D&D 5E Healing and resting variants

[overgeeked]

I’m curious which of these more restrictive variants players and DMs use or would be willing to use in play.

 

[commandercrud]

I currently use all three of those variants together.

 

[overgeeked]

I currently use all three of those variants together.

Wild. So short rests are 8 hours long, long rests are 7 days long, the PCs have to spend hit dice to regain any hit points, and each hit dice spent also requires healer’s kit usage? Do the players grumble about that?

 

[dave2008]

You didn't have an other, so I selected all three. We technically have our own house rules for rest and healing, but they are in a similar vein to the official variants and they are definitely not "None/RAW."

 

[jgsugden]

None.

In my world, hit points are your toughness, not your wounds. A fireball does not burn you unless you go down - it just is exhausting to avoid it. You may get a light burn, some scratches, or bruises (depending upon the damage source), but you are not truly wounded until you go down. Curing wounds restores that toughness and heals these minor scrapes.

With that mentality, resting to 'cure wounds' makes a lot of sense as written.

 

[iserith]

Resting and healing change in my games from campaign to campaign to suit the theme. I've used pretty much all the variants by now.

 

[Blue]

Varies by the feel I'm looking for.

Though I'm tempted to just steal 13th Age and divorce it from the act of sleeping. (Adjusted for 5e.) A long rest happens after six encounters. A short rest after two encounters.

 

[Flamestrike]

Either core, or occasionally a little slower, with a rule that limits healing on a short rest to 1/2 HD max (5 minute short rests) and limits Long rest healing to no auto HP recovery, but no limit on HD expenditure (and recovering 1/2 level in HD).

The advantage of full HP on a long rest is it makes it easier to balance encounters.

 

[Minigiant]

None of the official ones.

In my games, HP for humanoids is mostly physical and mental stamina, luck, and divine protection.

So my resting rules are based on your location's ability to grant you rest. Mo' Comfy Mo' HP.

 

[Shiroiken]

My resting rules usually change based on the needs of the campaign, but I always use Healer's Kit dependency. I also removed its ability to stabilize, instead making it a requirement for the Wis/Medicine check (you have disadvantage without it).

I have a couple of different ideas for my next campaign, but something I might try is a variant on Gritty Realism. Short Rests would be unaffected. Long Rests require 3 days of downtime. A Medium Rest takes 8 hours (as per standard Long Rest) and only gives back half normal benefits of a Long Rest (no exhaustion recovery). This makes resting during the adventure worthwhile, but no full recovery until after the adventure is over (or they find a sanctuary to stay in during a long adventure).