D&D 5E Healer feat

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Nah, it's a self-application tourniquet.

 

[Klaus]

Anyone else find this feat immersion breaking? An action to use a healer's kit to heal 1d6+4 hit points plus additional hit points equal to creature's level? What could possibly be done in less than 6 seconds? That's the quickest bandaging I've ever heard of, all while in the midst of combat.

The easiest way to alleviate that is to change a round from six seconds to 30 seconds. In 30 seconds you can, at the very least, tie a quick torniquet to stop a bleeding, or rub some salve over a nasty scrape to stave off infection.

 

[variant]

Me? Sure. And "mundane healing" in my mind can include bandages made of white linen blessed by a healing goddess, salves made of rare medicinal herbs, and splints from trees said to improve healing.

But this isn't about me, it's about YOU! So is there basically no way this can work for you as it is? If so, what would you like to change about it?

Simply prolonging how long it would take wouldn't work because it wouldn't be powerful enough to be a feat. There could technically be a similar feat that didn't use a Healer's Kit and was divine power.

You're taking hit points too literally as wounds. A character can be banged up and have full hit points, and he can be banged up and have low hit points. Think of the Healer feat as the ability to quickly give someone a whiff of smelling salts or a salve that dulls his aches and pains.

I don't take hit points as purely wounds, but even your description of what it can be used for seems incredibly off. At some point they are wounds and the feat can even be used if they are at 0 hit points or 1 hit point. Also, why do you need a feat to use it as you described?

The easiest way to alleviate that is to change a round from six seconds to 30 seconds. In 30 seconds you can, at the very least, tie a quick torniquet to stop a bleeding, or rub some salve over a nasty scrape to stave off infection.

There's no way I am changing the whole action duration for one feat.

 

[Warbringer]

How about application of healing kit is short rest activity, but someone with a healing feat can quickly apply a make good (until the end of the scene) ... if the healing kit (medics kit) is band-aids, salves, surgical equipment for repair, sugar water (thinking a Napoleonic kit here), it also has morphine for "handling the pain and getting moving" ... At the end of the round, those injuries come back for full healing

 

[Daniel Habegger]

People have a problem with this, but not the fact your fighter can insta heal with a second wind, or that anyone can come back from the brink of death in 8 hours without magic? Or that my bard music is so awesome I can help bring a character from 1 hp to full in 8 hours? Generally speaking, D&D requires suspension of disbelief. It would take months to fully recover from the beat downs you receive in D&D if you wanted realistic. I don't think I know a single person playing the game for realism...

 

[schnee]

Sure, RG, I was more replying to the overall tone of the thread. I think a game like 5e needs to be built acknowledging that different people have different definitions for "hit points," and that the game can't presume or assume any one definition -- which is why I'm happy that, as far as I can tell, a healer's kit isn't exactly an essential thing. But maybe there'd be something even better for those who want more concrete believability there?

Sure, there are many possible ways to do it. You just have to house rule. People do that all the time.

If you look at the game itself, there's a variation of short/long rest that moves it from one hour/overnight, to one overnight /one week. In that context, just house rule this feat usable on a short rest. You will reduce the power of the feat, but that's realistic.

The thing is, this feat is *literally unbelievable*. No clever phrasing or brainstorming will change that. So it's not worth it to try, which is why people are getting silly, because - wait for it - this is such a BORING critique of the game. I remember this sort of thing in Dragon in the early 80's! Thirty years of arguing there, Usenet, WoTC boards, here, everywhere, and yet... it still comes up. Talk won't change it. So, in comes the humor.

By the way, here's another thing that's *literally unbelievable*. The fact that a Fighter can swing a sword all day, at every combat, and be just as strong, damaging and powerful at the end of the day. That is literally impossible - physiologically, mentally, etcetera. Yet, nobody cares. So why should we care about this?

He doesn't like it? He should house rule it. Because nobody can make it realistic. And that's fine.

 

[Oofta]

The description simply says it has bandages, salves, and splints. It costs 5gp. For all intents and purposes, it is meant to be mundane healing. I mean even if you accepted it has magical components in it, does he use a spray bottle?

Actually it's "meant to" provide a way to stop someone from bleeding out without a skill check and to provide some minor healing for those who are trained in it.

As far as "how" I always assumed minor magic combined with the abstraction of hit points. In my world, there are all sorts of minor magics including healing salves. Magic is not limited to potions and magic swords.

 

[ScaleyBob]

Given the number of things PCs can do in a 6 second turn - move 30 feet, get out a weapon, attack multiple times, reload multiple times, and then be able to cast a spell, being able to stuff some bandages in a wound, and yell at someone to get up doesn't seem that bad.

The thing with the the Healer feat, is that it costs a feat. PCs don't really get that many, and having one that heals a few HP once a day really isn't particularly game or immersion breaking. If it's really a problem, then make so it can only be done during a Short Rest.

Have you seen footage of Combat Medics in action? Those guys can do a lot to get someone back on their feet incredibly quickly. You've got to when the bullets are flying.

 

[Caliban]

I house ruled it to take one minute (instead of one action) to use the Healer feat to heal the 1d6+4+lvl in my game. (The healing a dying person to 1 HP is still an action.) Then again, I also auto-grant the feat to anyone proficient with the Medicine skill.

 

[Azzy]

Action movie physics.