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4e Healing was the best D&D healing
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<blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 8034597" data-attributes="member: 3424"><p>Actually, I could decompose 4E healing into a number of elements, and different people may like them all, like none, or like some but not others.</p><p></p><p><strong>1. Proportional Healing</strong></p><p>The most common ways to restore hit points involved spending a healing surge or recovering hit points as if spending a healing surge, which was about one quarter of a character's full normal hit points. In this way, it took the same number of resources to bring any character from 0 to full hit points, regardless of class or level. In other editions, it usually takes more spells to bring a high-level barbarian or fighter from 0 to full hit points than a low-level wizard. One way to partially emulate this in 5E is to have <em>cure wounds</em> restore hit points as if the recepient had spent one Hit Die per level, so a barbarian would recover 1d12 + Constitution bonus hit points per spell level, while a wizard would recover 1d6 + Constitution bonus hit points per spell level. High level characters still need more spell levels to recover from 0 to full hit points, but I can't think of any way to emulate this in 5E without a complete overhaul of healing spells.</p><p></p><p><strong>2. Self-Healing</strong></p><p>Characters could spend healing surges when taking a short rest, or could use an action in combat to spend a healing surge (you can only do this again after finishing a short or a long rest). 5E already has the former. To emulate the latter, allow characters to use an action in combat to spend a number of Hit Dice up to their proficiency modifier - 1, and they can only do this again after finishing a short or long rest.</p><p></p><p><strong>3. Healing as a Character Resource</strong></p><p>Most healing requires a character to spend their own Healing Surge resources, and most healing spells and abilities simply allow the character to spend Healing Surges in combat. Spells and abilities that restore hit points without requiring the expenditure of Healing Surges do exist, but they are limited (a low-level character might only have one or two abilities that allow one character to recover hit points as if they had spent one Healing Surge) and only recovered when the healer finishes a long rest. I think this leads players to be more conscious when their characters lose hit points as the healer has very limited ability to bail them out. Again, I don't think it is possible to emulate this in 5E without overhauling healing spells.</p><p></p><p>One point that tends to get raised in such discussions is hit point bloat. However, the above elements are independent of the actual hit point totals. You could halve all hit points and still have the above.</p><p></p><p>Another is the expectation of in-combat healing in 4E, because healer characters are typically able to trigger the expenditure of a Healing Surge as a minor action twice, and regain all uses after finishing a short or long rest. The equivalent healing spell in 5E is <em>healing word</em>, which restores a small number of hit points and requires expending a spell slot.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="FireLance, post: 8034597, member: 3424"] Actually, I could decompose 4E healing into a number of elements, and different people may like them all, like none, or like some but not others. [B]1. Proportional Healing[/B] The most common ways to restore hit points involved spending a healing surge or recovering hit points as if spending a healing surge, which was about one quarter of a character's full normal hit points. In this way, it took the same number of resources to bring any character from 0 to full hit points, regardless of class or level. In other editions, it usually takes more spells to bring a high-level barbarian or fighter from 0 to full hit points than a low-level wizard. One way to partially emulate this in 5E is to have [I]cure wounds[/I] restore hit points as if the recepient had spent one Hit Die per level, so a barbarian would recover 1d12 + Constitution bonus hit points per spell level, while a wizard would recover 1d6 + Constitution bonus hit points per spell level. High level characters still need more spell levels to recover from 0 to full hit points, but I can't think of any way to emulate this in 5E without a complete overhaul of healing spells. [B]2. Self-Healing[/B] Characters could spend healing surges when taking a short rest, or could use an action in combat to spend a healing surge (you can only do this again after finishing a short or a long rest). 5E already has the former. To emulate the latter, allow characters to use an action in combat to spend a number of Hit Dice up to their proficiency modifier - 1, and they can only do this again after finishing a short or long rest. [B]3. Healing as a Character Resource[/B] Most healing requires a character to spend their own Healing Surge resources, and most healing spells and abilities simply allow the character to spend Healing Surges in combat. Spells and abilities that restore hit points without requiring the expenditure of Healing Surges do exist, but they are limited (a low-level character might only have one or two abilities that allow one character to recover hit points as if they had spent one Healing Surge) and only recovered when the healer finishes a long rest. I think this leads players to be more conscious when their characters lose hit points as the healer has very limited ability to bail them out. Again, I don't think it is possible to emulate this in 5E without overhauling healing spells. One point that tends to get raised in such discussions is hit point bloat. However, the above elements are independent of the actual hit point totals. You could halve all hit points and still have the above. Another is the expectation of in-combat healing in 4E, because healer characters are typically able to trigger the expenditure of a Healing Surge as a minor action twice, and regain all uses after finishing a short or long rest. The equivalent healing spell in 5E is [I]healing word[/I], which restores a small number of hit points and requires expending a spell slot. [/QUOTE]
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