Combat Change: Reducing the power of healing

[DanmarLOK]

What about a rule of "diminishing returns". Let's make the conjecture that healing powers of any kind stimulate the bodies reserves and increase its recovery so significantly that it's instant for all intents and purposes.

Let's expand that by saying that a creature has a limited amount of reserves that are only recovered by resting.

So the first external healing (i.e. not second wind) is at full power. The second healing is at 1/2. The third healing is 1/3, the fourth etc.

So healing always works, it just works less and less as the character's body runs out of reserves to respond to the outside healing powers.

Just a random thought, it might help promote 'damage sinks' as the defenders get less results from healing that other characters move up to the front to absorb some damage.

 

[Alex319]

@DanmarLOK:

Isn't your suggestion basically what healing surges are? The only difference is that healing surges are binary (you either have some left in which case your healing is at full, or you don't). Your suggestion is to basically make the earlier healing surges worth more than the later healing surges, if I understand you correctly.

However, my understanding is that the main OPness of healing comes not from surge based healing, but rather from the large number of static modifiers that are available to healing (Healer's Lore, Healer's Brooch, Potent Restorables, etc.) that apply to anything that heals. So you can gain the benefit of those bonuses a large number of times - IIRC there was some healing power that heals like five points of damage to each of your allies every time they attack for the rest of the encounter - not much at high levels but then you add +25 or so total and that gets applied to every single heal that that gets off. It's essentially the same reason that multi-attack powers are so powerful.

So how about this house rule (it's not my idea but I don't remember where I first heard it): Static modifiers to healing (e.g. Healer's Lore, Healer's Brooch, Potent Restorables, etc.) apply only to healing that uses healing surges, not other types of healing.

(You may want to make an exception for Healer's Lore since it's such a defining feature of the Cleric class; the point is just to stop players from splashing everything possible that gets healing bonuses, and then throwing out several super-powered heals every round without anyone using up any surges. Also if you make sure that players are going to have to spend healing surges to heal, then you can more easily control frequency of healing by controlling frequency of extended rests.)

 

[Destil]

Isn't the cleanest fix just to now allow any item/feat/class bonuses on surgless healing? That's usually where things get abusive...

 

[DanmarLOK]

@Alex319

Correct, it was to make each subsequent heal on a specific character worth less as their body was simply running out of Stamina, 'mystic hero reserves' or whatever you might want to call it.

I'm not familiar with a high level of play but being able to set up a 25 bonus on a heal sounds stupid broken.

Maybe a max bonus per tier?