D&D 5E Does “Whack-A-Mole” Healing really happen in games?

[Bacon Bits]

I answered "No".

Does it happen? Yes. Often enough to answer "Yes"? No.

 

[cmad1977]

Nope. I’m can’t imagine how I could possibly run a game where this happens often.

 

[Rockyroad]

Yes I do see this. Couple of things that contribute to this is that healing word is too easy to bring someone back up because it's ranged healing but it doesn't heal for much hp so you're vulnerable to be put down again on the next hit, and also because it's not efficient to heal in combat unless you're down. You are just as effective at 1 hp as you are at 100 hp so people try to play very close to the line instead of wasting an action on healing.

 

[TheDelphian]

Happens in my games all the time. I only changed the narrative of how this looks. I don't always make it unconsciousness but a mechanical state the same but the character is just knocked down and staggered so to speak like in many action movies when the hero or villain is unable to do anything just shaking their head and trying to get it together.

They need a boost from another person to get them going (Healing). It helps the whack a mole feeling syndrome and makes it more dramatic. The Staggered character is treated mechanically as unconscious so they are too discombobulated to hear, see what is going on act or even defend themselves so no actual rules change just a narrative one.

 

[Ancalagon]

I think whack a mole is only an issue if it's quantity. If there is one mole and it's whacked once... that's ok! If it's 2-3 times a battle? Ugh.

I had such an episode (of the former) recently where my monk healed the fighter with a potion while fending off blows, the fighter got up (6 hp), then second wind (9 more hp), moved and took an AOP (-9 HP) and action surged on the sorcerer who had just lighting-bolted us.

I've never personally witnessed actual wackamole in play.

 

[Mistwell]

I’ve experienced a lot of 5e D&D over the years with players of varied play-styles, and at every level. I have never once seen players purposefully wait to heal someone until they drop to 0 hp, nor has dropping to 0 hp ever felt like a trivial matter.

It makes me wonder if the whole phenomenon is just a white-room scenario that doesn’t actually/usually come up in play.

Or not. My anecdotal experience is probably skewed; for the vast majority of it, I have been the DM and I don’t shy away from attacking PCs while they’re down if it makes sense in the moment (and for the creature doing the attacking). I’m pretty confident in assuming that’s not a universal approach.

My hypothesis, therefore, is that it does happen in some groups (possibly regularly) and (almost) never happens in others. I have no guess on what the ratio is.

Discuss.

My wizard has a single level of Knowledge Cleric, and he took Healing Word as one of his first level Cleric spells. As it's his only healing other than Polymorph and Tiny Hut (which both are not direct healing but pseudo-healing), yes he waits until someone goes down to zero before using it. Because it's so little in the way of hit points it's essentially just a "help X not die right now" emergency spell.

 

[overgeeked]

For those that do not understand why you'd do it: Because it is often the most efficient option.

I tend to not invite players who’re concerned with optimization and maximizing efficiency to my table. I know it takes all kinds, but that’s exactly what worrying about mechanics over the fantasy gets you. The characters don’t know how many hit points they have nor do they know how much damage the hill giant does. Any decision that’s not based purely in character is meta gaming and outlawed at my table.

 

[Eric V]

I tend to not invite players who’re concerned with optimization and maximizing efficiency to my table. I know it takes all kinds, but that’s exactly what worrying about mechanics over the fantasy gets you. The characters don’t know how many hit points they have nor do they know how much damage the hill giant does. Any decision that’s not based purely in character is meta gaming and outlawed at my table.

Wow, your players don't know how many hp their own characters have??

 

[DND_Reborn]

Wow, your players don't know how many hp their own characters have??

FWIW, I have actually run such games before. It works to a point, but there are only so many ways you can describe that they next blow will probably knock you out. After a short while, it became tedious.

 

[Charlaquin]

I’ve experienced a lot of 5e D&D over the years with players of varied play-styles, and at every level. I have never once seen players purposefully wait to heal someone until they drop to 0 hp, nor has dropping to 0 hp ever felt like a trivial matter.

So, I voted yes, but it kinda depends what you mean by whack-a-mole healing. Do my players wait until someone drops to 0 before healing them? Not unless they’re playing a death cleric. Do my players heal characters when they do go to 0, causing them to get back up? Routinely. Being down a party member is a huge action economy hit, so healing unconscious characters back onto their feet is a top priority for my players.