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Monsters have healing surges based on tier. Heroic tier monster have 1 surge, paragon tier monsters have 2 surges and epic tier monsters have 3 surges.
Unless specifically written in the monster's stats a monster has no ability to use it's healing surges and has to rely on someone else enabling it to use one.
Very early in the monster manual I believe it talks about healing surges, but Mirtek and Flipguarder have it right.
I believe, though I haven't checked, that extended rests don't limit their effects to just PCs. If it doesn't say it does... then poof, works on npcs/monsters if you want it to.
Exactly. If an NPC (monster or not) suffers a grievous wound, if the plot says that such a wound can't be healed without something specific happening, it doesn't get healed, extended rest or not.
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Can you heal a monster without healing surges? (most of the monsters don't have any)
So far, when a character healed a monster without a healing surge, I added 1/4 of the monster's HP plus any bonus from the character.
No you can't heal a monster with no surges much you can't heal a PC with no surges.
However, all monsters start out with 1-3 surges as explained by the Monster Manual.
They aren't listed because so very few monster have any way of using them. Being healed by a PC would still work exactly as you've described, though.
The related subject is "what about a monster who is wounded and runs away?"
There aren't any official rule governing this, so by RAW I guess the answer is "A monster can't heal itself unless it has a healer ally. Period."
However, I have seen guidelines in Dungeon adventures that say stuff like "if X runs away and the party takes a short rest, X regains 1/4 hp" and "if the party takes an extended rest, all monsters are fully healed".
I certainly find that kind of advice very sensible (taking rests should cost the PCs), and I'll recommend you adopting them as houserules.
There aren't any official rule governing this, so by RAW I guess the answer is "A monster can't heal itself unless it has a healer ally. Period."
However, I have seen guidelines in Dungeon adventures that say stuff like "if X runs away and the party takes a short rest, X regains 1/4 hp" and "if the party takes an extended rest, all monsters are fully healed".
I certainly find that kind of advice very sensible (taking rests should cost the PCs), and I'll recommend you adopting them as houserules.
While most monsters don't have a way of spending healing surges during an encounter, a short rest allows healing surges to be spent - I had just assumed this applies to monsters as well.
However, as I have interpreted the scenario advice/guideline, whenever your players take a short rest you would add back 1/4 hp to any wounded monster without messing about with any surge admin - that is, without deducting any surge.
This way, they would still have their surge(s) for use in combat (assuming they have a way of using surges, and assuming they haven't already used them up).
As I have interpreted the scenario advice/guideline, whenever your players take a short rest you would add back 1/4 hp to any wounded monster without messing about with any surge admin - that is, without deducting any surge.
This way, they would still have their surge(s) for use in combat (assuming they have a way of using surges, and assuming they haven't already used them up).
But do it however you like!
This is a pretty nice house rule, I think I'll adopt it. Basically, monster surges are per encounter, not per day. Both for enemies and allies - my players got very annoyed when their allies could only use one surge per day.
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Basically, monster surges are per encounter, not per day.
Oh, excellent condensation. Thanks for phrasing it the best way!
(I've run with more healing surges; your rule makes much more sense, and allows me to keep surges just as the RAW gives them)
Quote:
Both for enemies and allies - my players got very annoyed when their allies could only use one surge per day.
Especially Paladin NPCs...
Yes, all non-PCs (that is monsters and NPCs; enemies and allies) should follow the same rules. I do not feel there is value in having a third kind of creature (or a fourth really, counting minions).
Meh. Ally NPCs aren't supposed to be good, they're supposed to be.... well... there.
If one dies cause of lack of healing surges, that just illustrates the deadliness of the adventure.
NPCs created using the full-stat NPC rules tho, have the surges of a PC, not of a monster.
NPCs have one surge per tier.
Only PCs have more (whether they're run by a player or the DM).
Having a Paladin ally not be able to both take a Second Wind and do Lay On Hands when the party Paladin can do that easily more than once a day breaks my verisimilitude big time.
Your opinion obviously varies, but I think it's a stupid game rule because it would have been so easy to allow more surges... this would mean a lot to people like me, without wrecking anything for you (if you would even notice).
Why insist on having heroic NPCs have only a single surge? What value could this possibly add?
It is pretty easy to give creatures more surges. The paladin in question might just not use his own surges for his Lay on Hands, but use the targets, or get X per day with no surge cost to himself at all.
All this might end up being moot discussion. Rules for companions (NPCs that accompany a party) are going to be in DMG2.
The NPC rules in the DMG1 are pretty clearly intended for NPC who'll only be around for a single fight. So it's good for them to expand on how to use allied NPCs in the DMG2. Healing surges and the XP budget would seem to be the two main things that would need changing (as it stands, allied NPCs make fights harder).
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