Can gaining Temp HP ever be the equal to gaining regular HP?

[Estlor]

Don't have the Warlord's healing spend surges. She's still limited to 2/encounter.

Doot doo doo.

The artificer's healing mechanic already handles this nicely. You give the ally an infusion with a flat bonus, they choose when to turn it into temp HP as a free action. It doesn't cost them a healing surge. After the combat, everybody sits down and decides who spends the healing surge to recharge the artificer's ability for the next encounter.

The nice thing about the artificer's infusion is turning it into temp HPs is a free action, so you can even choose to do it between getting hit and applying the damage of the hit, letting you toss it to someone you know will get beat on early in the encounter so they can pop it and soak a hit at a time of their choosing.

 

[keterys]

The artificer's healing mechanic already handles this nicely.

Agreed. I have a dwarf artificer who uses improved resistive formula to fantastic effect.

The nice thing about the artificer's infusion is turning it into temp HPs is a free action, so you can even choose to do it between getting hit and applying the damage of the hit, letting you toss it to someone you know will get beat on early in the encounter so they can pop it and soak a hit at a time of their choosing.

This, however, is not necessarily true, so expect table variation. Free actions only interrupt other actions if their trigger requires them to do so. This is not a triggered free action, so there's no rule that allows it to interrupt anything at all, ever.

 

[I'm A Banana]

This, however, is not necessarily true, so expect table variation. Free actions only interrupt other actions if their trigger requires them to do so. This is not a triggered free action, so there's no rule that allows it to interrupt anything at all, ever.

It's true, free actions can usually only be taken on your turn.

Still, the resistive formula is a fabulous example of surge-less temp HP healing provided in place of "motivational healing." Which is possibly the big table variation here: some folks got no issue with scream-heals, others do, and it's not the kind of thing you can generally logically debate - no right, no wrong, just preferences.

 

[Ferghis]

It's true, free actions can usually only be taken on your turn.

Is there a source for this notion?

 

[I'm A Banana]

Is there a source for this notion?

Actually, now that I read the Compendium, looks like I'm precisely wrong. Free actions can be taken on your own, or anyone else's turn, according to RAW, and even in the case of attacks, they can be taken on each of your enemy's turns.

Which means I may have been reading some of my own characters' powers wrong this whole time! 0.o

 

[keterys]

Yeah, you can take free actions whenever. You _could_ make an argument that triggered free actions (which resolve afterwards unless they must interrupt to function) are _slower_ than non-triggered free actions, but that's a pretty bad argument to make and leads to things like using 'Forceful Push' to make attacks that hit miss, which is clearly not intended.