Does clerical healing magic (e.g. cure light wounds) close wounds?

[Aberzanzorax]

Does clerical healing magic (e.g. cure light wounds) close wounds?


I know there's another thread going, but please, rather than answer based upon your answer in the other thread, or upon gaming theory, please answer based upon what happens at your table when you play.


When you play, and describe what happens, does clerical healing magic close wounds?

 

[Aberzanzorax]

So why did I post this thread?

It's the clear companion to http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/312559-do-healing-surges-close-wounds.html

In that thread, several posters responded that wounds don't exist in D&D. That's a very foreign way to play for me (not saying it's badwrongfun or in any way flawed...just that it's very foreign to the way my groups have always played at the table.

I also think that healing surges and clerical magic are slightly different entitites. I'm not using these two companion threads as a "HA! Healing surges are tha suxxorz!"

What I am wondering about is what the distinction is, why people of different groups make that distinction (or if they don't think there is one) and if people think there are wounds in D&D or not.

 

[Nagol]

D&D started by including very little concept of a wound and has been evolving away from it.

D&D has never had a death spiral of penalties that apply as a character starts to take damage. Regardless of edition, characters remain fully capable of action until 0 hp is reached unless subjected to a very small set of magical abilities like a Sword of Sharpness or Staff of Withering.

I'm away from my library at the moment so the following evoltion may be a bit off:

1e has a large penalty for falling unconcous and it can take months of bed rest for a high-level character to recover hit points non-magically. Certain magical items could inflict lasting wounds/maimings.

2e removed the penalty for unconscousness and increased the healing rate. It is possible to recover hit points in the field and trained care and bed rest offered a substantial boost to hit point recovery. Non-magical healing under good care would probably be less than a month.

3e substantially boosts the healing rate. Non-magical healing would take less than a week under good care. Items that can inflict lasting wounds/maimings are removed.

4e has a full recovery every night.

 

[Umbran]

"Wounds" as such, are generally a flavor element in D&D, not a mechanical one. So, closing those wounds is similarly a flavor element. I do what makes for the best flavor at the time.

 

[Teataine]

Sometimes/it depends.

There are things that cause HP loss but don't cause wounds as such. HP loss was never intended to represent actual physical damage, not in 1e, not ever.

I understand if someone dislikes Healing Surges as a mechanic, but this can never be an argument.

 

[prosfilaes]

I understand if someone dislikes Healing Surges as a mechanic, but this can never be an argument.

Can I ask you why you posted this on this thread that isn't about Healing Surges at all?

 

[wingsandsword]

How I treat it is that hit point loss represents superficial wounds until you cross the line to 0 or negative HP when it's more serious wounds (or the overall trauma/shock to the body became just too much).

Magical healing is just that, magic. 1 point of magic healing will stop any active bleeding (by sealing blood vessels, clotting ect. If they are below max, there will be scabs, still some wounds and so on, but magical healing magically makes the wounds go away, including closing any open wounds.

 

[howandwhy99]

I use punctures, cuts, and bruises, the first two of which count as open wounds. So divine healing isn't necessarily closing wounds every time.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

In some ways, hit points and wounds are always what have given me the most suspension of disbelief issues with D&D.

It particularly does not model serious wounds at all. I do consider that dying condition is a wound and so healing that revives a character from dying is healing wounds. But in general wounds in D&D is a narative/fluff issue.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

"Wounds" as such, are generally a flavor element in D&D, not a mechanical one. So, closing those wounds is similarly a flavor element. I do what makes for the best flavor at the time.

Exactly this.

To the extent that I narrated any flavor wounds into existence, healing (by any method) is narratively capable of closing them (or of otherwise obviating them).

Attacks, in my games, inflict wounds only to the extent required by the rules narrative. Forex, an attack which successfully delivers an injury-type poison in 3E will at least break the skin somewhere, though not necessarily in a spectacular fashion (a burning line of blood across the cheek, ferinstance).