D&D 5E The monsters recover HP with long or short rest ?

[TerraDave]

If the PC's have encounter based resources, then you will probably need to allow opponents to recover some resources over a similar time frame (in this case, use HD like the PCs).

Now, if we are talking about longer....have the golem heal fully, and don't explain why. Let them guess. Did a wizard or cleric do it? Does it regenerate? Is it another golem. Maybe it is a second golem. Feel free to mess with, I mean make things interesting for, the PCs.

 

[Wrathamon]

what's great is ... there is no wrong answer.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Answers are all over the board, so the only right one is, "What do you feel is right?" Run with it and be free, knowing you played the right way.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Answers are all over the board, so the only right one is, "What do you feel is right?" Run with it and be free, knowing you played the right way.

You mean the world won't come to an end if we are never given an "official" answer?

 

[Sacrosanct]

You mean the world won't come to an end if we are never given an "official" answer?

Nope. That's one thing that I always thought about in Sage Advice back in the day. Maybe it was my teenage brain, but I had often wondered, "Do people really stop playing and wait 1-2 months* before they get their question answered? I'm assuming not, so then really, why is the official answer that important?"

*this was in the days of snail mail, internet didn't exist, and 6-8 weeks for delivery. Get off my lawn.

 

[ExploderWizard]

*this was in the days of snail mail, internet didn't exist, and 6-8 weeks for delivery. Get off my lawn.

Ah the good ol days of the Dragon forum, where Scud and Alycia are still fighting the good fight!

 

[Sacrosanct]

All I'm gonna say is that if you see something in the April issue of Dragon that was written in March, and you respond back with a rebuttal hoping it makes the June issue, you got problems

"Take that! Now I shall wait 2-3 months for your response..."

 

[Lanefan]

One way to somewhat freak out a party is to have the foes have some sort of revival-from-death ability available, meaning if the party leave and return they have to fight (at least some of) the same opponents again.

As for monster* healing, I have them use the same rules as PCs; meaning they'll naturally rest back a small portion of their h.p. each night and also meaning that if the adventurers can inflict more damage each day than will be recovered overnight (assuming no access to other healing) then hit-and-run tactics *will* work given long enough, I have no problem with this and consider it good tactics rather than abuse.

* - as in living breathing monsters; lesser undead don't heal at all, greater undead do but only under special circumstances, and constructs don't naturally heal but in theory can be "fixed" by someone with the right know-how and a lot of time.

Lan-"sometimes 'Death Prayer' is a very useful spell"-efan

 

[Dausuul]

I would allow living creatures to heal using the same rules PCs follow. A construct like a golem would not heal naturally (but might be repaired by its master).

Undead... that's an interesting question. I'd probably say that unintelligent undead (zombies and skeletons) do not heal, while intelligent undead can heal like PCs if they are resting in their places of power.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I changed my mind. There is a right way to play, and it's my way.

Constructs do not heal. They get repaired. If they are unable (for whatever reason) to repair themselves, or if they are not repaired by someone/something else, they do not gain HP back. A construct doesn't have morale, or luck, or other things that make up HP any more than a car has morale or luck.

Undead: they do not heal unless they have a source of power that grants the healing. Vampires drink blood, Lich's can channel magic, ghosts suck life, etc.

Living creatures: Just like any other living creature.

There. I have spoken, and this is my decree. It is the only right way to play D&D. You are welcome.