This seems to be coming up in multiple threads, so I thought I'd make a dedicated one as to how it all works from what I saw.
- Every character gets a number of healing surges per day (no idea how the number is derived) and a set number of hit points each surge is worth (once again I don't know how we get that number).
- A character may use ONE healing surge per an encounter as a second wind by default. Powers/feats may exist to allow more.
- Healing abilities make use of healing surges in different ways. The Paladin's Lay On Hands uses one of the Paladin's healing surges (not the target's), while the Cleric's Healing Word uses one of the target's healing surges (not the cleric's) and provides an additional 1d6+4 (at least on the sample character) hit points. Note that the cleric's heal is a minor action, and he still gets a normal attack and move action on his turn.
- You can rest for 5 minutes between encounters (to refresh your per encounter abilities) and expend a healing surge while resting. 6 hours of rest resets your hit points, per encounter and per day abilities. Note that resting resets your number of available action points to 1, so if you built up a bunch (you get 1 after every two completed encounters and can spend one per encounter) you have motivation to move on even if you've used up your daily powers.
