Battle Standard Of Healing

[Xyrlove Woodsoul]

I'm assuming you can, but can you use BSoH outside of an encounter?

Granted, while not awesome, it seems that if you can use it outside of a "true" encounter, it does quite a bit of healing, given a level 3 magic item?

Like I said, it's not awesome. But, is it a bit powerful for a 3rd level magic item?

 

[renau1g]

I'm all for maximizing out of combat healing as it lets the party's adventuring day go a little further as they may save 1 surge and push on that extra little bit.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Yeah, you can use it outside of an encounter, presumably. It is a very nice item. There are now other ways to get even better bonus healing OOC but its still a pretty good one. One party I ran for had a BSoH and made heavy use of it. Now and then it really came in handy.

There is one minor point to make. If a character plants the BSoH after an encounter then that will expend the encounter power of the standard (and thus it won't be usable during the next encounter unless the party takes 2 short rests in a row). Given the really large benefit of the BSoH during combat its not too frequently used during a rest. Consider, if a PC is down below 0 and dying anywhere in the zone of the BSoH ANY expenditure by any of their allies within the zone will give them a hit point, which will put them at 1 HP and conscious, which is pretty darn good. The amount of healing you get from the BSoH is not much, its utility is really that it makes it easy to get SOME healing to almost any party member in most fights quickly.

 

[Xyrlove Woodsoul]

Yes. The in-combat utility of it seems like it would come in real handy, for the reasons you mentioned. Thus, I can see how it presents a choice (i.e., in combat or, out of combat- without taking back-to-back rests- which is usually, meh)

But that's why you buy 2 (for in, and, out, of combat)

 

[Cormacolinde]

It's really not a huge lot, but I see no problem using after a fight to boost healing a little. That being said, while you are using it, you are considered being in an encounter and not resting, and thus cannot spend healing surges freely. You can use second wind and leader powers of course, but would require a rest after to recover those. It's really minimal healing compared to the trouble it takes.

 

[yesnomu]

It's really not a huge lot, but I see no problem using after a fight to boost healing a little. That being said, while you are using it, you are considered being in an encounter and not resting, and thus cannot spend healing surges freely. You can use second wind and leader powers of course, but would require a rest after to recover those. It's really minimal healing compared to the trouble it takes.

Source? I don't think things with an encounter duration automatically start an encounter and jolt you out of your rest. That would mean that a druid couldn't block off a passageway with Wall of Stone to let her party rest, for example.

 

[Xyrlove Woodsoul]

I didn't know you couldn't spend healing surges freely during a rest period that is considered an encounter, but that seems consistent.

Does anyone disagree?

 

[Aulirophile]

I didn't know you couldn't spend healing surges freely during a rest period that is considered an encounter, but that seems consistent.

Does anyone disagree?

Nope. Technically you spend the surges at the end of a 5 minute rest, and during that rest you cannot be doing anything strenuous. I'd say maintaining like a Wall of Thorns is strenuous, for instance. And remember any zone/effect only lasts 5 minutes at most, then it auto-ends, so if you used encounter powers to make the healing more efficient you wouldn't have them back when the wall dropped and RAW it ends instantly, there is no encounter because there is no threat. That seems silly I know, you should leave stuff like this up to your DM.

Duration: A short rest is about 5 minutes long.

No Limit per Day: You can take as many short rests per day as you want.

No Strenuous Activity: You have to rest during a short rest. You can stand guard, sit in place, ride on a wagon or other vehicle, or do other tasks that don’t require much exertion.

Renew Powers: After a short rest, you renew your encounter powers, so they are available for your next encounter.

Spend Healing Surges: After a short rest, you can spend as many healing surges as you want. If you run out of healing surges, you must take an extended rest to regain them.

Using Powers while You Rest: If you use an encounter power (such as a healing power) during a short rest, you need another short rest to renew it so that you can use it again.

Interruptions: If your short rest is interrupted, you need to rest another 5 minutes to get the benefits of a short rest.

 

[Xyrlove Woodsoul]

That's good to know, and I approve. The issue never really came up, until i started looking at BSoH.