So what we've got here seems to be that we're keeping healing surges, but not by name, and only as a limit on non-magical healing. Other baggage of healing surges (like energy drain attacks) may also no longer apply.
I think it's definitely more than "not by name." Hit Dice as non-magical healing mechanic has some commonalities to healing surges, but it will produce very, very different results.
I don't like the way the new HD mechanic is looking. It seems like it is a healing surge, but worse because of randomness.
Or better because of randomness. It's the type of thing that can create story through emergent play. You could finish a fight, us a HD, roll low and then the entire plot could change as the party changes their timeline, takes less risks or otherwise modifies their behaviour.
I've been playing Dark Dungeons that has a first aid roll after each fight to return people d3 HP. If it goes great for everyone, then we make decisions very differently than if it goes poorly. Though this is a system where a level 1 cleric has 1d6 HP rather than 20+.
I really want to see the condition track sneak it's way into 5e somehow, but that's not really related to hp.
That would be kind of cool. I already have that sort of itch scratched with Strands of Fate and its stress tracks and consequence aspects though.
Oh, and would this work better or worse with rolling HP vs. fixed HP?
Fixed at what level? If you roll randomly and get close to the average, you'll have a very different experience than if you fix HP at the max the die size can produce and then roll low consistently.
Hooray for having no real choice but to have a healer?
As I mentioned above, I'm playing a BECMI clone right now and in that version of D&D, no one can do magical healing at level 1. Not even clerics. Yet we're managing with Keep on the Borderlands just fine. And this looks more forgiving than BECMI.
Sorry for being dense but I don't get it... Does this mean you'll have hit points separate from hit dice in some way? Or will have to go back to rolling for hit points every level??
I imagine there will be options, but it sounds like rolling for HD. I know it's a common house rule for older versions to start level 1 with maximum HP and then roll for the rest. Or to start with max and then choose to either roll or take the average.