D&D 5E Alternate solution: Whack-a-mole healing

[Blue]

I don't have a problem with Whack-a-mole healing in the games I play or run - I like keeping the players all engaged. But I understand how many don't like like it. Often a solution is to penalize a character for going down but that is trying to solve the wrong problem. Whack-a-mole healing happens because the rules reward it. Because you get more for the same healing spell - a 4 HP Healing Word won't prevent a character with 6 HPs from going down to 12 points of damage, but will stand them back up. So the solution is to create a larger reward for healing while they are still standing to incentivize that behavior instead.

Reaching back to one rule I enjoyed from 4e, the Healing Surge. We could add in the simple rule of:

When a conscious character receives healing, they may also opt to spend Hit Dice for additional healing, up to the number of dice of the healing effect. If the effect heals a static amount, it is instead 1 HD per 10 points healed.

So get hit with a 1st level Cure Wounds for d8+ability, you can spend a HD. An upcast 3rd level Healing Word for 3d4+ability could let you spend 3 HD - finally it isn't lackluster when upcast. That same slot on a Mass Healing Word could let up to six targets spend a HD for additional healing - because that spell is only d4+ability mod so it's only healing each person a bit.

And this would work for other healing. The Healer feat which works once per rest on a character. Second Wind. Healing Potions. Lay-on-hands (this and the Heal spell are why there's the second part).

This doesn't increase the total healing per day - you could be spending these during a short rest.

Now, IF you think this would lead to shortened adventuring days, you could also add in:

During a short rest, you may spend one Hit Die for free. The amount it heals can not exceed the amount of damage taken since last short rest.

This gives extra healing, but you can't take back to back short rests and get more free healing. This is a power up from baseline, so be sure to make the challenges a bit tougher, especially stand-along hazards that do damage that are supposed to be attrition.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I like it.

I think I would go as far as to had the rules where you dont regain HP on Long Rests, but regain all your HD. So no more automatic healing; every hit point is either regained thru magic or natural healing, or a mix of both as per your rule.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Instead of penalizing PCs for allowing themselves to reach 0 (risking death), you want to buff in-combat healing to make that more attractive? IMO in-combat healing should already be attractive enough given that it keeps PCs in the fight.

As for upcasting, we made it more appealing by allowing the additional dice from upcasting to automatically be the maximum. So, a 2nd level Cure Wounds, instead of 2d8+WIS mod, is 1d8+8+WIS mod. It makes upcasting spells like Sleep more appealing as well since you have a good chance to affect more creatures.

So, no, not for me, but for groups that like healing surges it would probably work well.

 

[jmartkdr2]

I've played with this rule, without any change to what happens when you go to zero. It makes healing spells much more attractive to use ahead of time, since the effect lasts more than a turn. (I did one HD per 5 hp on non-dice effects, but I don't think anyone had such an ability in that game.)

I also found that the faster use of HD didn't really change the adventuring day, since you run out of them about the same time you run out of spells anyways.

 

[Gadget]

Sounds interesting, but in combat healing is very purposefully designed to not keep up with incoming damage (without spending significant resources such as a high level slot(s), magic items, etc). This is in part to prevent grindy combats that are dragged out by healing effectively doubling or tripling the amount of HP opponents have to burn through to dispose of adversaries.

Of course, it might work fine for some tables. I wonder if charging a PC a Hit Die for popping up from zero HP might be an alternative to a level of exhaustion though.

 

[TwoSix]

Adding HD spending to healing spells is a smart idea, it increases the efficiency of healing spells without increasing the overall amount of HP available to the party.

I still think it helps to mix in a little stick along with the carrot; the fact that hitting 0 acts as method of damage reduction (a 25 damage hit only does 5 damage if I have 5 HP) is still an important tactical consideration. I like using negative HP (with negative half max being dead); most people I play with are used to it from earlier editions, so getting buy-in is easy.

 

[Blue]

Instead of penalizing PCs for allowing themselves to reach 0 (risking death)

It's a team game, and one with a lot of randomness. It is almost never a single PC's fault they reach zero. And if it is, it's often because they are serving an altruistic role like tank and inviting the attacks so others don't take them.

As such, penalizing a single player (by having them sit idle) for either team actions or for playing altruistically is exactly wrong. While I understand that some tables find no problems in penalizing the player for this, it will never be on my table so not part of any house rule suggestion I make.

, you want to buff in-combat healing to make that more attractive? IMO in-combat healing should already be attractive enough given that it keeps PCs in the fight.

Which, as listed is the actual problem - healing is more effective after dropping, so the rules encourage that behavior.

Now, you could bring back negative HPs, to make them both equal and then rely on players not wanting to drop. But that doesn't address how anemic healing in 5e is compared to damage (compare Cure Wounds and Inflict Wounds), so it is still not fully solving the problem.

To restate: any solution that does not address both low 5e healing values and healing-from-zero as more efficient is not actually addressing the problem, it's at best a band-aid dealing with a symptom.

As for upcasting, we made it more appealing by allowing the additional dice from upcasting to automatically be the maximum. So, a 2nd level Cure Wounds, instead of 2d8+WIS mod, is 1d8+8+WIS mod. It makes upcasting spells like Sleep more appealing as well since you have a good chance to affect more creatures.

See, this is a good example of partially dealing with low 5e healing. Though doing it with damaging spells breaks the game, and lower level spells upcast needs to be less powerful than a higher level spell cast on level otherwise both spells known and multiclassing breaks, but that's a different conversation that I don't want to derail this conversation with it.

 

[DND_Reborn]

It's a team game, and one with a lot of randomness. It is almost never a single PC's fault they reach zero. And if it is, it's often because they are serving an altruistic role like tank and inviting the attacks so others don't take them.

Yes, there is a lot of randomness, but if one PC is taking the blows, it is up to the others to help keep them going before they get close to 0 HP. If the tank doesn't yell for help, or if the others don't act to keep the tank up, they are failing as a team.

Healing doesn't need to be buffed to keep the team going. They just need to do it before the tank is in the "danger zone" of hitting 0 HP.

As such, penalizing a single player (by having them sit idle) for either team actions or for playing altruistically is exactly wrong. While I understand that some tables find no problems in penalizing the player for this, it will never be on my table so not part of any house rule suggestion I make.

How long are they really "sitting idle", though? IME, a few minutes, maybe... and that is only if the others don't get them back to positive HP to get them back into the fight. I don't see players sitting idle for long at any of my games, even when combat intensive. YMMV, as it sounds like it does.

Which, as listed is the actual problem - healing is more effective after dropping, so the rules encourage that behavior.

I disagree, respectfully. Dropping removes the PC from the action and thus reduces the effective power of the party, making the encounters even more dangerous than they should be.

Yes, without a negative HP, being at 2 HP and taking 2 or taking 30 still only puts you to 0, but either way you are out for a while, so I don't see that as an encouraged nor desirable behavior.

To restate: any solution that does not address both low 5e healing values and healing-from-zero as more efficient is not actually addressing the problem, it's at best a band-aid dealing with a symptom.

You see a problem here, but I don't. 5E has more than enough healing IME, so much so that you don't actually even need a cleric or other healer in the game to play it. Again, given that a 0 HP PC is not contributing to the combat, that is incentive enough IMO to keep the PC up if possible, despite that allowing them to go to 0 HP might be more "efficient" to taking the damage.

See, this is a good example of partially dealing with low 5e healing. Though doing it with damaging spells breaks the game, and lower level spells upcast needs to be less powerful than a higher level spell cast on level otherwise both spells known and multiclassing breaks, but that's a different conversation that I don't want to derail this conversation with it.

No, we have our upcast house-rule to make upcasting all dice-based spells more attractive, not just healing. FWIW, it doesn't break anything. If you want to begin a private conversation or a new thread on the topic, feel free. Otherwise, since we've been using the rule with great effect and appeal, I have no need to justify it.

At any rate, I don't see the need or purpose for your house-rule. Nothing wrong with it, as I said before, just not for me our needed at my tables. If you wanted such a rule, I certainly think it would work fine.

Otherwise, I'll bow out unless addressed. Good luck with it!

 

[DND_Reborn]

Of course, it might work fine for some tables. I wonder if charging a PC a Hit Die for popping up from zero HP might be an alternative to a level of exhaustion though.

FWIW, this is one of our house-rules for spending HD in a way. If a single HD will keep you up, you can spend it to stay up. If it doesn't cover the damage, you still drop.

 

[Charlaquin]

This definitely seems like it will make in-combat healing before characters reach 0 more appealing compared to healing unconscious characters back up. It also seems like it will make in-combat healing more appealing compared to attacking and casting offensive spells. This might make combats take longer, and put pressure on characters with healing spells to act as heal bots. But that might be an acceptable result, depending on your preferences.