D&D 5E Second Wind

[Connorsrpg]

Thanks for all of those that offered suggestions without the edition warring and snarkiness.

As stated several times, I am just having trouble interpreting exactly what it does. I am NOT 'trying' to interpret it any particular way. I just want to make sense of it. (Yes, I am not in favour of lots of non-magic healing, BUT I do play Savage Worlds where Soaking is normal. BUT, I am open to just trying this out for my newbies, but cannot work out its meaning).

[MENTION=62944]drjones[/MENTION] I am sure you have misinterpreted what I have been asking I don't want every rule to be overly complex, but I would like this one to have one way of reading. Clearly that has not been the case if you have read the whole thread. I think you missed my reasons for bringing this up.

I am certainly not trying to twist anything. Of more interest though, HOW do you read the rule?

 

[pemerton]

Every creature in DnD5 has wolverine's regenerating powers, it does not matter how hurt you were, 8 hours of rest and you will be completely fine, even without magical or medical aid.

This is quite inaccurate. If you are hurt enough to fall unconscious, then without some sort of aid you are very likely to die in far fewer than 8 hours.

 

[drjones]

I am certainly not trying to twist anything. Of more interest though, HOW do you read the rule?

Second wind can be used once per short rest. It is a self heal. Multiple concurrent short rests are just one long short rest. The numerous abilities one gets per short rest in different classes only regenerate once no mater how long the short rest is.

 

[Vowtz]

This is quite inaccurate. If you are hurt enough to fall unconscious, then without some sort of aid you are very likely to die in far fewer than 8 hours.

Yes, you are right, these mutant powers only kick in if you have at least 1 hp.

 

[Jer]

about chaining short rests together I can't see how that is a problem.
if your DM start to complain do the following:

1. Do an hour long short rest;
2. Have your character do 100 pushups;
3. repeat from 1.

You can metagame any rule to death if you want to. If you don't want to adhere to the spirit of the rule but instead parse the letter of the rule very finely you can break any RPG.

Though honestly full hit points after every encounter wouldn't necessarily break my game. If I had players that insisted we go that route I'd just go back to making 4e-style encounters where most of the PCs (except the Grod-damned Wizard, who they never let me hit, grumble-grumble) were near 0 hit points after every encounter, instead of expecting them to stretch it out over multiple encounters. Works fine for us in 4e - it's just a shift in the expectations for encounter building (and the expectations of the players - if we ever do switch to 5th, I expect that this shift in resource management will likely be the biggest sticking point considering how much my table loves the healing mechanics of 4th).

 

[pemerton]

Yes, you are right, these mutant powers only kick in if you have at least 1 hp.

Well, they're not "mutant powers" then, are they.

Anyone with at least 1 hp has suffered no debilitating wounds (given that s/he is able to fight and otherise act at full capacity). Being able to shrug off all the adverse effects of non-debilitating injuries in 8 hours of rest suggests a degree of pulpy heroic reserves, but it's hardly Wolverine-esque.

 

[Reynard]

Well, they're not "mutant powers" then, are they.

Anyone with at least 1 hp has suffered no debilitating wounds (given that s/he is able to fight and otherise act at full capacity). Being able to shrug off all the adverse effects of non-debilitating injuries in 8 hours of rest suggests a degree of pulpy heroic reserves, but it's hardly Wolverine-esque.

I like to refer to it as the Bruce Willis Rule -- in his action movies, no matter how bloody he gets, he still kicks ass until the bad guys knock him out, or he wins and then starts limping around in search of a smoke (smoking a cigarette is a Short Rest).

 

[Vowtz]

You can metagame any rule to death if you want to. If you don't want to adhere to the spirit of the rule but instead parse the letter of the rule very finely you can break any RPG.

Though honestly full hit points after every encounter wouldn't necessarily break my game. If I had players that insisted we go that route I'd just go back to making 4e-style encounters where most of the PCs (except the Grod-damned Wizard, who they never let me hit, grumble-grumble) were near 0 hit points after every encounter, instead of expecting them to stretch it out over multiple encounters. Works fine for us in 4e - it's just a shift in the expectations for encounter building (and the expectations of the players - if we ever do switch to 5th, I expect that this shift in resource management will likely be the biggest sticking point considering how much my table loves the healing mechanics of 4th).

I hate 5e healing rules, for me every character having a chance
to heal back to full with just one hour rest is absurd and frustrating.
It's kindergarden mode, there is no tension, you know you
will be fine soon if you have at least 1 hp.

Most players disagree, they want their characters to heal
fast and raw assure that's exactly what is going to happen.
it's just a matter of playstyle.

A DM can put new monsters where they shoul not be to
prevent a group from resting, but i don't want to do that,
what's left for me is house rule these easy healings out.

But it is too soon yet, DMG will maybe bring some optional
rules to fix things, let's wait and see.

 

[Reynard]

I hate 5e healing rules, for me every character having a chance
to heal back to full with just one hour rest is absurd and frustrating.
It's kindergarden mode, there is no tension, you know you
will be fine soon if you have at least 1 hp.

Most players disagree, they want their characters to heal
fast and raw assure that's exactly what is going to happen.
it's just a matter of playstyle.

A DM can put new monsters where they shoul not be to
prevent a group from resting, but i don't want to do that,
what's left for me is house rule these easy healings out.

But it is too soon yet, DMG will maybe bring some optional
rules to fix things, let's wait and see.

All it really does IMO is take the pressure off the cleric -- that player can still act as the healer when necessary, but doesn't HAVE to. Plus, remember you can only regain half your HD over a long rest, so on an extended dangerous excursion, PCs will always be trying to play catch up. they'll want to avoid having to use those short rest HD, either by relying on healing spells and items or by avoiding damage in the first place, both of which are active choices with real consequences. Ensure that as DM you are not giving them a free pass every time they want to rest -- roll them bones! that's what wandering and random encounters are for -- and I think you maintain a level of tension that enhances the game.

 

[Jer]

I hate 5e healing rules, for me every character having a chance
to heal back to full with just one hour rest is absurd and frustrating.
It's kindergarden mode, there is no tension, you know you
will be fine soon if you have at least 1 hp.

This isn't really a problem if you assume that their actual hit point total is equal to the hit points on their sheet * 2 - which is what their hit points really are. The whole "healing mechanic" disguises what is going on - which is that characters have roughly twice as many hit points as what it says they have on their character sheet. But realistically I suspect you could replace the HD healing mechanic with a doubling of all character's hit points, no short rests to recover hp, and tinkering with the death by massive damage threshold without breaking the game at all.

And it isn't kindergarten mode - there's plenty of tension in a game where you get all your hit points back at the end of an encounter. The encounter itself provides the tension rather than stretching it out over multiple encounters. It is as you say a different play style, but to call that style "kindergarten mode" suggests to me that you've never seriously tried running a game that way.