Long Rest - Regain Full Hit Points

YRUSirius · May 24, 2012

I think I'm okay with full hp after resting. Just because you get back ALL hp does not mean your wounds are healed. You might still have that broken leg, but as a tough adventurer you just press on to finish that goblin tribe that caused it.

-YRUSirius

I'm A Banana · May 24, 2012

Really easy to house rule, but I certainly prefer a lower rate for the baseline.

The reasons to keep it "full hp" mostly boil down to simplicity, AFAICT. Which isn't an unpersuasive argument, but longer healing periods are hardly exceptionally complicated.

Incenjucar said:
It should remain the default to prevent a 15 minute work week - people WILL camp for days until they get all their HP over and over otherwise, but a module that introduces slower healing is perfectly reasonable.

Buh? Full HP recovery with a night's rest actually encourages the 15-minute adventuring day. There's very little cost for resting, so there's every incentive to do it when you've blown your spells. Having it take a few days would ameliorate that.

Melkor · May 24, 2012

YRUSirius said:
I think I'm okay with full hp after resting. Just because you get back ALL hp does not mean your wounds are healed. You might still have that broken leg, but as a tough adventurer you just press on to finish that goblin tribe that caused it.

-YRUSirius

You make a good point there. If a module is added for lingering injuries, regardless of current hit point level, I could probably get behind the "Long Rest = Full HP Recovery" rule.

Sir Robilar · May 24, 2012

It really bothers me. Is there any in-game explanation for it?

YRUSirius · May 24, 2012

Sir Robilar said:
It really bothers me. Is there any in-game explanation for it?

Because you're something special?

-YRUSirius

Surmos · May 24, 2012

Melkor said:
I get the reasoning behind it, but I also think that it just seems ridiculous for a character to suffer some kind of grievous injury, and without the aid of magic, pop up after an 8 hour rest unscathed. It just feels super gamist.

There are plenty of reasons in an adventure that can keep players from camping for days to get all of their HP back.

This seems like it might be a point of contention with the new rules, and I am sure people's opinions will vary greatly on the issue. That said, I'm not saying my way is right, just expressing how I personally feel about it - if that comes across in any other light, I do not mean it to.

The playtest explain exactly what it means to be at full, half, and at 0 hp. They don't say it means you have to be mortally wounded in such a way that you have limbs broke, have large gashes, or have been gutted.
The injury is based on how you want the cinematic to play out and that to me seems more like a house-rule than anything.
If the rules don't state the injuries have to be that severe i don't really see a reason to make them more severe necessarily.

If the rules were still as such that you didn't heal to full, there is nothing stating that players can't camp for days to recover. (Except random encounters. lol) I just see both sides of the argument...

If my players heal to full, then they only worry about management for that day, but as a good DM i don't have to give them a rest if i don’t want to. The rules state they can only have 1 full rest every 24 hours. If i follow that rule, then the players can't take advantage of that system. 15 minute workout day? fine. it will only hurt you as the day goes on and you use all your goodies.

If my players don't heal to full...
I still end up with the same exact scenario and options as i mentioned. The only difference being that it will end up taking more days for the players to come to full.

At least... that’s how i look at it.

thedungeondelver · May 24, 2012

Resting/healing was my only major gripe outside of magic, and unlike previous editions removing and replacing it doesn't seem particularly onerous, so if this 5e becomes a regular Thing, I can just go back to how AD&D does it (same with magic).

Other than those two systems I'm OK with what I've seen so far.

As I said, it reminds me of Moldvay Basic with some AD&D conceits (9 alignments, f'rex) attached. And that's OK.

Mallus · May 24, 2012

Melkor said:
Thoughts?

I think this will change in the final rules/isn't finished now.

I like where they're going with the "1 HP required" to heal via short/long rest. But it's not far enough, if the intent is to closer resemble older editions.

My suggested fix - so long as a PC has not gone to 0 HP or below, they can benefit from a Long Rest as written. The PC simply did not take any serious wounds.

However, once a PC has gone to 0 HP or below, they've been badly injured. They can't get the benefit of a Short Rest for the rest of that day.

When they take a Long Rest, they get their Hit Dice back, but no Hit Points. At the end of their rest, they can use their Hit Dice normally to regain Hit Points. Until the recover all their Hit Points, the don't get the regular benefits of a Long Rest.

One caveat - potent magic healing can fix the penalty for dropping below 0 HP. But let's make this interesting. Let's say your basic Cure Light Wounds (or Potion of Healing) isn't potent enough, thus making the higher level Cure spells mean a bit more.

Opinions?

Dausuul · May 24, 2012

Mercutio01 said:
If the long rest = full heal does stick around, that will be the very first thing I houserule.

Yup, same here. Though I'll run it as written for the playtest, since the goal is to test the rules.

Sir Robilar · May 24, 2012

YRUSirius said:
Because you're something special?

-YRUSirius

I guess my wording was a little unclear. What I meant was: Are they giving any explanations in the playtest document for why (in-game) your wounds heal during a long rests? It just seemed to me that Mearls was strongly adhering to giving in-game explanations for such things in his latest L&L articles.