Just a couple questions here regarding creature hps. The hps of creatures are usually expressed as XdY+Z where Z is the Con modifier. Seems to me that this gives the possibility of a really wide spread of figures. However on playing the game, my impression is the spread of hp ranges tends not to be very large. I wonder if there are any additional factors restricting hp to be within a particular tighter range? I am fairly certain that the average hps are not taken as I've noticed creatures of the same type dying at different hps. If the hps for creatures are indeed "rolled" in some way, when does this occur? When the game goes into combat mode? When the game loads a new map? Of course, my observations may have been way off track and I highly welcome comments and corrections. Anyway by knowing how creature hps work, it would be easier to scale the difficulties for any encounters we mod in the future.
I'm sure you know that NPC's HP are determined by hit dice rolls. (See the column in proto.tab) I think you can check it this way. In the inn, save just before talking/hiring an NPC. Check his HP. Reload. Check his HP again. This you'll know if NPC's HP are determined during the first maploading or not.
