit die? How does this affect my character?

Nick

Basically in between every long rest you getyour level in "hit dice" (ie. dice of your class's HP die/dice) that you can spend on recovery.

If you are a level 5 Rogue, for example, you would get a total of 5D8 that you can choose to roll at the end of a Short Rest and apply towards healing yourself.

If you are a level 2 Rogue/3 Wizard you would, instead, get 2D8 and 3D6 that you can spend in the same way.

You can choose to spend them all in one short rest or you can split them up in order to use 2 on your first short rest and then 3 on a later short rest or, if you don't need healing, you can spend none of them. You spend them by literally rolling that die type, the result being the amount of HP you recover from resting.

At the end of a long rest youregain a number of hit dice equal to half of your character level (minimum 1).

You only regain half of your hit dice on the long rest (one on level 1). Other than that you are correct on how you can decide/split how to spend them.

Quote from xinagent >>

You only regain half of your hit dice on the long rest (one on level 1). Other than that you are correct on how you can decide/split how to spend them.

Oops, thanks for the correction!

Quote from Damiendoesit >>

Permission to take this thread slightly off topic?

So canI get an explanationhow this works, especially in relation to the corecut dagger?

I can heal but I expend a hit die to heal magically. Does that mean that die cannot be regained in long rests?
If so, I heal less HP on my long rest every time.
Say I only have 10 hit die, i only heal ten times then I die to the curse?

See Also

Dungeons & Dragons: Long Rest and Short Rest Differences Explained

I have no clue what a "corecut dagger" is, so I can't help you with that.

Think about Hit Dice this way:
You have a pool of dice as specified by your class/level (e.g. a level 6 Rogue has 6d8 hit dice).Spending these Hit Dice does not affect your max HP.
During Short Rests you may choose to roll any number of your Hit Dice, and regain HP equal to the number rolled + your CON modifier for every Hit Die used.
DuringLongRests you regain all your HP and Spell Slots. You also restore half your Hit Dice.

TheCorecut Dagger has a hooked, dark metal blade that is cold to the touch.A faint black energy drifts off the edge of the blade. The dagger has a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls. The user can also spend one of their hit dice to deal an additional 3d6 necrotic damage on a hit.

The dagger is cursed, so that the wielder bound to it wants to remain bound to it and feels a compulsion to keep it with them.When the wielder is magically healed, they must spend a hit die to regain hit points. If the wielder has no hit dice to spend, they immediately die. - From the Fandom.com's wiki.

Corecut Dagger | Critical Role Wiki | Fandom

A corecut dagger is a cursed item created for critical role. The way it works is when you receive magical healing you have to "use" 1 hit dice so it is not available when you take a short rest. When you take a long rest you recoverable of your hit dice as normal.

Say you are a level 4 character,

• You start with 4 hit dice
• Someone casts cure wounds on you due to being attuned to the core cut dagger you have t use a hit dice so only have 3 left
• You take a short rest and use 2 more hit dice so you only have 1 left
• You take a long rest and recover 2 hit dice so now have 3 available

And so on

The curse is actually quite nasty as it greatly limits the amount of healing you can get and if you feel compelled to keep the dagger you are unlikely to mention its drawbacks to the party, it greatly increases you chances of getting killed .

The rules for that dagger seems quite poorly written tbh. But I guess that they followed the likely RAI instead of sticking strictly to the RAW (as any sane DM would).

The dagger is cursed, so that the wielder bound to it wants to remain bound to it and feels a compulsion to keep it with them.When the wielder is magically healed, they must spend a hit die to regain hit points. If the wielder has no hit dice to spend, they immediately die. - From the Fandom.com's wiki.

No wording about needing the healing to avoid death? So full HP but no hit die and any heal is an insta kill? AOE heals quickly become problematic.

Quote from Thezzaruz >>

The rules for that dagger seems quite poorly written tbh. But I guess that they followed the likely RAI instead of sticking strictly to the RAW (as any sane DM would).

The dagger is cursed, so that the wielder bound to it wants to remain bound to it and feels a compulsion to keep it with them.When the wielder is magically healed, they must spend a hit die to regain hit points. If the wielder has no hit dice to spend, they immediately die. - From the Fandom.com's wiki.

No wording about needing the healing to avoid death? So full HP but no hit die and any heal is an insta kill? AOE heals quickly become problematic.

It's a special cursed item designed for narrative reasons for one very specific campaign. That it happens to be a famous campaign doesn't change the fact that it's absolutely not meant for general use. The people who actually played with it know exactly how it was supposed to work, and its rules weren't written to be used by literally anyone else.

Quote from Thezzaruz >>

The rules for that dagger seems quite poorly written tbh. But I guess that they followed the likely RAI instead of sticking strictly to the RAW (as any sane DM would).

The dagger is cursed, so that the wielder bound to it wants to remain bound to it and feels a compulsion to keep it with them.When the wielder is magically healed, they must spend a hit die to regain hit points. If the wielder has no hit dice to spend, they immediately die. - From the Fandom.com's wiki.

No wording about needing the healing to avoid death? So full HP but no hit die and any heal is an insta kill? AOE heals quickly become problematic.

I fail to see the problem. It's a nasty curse that's supposed to kill the dagger's wielder. Why would it need additional wording?