D&D 5E CoS: Blood Spear OP?

[jayoungr]

I was looking at the stats for the Blood Spear in Curse of Strahd. It says, "When you "hit with a melee attack using this magic spear and reduce the target to 0 hit points, you gain 2d6 temporary hit points."

There's no cap on the maximum number of hit points and no requirement for the target to be any certain level. So in the hands of a munchkin player, I could see this leading to "Before our next battle, I get up early and go out in the woods and kill squirrels until I have triple HP." It would be cheesy as all get-out, but there's nothing to actually prevent that, right?

ETA since this thread has been bumped: It's been explained to me that temporary hitpoints don't work that way.

 

[Stoutstien]

THP never stack as a rule so the max you could have from the spear is 12.

 

[jayoungr]

THP never stack as a rule so the max you could have from the spear is 12.

Where does it say that the max is 12? Or do you mean you can only use it once (for 12, if you're lucky) and then not get any more benefit until you take damage?

 

[Fenris-77]

THP never stack as a rule so the max you could have from the spear is 12.

Correct, they don't stack.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Temp HP don't add; they basically just "overwrite" each other:

Healing can't restore temporary hit points, and they can't be added together. If you have temporary hit points and receive more of them, you decide whether to keep the ones you have or to gain the new ones. For example, if a spell grants you 12 temporary hit points when you already have 10, you can have 12 or 10, not 22.

Combat

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So every time you make a kill with the spear, roll the temp hp gained, and take that number if it's greater than your current temp hp.

 

[jayoungr]

Okay, that's a relief. Thanks!

So, next question:

Character uses the spear once and gets 8 THP. The next damage roll against the char does 6 damage, leaving the character with 2 THP. Character reduces the new attacker to 0 HP on the next attack and rolls 9 for THP gained. Is the character capped at 8 THP until all of them are gone?

 

[Charlaquin]

Where does it say that the max is 12? Or do you mean you can only use it once (for 12, if you're lucky) and then not get any more benefit until you take damage?

That’s just how temporary hit points work. They don’t stack, so if you have 7 temporary hit points and you gain 9 temporary hit points, you end up with 9 temporary hit points.

 

[billd91]

Nothing to prevent it but a DM's self-respect. Any player who tried that should probably told right out that the spear doesn't work quite that way in a narrative sense. Elric of Melniboné doesn't go running off into the woods crying out "Blood and souls of chipmunks for my Lord Arioch!" in order to charge up Stormbringer. The same should apply here.

 

[Stoutstien]

Okay, that's a relief. Thanks!

So, next question:

Character uses the spear once and gets 8 THP. The next damage roll against the char does 6 damage, leaving the character with 2 THP. Character reduces the new attacker to 0 HP on the next attack and rolls 9 for THP gained. Is the character capped at 8 THP until all of them are gone?

The player in question can choose to keep the old or take the new THP each time the item activates .

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Okay, that's a relief. Thanks!

So, next question:

Character uses the spear once and gets 8 THP. The next damage roll against the char does 6 damage, leaving the character with 2 THP. Character reduces the new attacker to 0 HP on the next attack and rolls 9 for THP gained. Is the character capped at 8 THP until all of them are gone?

My read of the rule is that you replace the old 2 thp with the 9 new ones.
The verbiage in the rule refers to the thp you "have", not the ones you initially rolled.