Healing Potions seem woeful

[shinmizu]

The idea is to not make potions a standard tactic, but a "OH #*@&@ the Terrasque just bit Jim! in half!" kind of thing.

So, 10 hit points is an abstraction for being bit in half by the Tarrasque? Dang, these are some tough bastards we're playing.

The pregen wizard alone can get bit in half nearly three times before going down.

 

[keterys]

Double post, sigh.

 

[keterys]

In my level 11 game, someone used a healing potion to heal 10 - he wasn't worried about running out of surges, but he only had a minor action and was worried about his hp total (he was near a critter that got _nasty_ against bloodied opponents)

50g is effectively free at that level, so at that point it's economy of the action.

 

[Henry]

So, 10 hit points is an abstraction for being bit in half by the Tarrasque? Dang, these are some tough bastards we're playing.

The pregen wizard alone can get bit in half nearly three times before going down.

Smarty-pants.

I get what he means, though -- when you're out of second wind in a combat, and the cleric / warblade is down, a potion providing a timely extra 10 hit points for a minor action before you move in to attack the kobolds/goblins/bandits is a great thing. Even moreso, if the cleric's down, the ONLY way you're getting him to stand back up is by feeding him a potion (Is it standard, full-round, or minor? I can't remember), which not only heals him, but puts him back in the positives, because of the way the dying rules work, and sets him at 10 hp, not at some crummy 1 or 2 hp that you would get from a cure light wounds potion in 3e on a guy in the negatives.

 

[Boarstorm]

Standard

 

[Zurai]

That isn't the only way, though. Anyone can use the Heal skill to trigger a Healing Surge, and it's an easy check too (DC10).

 

[Boarstorm]

That isn't the only way, though. Anyone can use the Heal skill to trigger a Healing Surge, and it's an easy check too (DC10).

Well, technically, the Heal skill triggers a second wind, of which characters only get one per encounter -- no matter the source.

So, it's useful as a way to "give" a standard action to another character (the standard action they would have had to use in order to trigger their second wind), but not as a source of MORE healing per fight.

 

[Victim]

Yes but can you really see a level 7 character dropping 1000gp for a single healing potion that heals 25hp, gives an extra save, but still costs a healing surge? Especially when a single surge at that level is going to probably be more then the 25hp you get from the potion.

Surges are the main form of healing in 4E, so every one counts when you are in between extended rests.

There are level 15 characters that don't heal 25 HP per surge - my fighter with 16 Con is only getting 28. Remember that since Con doesn't add to HP per level, high level characters don't have so many HP. And 1000 GP is much more affordable at that level.

Sure, leaders can slot a lot of powers that use surges. However, they aren't necessarily always picking those powers. Some of those powers don't heal people on a miss (like Healing Strike). The healer can be stunned or dropped. Not all groups will have a leader.

 

[Regicide]

And when you're out of healing surges and the healing potion doesn't work... Healing surges are such a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad concept. Why did they pollute the game with this garbage?

 

[grickherder]

And when you're out of healing surges and the healing potion doesn't work... Healing surges are such a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad concept. Why did they pollute the game with this garbage?

If you have no more healing surges, it's because your character has been really beat down. You can have an awful lot of them in a single day. If someone manages to run out, I have no problem picturing their wounds and condition as dire enough that even a magic potion won't help.

Healing surges are a great mechanic. New players grasp them immediately and they provide a hard limit to the amount of damage and healing your character can take in a given time period. Definitely a great game feature.