D&D 5E Healer feat

[Blackbrrd]

Healing Kit: this kit contains an asthma inhaler, some uppers, smelling salts, cut sealer, and a 6 pack of Red Bull to keep your party in the fight.

This fits the way it's applied much better than the official version.

I really have a hard time imagining somebody bandaging in 6 seconds. Maybe that's the reason it's a skill check to apply?

When I think about it, action movies use this kind of "first-aid-kit". Typically wrapping some cloth around the hand.

 

[Blackbrrd]

Me? Sure. And "mundane healing" in my mind can include bandages made of white linen blessed by a healing goddess, salves made of rare medicinal herbs, and splints from trees said to improve healing.

Adding that to the description would be an appropriate fix to make it more belivable.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

See, I don't think "Deal with it, it's to make the game better, hit points are an abstraction!" is all that useful, personally. The issue is an issue of believability, and "You shouldn't care about believability" isn't a constructive approach, because how much and where one cares about believability in their imaginary elf game is very subjective.

It makes enough sense to me, in-world, but if someone else is struggling, I think the more useful question is, "Why doesn't this work for you?" If someone doesn't like healing kits and how they're applied, presumably, 5e should be able to work fine without them, or with a different kind of them!

I don't *think* I said that anyone shouldn't care about believability.

My point was that healing kits are an abstraction as much as the hit point system they serve are an abstraction -- which I *do* think is a useful approach to the question. I tried to present a frame of mind in which the healing feat works in a believable way.

Which is not to say that exploring "why doesn't it work for you" is not a valid approach -- I think it is. But I think there's a deeper level of believability problem for folks who have a hard time with the healing feat -- if the the feat doesn't work for you on a gut level, you probably have different ideas about hit points than what the game is assuming -- and finding our way to that problem is the key to really addressing the issue. If you see hit points entirely as physical damage, there are other changes you're probably going to want to make to the game (like the elimination of hit dice).

-rg

 

[I'm A Banana]

Sure, RG, I was more replying to the overall tone of the thread. I think a game like 5e needs to be built acknowledging that different people have different definitions for "hit points," and that the game can't presume or assume any one definition -- which is why I'm happy that, as far as I can tell, a healer's kit isn't exactly an essential thing. But maybe there'd be something even better for those who want more concrete believability there?

 

[Pseudopsyche]

For me, it helps that a creature can only benefit once from this feat before resting. I'm imagining something like a bandage soaked in a mundane but fantastical stimulant that can be quickly applied to a wound to reduce pain. In a more modern game, maybe it would just be a syringe filled with adrenaline or some other appropriate substance.

Even if the bandages are completely mundane, perhaps a skilled medic can at least stop a wound from bleeding freely in a matter of seconds?

 

[Enchanter Tom]

Anyone else find this feat immersion breaking? An action to use a healer's kit to heal 1d6+4 hit points plus additional hit points equal to creature's level? What could possibly be done in less than 6 seconds? That's the quickest bandaging I've ever heard of, all while in the midst of combat.

You're taking hit points too literally as wounds. A character can be banged up and have full hit points, and he can be banged up and have low hit points. Think of the Healer feat as the ability to quickly give someone a whiff of smelling salts or a salve that dulls his aches and pains.

 

[TwoSix]

You're taking hit points too literally as wounds. A character can be banged up and have full hit points, and he can be banged up and have low hit points. Think of the Healer feat as the ability to quickly give someone a whiff of smelling salts or a salve that dulls his aches and pains.

Even in 3e, I've taken to only narrating the hits that drop you below half HP (bloodied) and that knock you below zero HP as being blows that make real contact.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

I don't *think* I said that anyone shouldn't care about believability.

My point was that healing kits are an abstraction as much as the hit point system they serve are an abstraction -- which I *do* think is a useful approach to the question. I tried to present a frame of mind in which the healing feat works in a believable way.

Which is not to say that exploring "why doesn't it work for you" is not a valid approach -- I think it is. But I think there's a deeper level of believability problem for folks who have a hard time with the healing feat -- if the the feat doesn't work for you on a gut level, you probably have different ideas about hit points than what the game is assuming -- and finding our way to that problem is the key to really addressing the issue. If you see hit points entirely as physical damage, there are other changes you're probably going to want to make to the game (like the elimination of hit dice).

-rg

I think the best assumption to build toward is one where damage and healing always includes some meat and some abstraction. This prevents a lot of suspension of disbelief problems while remaining satisfying.

So, if you want a healing kit to be able to be used in six seconds, it is best to address the physical portion in a believable manner, such as an herbal styptic salve that stops light bleeding and reduces pain.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Yeah, I've always found that the flipside to "Attacks that don't kill you have no real effect" is that "Anything that deals HP damage can kill you."(so anything that removes HP damage should be able to undo a potentially deadly effect).

 

[n00bdragon]

Clearly the answer is that the healing kit is a bag of literal meat and a roll of tape. Since monsters are cutting the meat off your body the answer lies in taping more meat back on over the wounds.

This is how medicine works.