D&D 5E 5e heros: Adventuring yo-yos.

[Andor]

I've run three sessions of 5e so far in the Lost Mines, and it seems to me that 5e heros are extremely easy to knock down, but hard to keep down. The low Ac and HP means that some PCs drop in almost every fight. The monk has dropped in all but one so far.

However you don't go below 0 and a single point of healing gets you back on your feet. It's like watching someone dribble a basket ball.

Now my pcs are in a healing rich party. They have a Bard, a Paladin, a Ranger and a Cleric of Life. The Monk and Sorcerer are the only ones who can't heal. Are my PCs just being gung-ho and relying on heals or does this match other groups play experiences?

 

[77IM]

This certainly fits my memories of 4E. Because healing started from zero, if a PC with a couple of hit points left was about to get clobbered, it was actually a tactically sound move to just let him get beat unconscious and then use a healing word to bounce him right back to one-quarter hit points.

 

[Ravenheart87]

I think I'm going to reward 0 hit points with a level of exhaustion. I'm curious what rules the DMG is going to have for lingering wounds.

 

[wedgeski]

If this is a persistent problem for you, I think the easiest solution would be to just adopt 4E's rules on Death Saving throws: i.e. they don't "reset" until you take a long rest. Perhaps that will galvanize your time into less reliance on healing.

 

[Sadras]

Are my PCs just being gung-ho and relying on heals or does this match other groups play experiences?

IMO, I think this is how it has always been.

In our own group we made a slight adjustment to this with our wound system, so that wounds which you acquire when you drop to 0 hit points take 5 rounds to heal. For example, your fighter is knocked out (that first hit point loss is signifying an actual wound was made - meat).
So should someone pour a healing potion down your fighter's throat, he begins to heal, however it take 5 consecutive combat rounds (30 seconds) for you to fully recover and bring you back from unconsciousness. You get the hit points, you're just not conscious AND cured of your wound until 5 consecutive rounds pass, enough time for the wound to knit properly.
1 Wound equates to 1 Level of Fatigue (for effects purposes).

When conscious, wounds also take 5 consecutive rounds to heal, however hit points are gained immediately. Therefore if your PC exerts himself within that 5 round time-frame, he delays the actual wound knitting, the round starts from 1 again while your PC still suffers from the Wound/Fatigue effects.

 

[CapnZapp]

IMO, I think this is how it has always been.

Yep, standard D&D behaviour, working as intended.

Nothing to see here, move along...

 

[shamsael]

It stops being rediculous when you consider the fact that 0 hit points doesn't necessarily mean "laying on the floor". There's no reason to assume that after taking a sword to the gut, your character next finds himself laying on his back, sleeping. It's more reasonable to assume he's dropped to a knee, or otherwise hunched over in pain, too wounded act. It's pretty reasonable to assume that if his gut wound were somehow suddenly magically healed, he could stand up rather quickly and get back into the action.

 

[MortalPlague]

Now my pcs are in a healing rich party. They have a Bard, a Paladin, a Ranger and a Cleric of Life. The Monk and Sorcerer are the only ones who can't heal. Are my PCs just being gung-ho and relying on heals or does this match other groups play experiences?

Healing-rich party is definitely going to impact this. I've played in a couple of groups recently without any main healer, and this goes quite differently.

As for the strategy, maybe the players just haven't seen the point yet? If they sneak up on a group, do they get a surprise round? If they do, they'll sneak up on more groups (to devastating effect). Have they tried to set a trap for some monsters? Do they take a moment to look around where a battle might take place? Make sure you encourage that sort of thing by having interesting tactical opportunities (a low-hanging branch someone could hide on and drop from, a curtain of vines that could hide someone from view, etc).

Obviously, you know your players better than I. And hey, some groups aren't in it for strategy, they just want to kick in the door and swing weapons. That's fine too, so long as you and your group are on the same page for that.

 

[Minigiant]

I can't imagine D&D without some form of PC yoyoing. Especially after the beginning stage of PC life.
Working as intended. I use a wound system though.

 

[Astrosicebear]

I DM'd Lost Mines with a group of three; fighter, wizard, cleric from the pre-gens. There were only a few encounters (est. about 5) from the whole book that dropped a char. Granted my guys did drop a few times each throughout the adventure, but that's adventuring. I made no adjustments to the monsters. The pre-gens are built pretty well.