How Do you Feel About Healing Surges? (Read First!)

[GX.Sigma]

There's a lot of Healing Surge bashing going on, and I just wanted to set the record straight.

This poll will use the following definition of healing surges:

Healing Surges have two components: Surges Per Day, which is a daily limit on how often a character can be healed by healing effects; and Surge Value, which ensures that each of said healing effects is worth at least 1/4 of the character's maximum hit points.

That's it. We're not talking about Second Winds, short rests, Warlord healing, or any of that. We're just talking about Surges Per Day and Surge Value as ways of regulating healing effects. Namely, that healing effects scale with the heal-ee's max HP, and healing effects cannot be used a million times a day.

So, how do you feel about healing surges?

 

[Shadeydm]

I think healing surges make the 15 minute adventuring day more likely then it was in prior editions so no I don't like them. The shame of it is with leaders getting healing powers per encounter this was preventable.

 

[Kynn]

I like the fixed chunk of hit points for healing powers, but I am not so crazy about the limit on number of surges per day.

 

[Vegepygmy]

Healing Surges have two components: Surges Per Day, which is a daily limit on how often a character can be healed by healing effects; and Surge Value, which ensures that each of said healing effects is worth at least 1/4 of the character's maximum hit points.

The first causes problems, as Shadeydm already pointed out. The second isn't bad in principle, and if implemented well could actually be an improvement over non-scaling healing.

But mainly because of the per-day limit, no, I don't like healing surges.

 

[DogBackward]

I like the "fixed amount of healing" bit, but I'd prefer to see things changed up in how it's implemented. For example, I'm a fan of the concept of just saying that you have to wait at least one hour in between each short rest, and you heal 1/4 your HP during a short rest. So you have to be careful, and conserve resources, and magical healing is still important. But you don't have to rest for the night when your Cleric is out of spells, because you can still just rest every hour for a little boost.

 

[Leatherhead]

I feel this is a huge misrepresentation of healing surges.


Healing Surges are used for far more than just healing. They are used to ramp up powers, charge magic items, and fuel rituals.

"Surge Value" can easily be separated from the healing surge, it's just a percentage of the players HP.

That said, I hate them.

They are an unnecessary fiddly bit in a sea of fiddly bits. They also don't do quite what they are intended to do (pace out the day), partly because you can use them for non-healing purposes, and partly because the game was designed for everyone in the party to use them. That causes the group to be tied down to the person with the least surges, or to pile up damage on one person to the point where their surges aren't going to last as long as they should, which makes the workday far shorter than it should have been.

 

[Raith5]

I think healing surges make the 15 minute adventuring day more likely then it was in prior editions so no I don't like them. The shame of it is with leaders getting healing powers per encounter this was preventable.

How so? Most 4th ed PCs have a lot of surges, too many surges to be chewed up in an encounter or two!

I quite like the number of surges being fixed - it adds another bit of danger to combats, and can be a useful mechanism that can be used rituals and summoning, etc.

I find the term healing surge is a good shorthand term, but I am agnostic about the term.

 

[Shadeydm]

How so? Most 4th ed PCs have a lot of surges, too many surges to be chewed up in an encounter or two!

I quite like the number of surges being fixed - it adds another bit of danger to combats, and can be a useful mechanism that can be used rituals and summoning, etc.

I find the term healing surge is a good shorthand term, but I am agnostic about the term.

I played a shielding swordmage (coronal guard) from levels 1-15 and I give the designers credit they really made so a defender can do his job. my swordmage took some royal beatings and chewed through his surges at an astonishing rate not a bad thing imho after all his job was to take the hits away from others but it usually didn't take long for opponents to figure out that my mark was their problem and come calling. So what happens when your defender runs out of surges... game over.

 

[The Red King]

No sir. I don't like them.

 

[Shadeydm]

side note to the above post

I love the swordmage and will be crushed if it doesn't make it into 5E eventually.