D&D 5E Halving the natural healing rate?

[MechaPilot]

Quite possibly. I do certainly hit harder with fewer combats. It doesn't make much of a difference to me since I don't usually string adventuring days anyway.

I have to admit that abundant natural healing also doesn't impact my games too heavily. I use my own lasting injury rules (converted from what I used in 4e), I don't pull punches when it comes to traps (humanoids often smear poison or feces on their spike traps, prompting saves vs poison or disease), I often have intelligent monsters plana ahead and improvise in dangerous ways, and I'm not afraid to focus fire a PC if it feels like the monsters would recognize her as a threat that needs to be put down fast.

 

[Sunseeker]

I have to admit that abundant natural healing also doesn't impact my games too heavily. I use my own lasting injury rules (converted from what I used in 4e), I don't pull punches when it comes to traps (humanoids often smear poison or feces on their spike traps, prompting saves vs poison or disease), I often have intelligent monsters plana ahead and improvise in dangerous ways, and I'm not afraid to focus fire a PC if it feels like the monsters would recognize her as a threat that needs to be put down fast.

I think typically it doesn't affect me much because my players forget they can do that, cest la vie.

I rarely focus-fire though, unless the player asks for it, as I wrote about in another thread. It's typically hilarious.

 

[Psikerlord#]

I personally feel like the HD healing mechanic is kind of a unnecessary buffer that just means the DM has to throw even more fights at the party to "wear them down" to a point where things actually start to get tense. In older editions for example there was no HD healing, and every lost hit point meant something, because getting HP back meant magic or very slow natural recovery.

I don't advocate a return to the very slow natural recovery however, as I do think there should be some mechanic - or incentive - for PCs to keep "pushing on" with an adventure, rather than an incentive to camp and refresh, which is the current model. Instead of HD healing, maybe something like "you always heal back up to half hp" with a short rest (being the intangible part of hit points, a kind of party wide second wind). That way, the party would often be able to keep pressing on with the adventure, but be in that "danger" zone more often.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Is the issue here that the party can "full recover" overnight, or just that the means by which that recover pace is possible is a natural part of every PC?

I ask because my experience with editions that had slower "natural recovery" where played in ways that facilitated the "full recover overnight" pace - usually by heavily relying on spells (making the classes capable of them "necessary") and magic items (which happened to be extremely readily available according to the game rule assumed defaults), so the only practical difference between those editions and 5th edition is that "we rest and full-heal" is no longer short hand for the expenditure of all necessary healing magic/items and no longer involves dice rolling or as much book keeping.

 

[Psikerlord#]

Is the issue here that the party can "full recover" overnight, or just that the means by which that recover pace is possible is a natural part of every PC?

I ask because my experience with editions that had slower "natural recovery" where played in ways that facilitated the "full recover overnight" pace - usually by heavily relying on spells (making the classes capable of them "necessary") and magic items (which happened to be extremely readily available according to the game rule assumed defaults), so the only practical difference between those editions and 5th edition is that "we rest and full-heal" is no longer short hand for the expenditure of all necessary healing magic/items and no longer involves dice rolling or as much book keeping.

At least the slower healing of earlier editions had a decision point/opportunity cost - using up resources. HD healing is a no brainer. It's just a free buffer, I suppose partly to help a party reach the 6-8 fight day (which is another problem altogether, as evidenced in a different thread).

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

At least the slower healing of earlier editions had a decision point/opportunity cost - using up resources.

In theory, yes. In practicality, not in my experience. There was no "maybe we should spend these resources on healing, or maybe we should spend them on [insert something else here]" because no one ever made the other choice. Many times the "decision point/opportunity cost" was basically this: Option A) benefit from the treasure you found in the form of healing, or Option B) Gain no benefit from the treasure you found, effectively the same as having never found it.

It was exactly as much of a "No brainer" as you suggest that HD healing is, according to my actual experience.

Judging by the fact that the current resource/HP/hit dice regaining systems are the result of survey questions regarding how quickly players in general want recovery to be, I would estimate that my experience in the practicality of recovering overnight, even in the 1 hp/day spent resting +Con bonus at the end of a full week spent resting natural healing era, is shared by quite a lot of gamers (or at least is seen as preferable even if it isn't how things worked out in practicality for them in the past).

 

[werecorpse]

I have to admit that abundant natural healing also doesn't impact my games too heavily. I use my own lasting injury rules (converted from what I used in 4e), I don't pull punches when it comes to traps (humanoids often smear poison or feces on their spike traps, prompting saves vs poison or disease), I often have intelligent monsters plana ahead and improvise in dangerous ways, and I'm not afraid to focus fire a PC if it feels like the monsters would recognize her as a threat that needs to be put down fast.

Off topic but could you say what your lingering injuries rules are?

 

[Krachek]

When you change a rule, you create side effects.
When you reduce healing rate, all other features that restore hit points become more important.
Suddenly the fighter second wind become a thing.
Of course your actual party may not see the difference, but later character will.

 

[mellored]

If you slow down healing, you indirectly boost healers and spell casters in general. Since you need to have more rests.

Might want to compensate the martial classes with a few extra magic items.


Alternatively, just change how long a rest is.
short rest = 1 day.
long rest = 1 week.

That slows things down without changing the balance.

 

[Horwath]

I would put it like this.

1. No HP regained after long rest
2. You reagain all of your HD(not just half)
3. Any HP regained right after long rest via HD's return max HP per die.

this would be more or less the same as now if you went to sleep with half HP and no HD but it would penalize if you went to sleep with very few HP and no HDs.
You would regain no HP from sleep, but you would gain more from HD.