Healing Outside of Combat

bfreakb999 · Mar 15, 2009

Ok, so i just picked up my PHB2 from Books-a-million. (i decided to get it now instead of waiting.. couldnt fight the urge) and i came across a feat that has me wondering about how i've been playing the game since it's release..

Restful healing

Benefit: After you take a short rest or an extended rest, any healing power you use before the start of your next encounter restores the maximum number of hit points possible.
For example, if a 6th-level cleric with Wisdom 18 and this feat uses healing word after a rest, that power allows the target to regain hit points equal to his or her healing sure value plus 16 (the maximum result of 2d6 + 4)

Ok.. maybe i'm completely confused here and never actually asked or got this question clarified but..

Have we always been able to use healing word outside of combat? I've usually tried to keep it so that only at-will abilities were able to be used outside of combat, and in the event someone wanted to use a daily or encounter outside of combat they would lose it for the next encounter. (or for the rest of the day if it had been a daily)

I have to admit.. if this is the case i'm going to feel awfully dumb, and not just for myself, but for every single person i play with. We all think we do a pretty good job of maintaining the structure of the game, but i swear we all agreed at some point that using a healing spell outside of combat didnt really make sense to us with the surge mechanic and the fact that anyone had the ability to heal themselves to full. any clarification would be awesome.

Mistwell · Mar 15, 2009

PHB263
You can take as many short rests per day as you want....After a short rest, you renew your encounter powers....If you use an encounter power (such as a healing power) during a short rest, you need to take another short rest to renew it so you can use it again.

bfreakb999 · Mar 15, 2009

oh wow.. how in the world did i miss that.

Nibelung · Mar 15, 2009

Usually, i allow only to use non-wasted healing powers. So, if the cleric didnt used his healing strike, one member of the group can spend a HS and add cleric's wis mod on this one. Something like "use what you saved before rest and recover it".

Alex319 · Mar 15, 2009

The thing is that since there's no rule against taking multiple short rests in a row (except for possible time constraints) a cleric can use his healing word as often as he wants to optimize his party's use of healing surges by increasing the amount that they heal. This feat makes this process even more efficient.

For example, consider an 11th level party.

Base Healing Surge Value (assume fighter with 14 con): HP is 16+14+(6*10)=90, HSV is 22 (numbers might not be exact; I don't have my books with me)

Amount Healed with Healing Word (assume 20 wis): HSV+(3d6)+5 = HSV+15.5 = 37.5

Amount Healed with Healing Word + RH: HSV+18+5 = HSV+23 = 45

garyh · Mar 18, 2009

bfreakb999 said:
oh wow.. how in the world did i miss that.

Don't feel too bad. This same question comes up every two weeks or so.

MarkB · Mar 18, 2009

Alex319 said:
The thing is that since there's no rule against taking multiple short rests in a row (except for possible time constraints) a cleric can use his healing word as often as he wants to optimize his party's use of healing surges by increasing the amount that they heal. This feat makes this process even more efficient.

That's not a bug, it's a feature.

I like the feat, not because it makes out-of-combat healing more powerful, but because it makes it quicker. No dice-rolling involved - the cleric's player just says to the others "okay, you get an extra 16 points on top of each of your surges", and then everyone can get on with adding up their own healing without waiting on one player to roll the dice.

I did try and institute something similar in my own games, saying that outside combat the cleric could just assume an average roll on the dice to keep things moving - but half the time they roll anyway, convinced they can beat the averages.

KidSnide · Mar 19, 2009

MarkB said:
I like the feat, not because it makes out-of-combat healing more powerful, but because it makes it quicker. No dice-rolling involved - the cleric's player just says to the others "okay, you get an extra 16 points on top of each of your surges", and then everyone can get on with adding up their own healing without waiting on one player to roll the dice.

I did try and institute something similar in my own games, saying that outside combat the cleric could just assume an average roll on the dice to keep things moving - but half the time they roll anyway, convinced they can beat the averages.

At the games I play, we have a rule where the cleric rolls healing dice in combat, but everyone rolls their own healing dice when there is time for an arbitrary number of short rests. All the same bookkeeping happens, but you don't need to have a boring conversation about it.

-KS

Starfox · Mar 22, 2009

For the record, I feel this is a bad feat - there is no need to encourage players to take multiple short rests. Destroys the pacing in my opinion. It also lessens the comparative advantage of the bards short rest healing buff.