D&D 5E House rule idea for healing to avoid "whack-a-mole"

Uller · Oct 19, 2017

A recent thread on how some groups (probably especially in low/mid level games) experience "whack-a-mole" where PCs go down, get healing from Healing Word or the like but then go back down very shortly because they received so little HP.

We don't experience a ton of whack-a-mole in my group but at the table recently (both in a 5th level game and a 12th level game), characters with healing spells have had to spend a lot of spell slots to get characters back up to an acceptable level of HP to move on because time pressure prevented them from taking a short rest. In both cases, the party had all its HD but the cleric (5th level) or Paladin (12th level) had to spend most of their slots just to keep the party going.

My players understand it is better to spend HD when possible but in both cases, taking a short rest was just not feasible (or my players believed it wasn't).

So to help encourage them to spend those HD rather than spells, I'm considering the following house rule:

When a character receives healing that character can spend 1 HD per die of healing (or per 5 hp for static healing like Lay On Hands).

So if you receive a 3rd level healing word you can also spend up to 3 HD if you have them. Yes, this hearkens back to the 4e healing paradigm that a lot of folks didn't like...my intent is to allow/encourage my players to spend HD more and use their spells for more interesting ways.

I think the argument against it is pretty obvious: If you make something more powerful, you'll get more of it. So I'm concerned it might have the opposite effect. Why cast an interesting 1st level spell to avoid some damage when you can just use it to heal?

So maybe make it only for out of combat? I dunno. Thoughts?

Blue · Oct 19, 2017

I've actually suggested the same rule before, so I'm with you. As a side note, the healing potion in the PHB is two dice, so it's surprisingly effective at lower levels if you add this.

Remember that this won't increase the total healing for a character, just move some of it from short rests to in-combat.

One caveat is that this rule adds when the healer does healing, which can create expectations for more actions and spell slots spent on healing by the party. To avoid putting this burden entirely on just a few characters, I'd also suggest a Second Wind action that mimics the 4e where one can spend a number of HD without relying on a healer.

Tony Vargas · Oct 19, 2017

Uller said:
I'm considering the following house rule:

When a character receives healing that character can spend 1 HD per die of healing (or per 5 hp for static healing like Lay On Hands).

That's a solid variant. It'll help with whack-a-mole, too, as it will make in-combat healing more effective and worthwhile.

I think the argument against it is pretty obvious: If you make something more powerful, you'll get more of it. So I'm concerned it might have the opposite effect.

You will get more willingness to heal in combat, including doing so pro-actively, since healing is more likely to prevent an ally from going down. Part of the issue leading to whack-a-mole is not just that heal-from-0 makes it more 'efficient,' it's that pro-active healing can be futile with the relatively high volume of damage required by 5e's fast-combat tuning. By bringing HD into combat, you make pro-active healing less of a losing proposition.

Of course, the other thing you could do is just make Short Rests - I know, this is going to sound crazy, but bear with me - actually short. Like minutes rather than an hour. If your campaign tends toward faster action and more intense time pressure, then short rests of 5 or 10 minutes might be something they can squeeze in 2-3 times per 'day,' giving characters a chance to use their HD.

Xaelvaen · Oct 19, 2017

[MENTION=996]Tony Vargas[/MENTION] - the shorter duration short rests are in the DM's Guide; I use those quite frequently in dungeon-heavy campaigns.

As far as Healing Magic also allowing the expenditure of Hit Dice, I've used this a few times myself. In grittier games where healing magic is rare or limited, I also let them use an Action to spend Hit Dice in combat, provided they aren't below half health (like catching your breath, I suppose).

Satyrn · Oct 19, 2017

I've seen someone here recently introduce the concept of a shorter than short rest called a breather. I think the whole of it was essentially "You can spend 5 minutes catching your breath. At the end of this breather, you can spend hit dice to heal."

So, you get the healing of a short rest, but none of the other benefits.

You could limit this to once between rests, or even once between long rests.

iserith · Oct 19, 2017

I imagine it will work fine, but keep [MENTION=20564]Blue[/MENTION]'s caveats in mind.

I don't see whackamole very much in my games. Maybe not ever since I can't recall a single instance of it. (I'm getting old though.) To make sure you're not just applying a kludge to fix some other underlying issue, I would recommend taking a look at the kinds of time pressure you are putting into your games and make sure that is working as intended. I'm a big fan of time pressure myself, but it's possible it's not calibrated quite how it should be.

As well, I also feel like this is not a game system problem that demands a house rule and probably more of a player tactics thing. Maybe they should brainstorm on different ways of dealing with challenges and working together. Perhaps the party composition or builds could use a tweak. I say this having no idea how your players play though, so maybe there's no issue here. I'd take a hard look at it first before applying house rules though.

robus · Oct 19, 2017

Isn't the healing supposed to allow the party to survive the encounter? Not to get back into the fray? I.e. heal and flee rather than heal and fight?

I mean, once it gets into whack-a-mole territory things have gotten a bit cartoonish haven't they?

Edit: I should clarify - I mean healing once characters are dropping like flies

Healing to give restorative boosts is one thing, bringing characters back continuously from 0 HP to continue the fight just seems like craziness

Tony Vargas · Oct 19, 2017

robus said:
Isn't the healing supposed to allow the party to survive the encounter? Not to get back into the fray? I.e. heal and flee rather than heal and fight?

D&D has never had great mechanics for fleeing an encounter, so I don't feel that's the intend, no. Rather, D&D's hp mechanics do a poor-fair job of modeling the stereotypical dynamic of combat in heroic fantasy: the Adversary (black knight, dragon or other monster, army, evil wizard, or whatever) beats the hero bloody, but the hero refuses to give up, and carries the day. In D&D, it gets a little weird, with a Cleric stepping in to 'heal' the bloodied hero, but whatever, it's the same dynamic. It establishes that the monster is really a threat, and the hero is really being heroic - even though we all know the hero generally wins.

I mean, once it gets into whack-a-mole territory things have gotten a bit cartoonish haven't they?

Yes. Whack-a-mole, where the 'hero' gets propped up by the Cleric each round only to get KO'd again shortly after acting, arguably makes a mockery of the dynamic.

OB1 · Oct 19, 2017

I proposed and currently use the 5 min breather rule, but like this idea as well. I would limit the in combat use to a character who is conscious and 1hd per spell slot level used to further encourage healing before being knocked down to 0hp.
Combine that with my requiring an immediate death save when you reach 0HP (at a DC equal to the damage below 0 HP you were taken) and Death Save fails only resetting on a short rest (or an extended rest) and suddenly there are a ton of incentives to never get to 0 HP.

Sent from my iPhone using EN World

Blue · Oct 19, 2017

OB1 said:
I would limit the in combat use to a character who is conscious and 1hd per spell slot level used to further encourage healing before being knocked down to 0hp.

May I suggest 1 HD per die of healing instead of per spell level? It's usually the same or less. For your normal heal-and-done spells it's the same, but for healing spells with duration like Aura of Vitality or mass healing spells like Mass Cure Wounds or Mass Healing word it's less HDs per recipient or per round.