OSR Healing tweak - proportionality

[Mannahnin]

I wonder, in practise, do your players use potions and wand mostly in combat or out of combat?

By mentioning wands, are you thinking about 3e?

Potions and scrolls and prepared healing spells: Mostly outside, with rare emergency use of a bigger potion (Extra Healing or similar) or more powerful healing spell (Cure Serious or equivalent) in combat if a front-liner is really getting mauled, in significant part because the baseline cure lights (Suture, in 5TD) are not efficient enough from an action standpoint. The monster is reasonably likely to do equivalent damage in the same time, and the fighter taking the round off to drink a potion means they're not outputting damage themselves either.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

By mentioning wands, are you thinking about 3e?

Potions and scrolls and prepared healing spells: Mostly outside, with rare emergency use of a bigger potion (Extra Healing or similar) or more powerful healing spell (Cure Serious or equivalent) in combat if a front-liner is really getting mauled, in significant part because the baseline cure lights (Suture, in 5TD) are not efficient enough from an action standpoint. The monster is reasonably likely to do equivalent damage in the same time, and the fighter taking the round off to drink a potion means they're not outputting damage themselves either.

Yeah action economy is major with healing, and is a part of game design that videogames, especially MMORPGs have been considering for at least 20 years, arguably more like 25+, but that TTRPGs seem to only have really started often considering in the last 5 or so years (notably 5E 2014 doesn't really consider it much, but 2024 kinda does). It's particularly important when downed is not the same as dead.

So I definitely think your ideas about scaling healing with HP to some extent are entirely sensible. They can avoid at-the-table math easily too by simply having PCs pre-calc 25% and and 50% of their HP (or whatever values you're using as additions) and write them down on the character sheet.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

By mentioning wands, are you thinking about 3e?

No, I was thinking about consumables but what if I was?

Potions and scrolls and prepared healing spells: Mostly outside, with rare emergency use of a bigger potion (Extra Healing or similar) or more powerful healing spell (Cure Serious or equivalent) in combat if a front-liner is really getting mauled, in significant part because the baseline cure lights (Suture, in 5TD) are not efficient enough from an action standpoint. The monster is reasonably likely to do equivalent damage in the same time, and the fighter taking the round off to drink a potion means they're not outputting damage themselves either.

Now do you want to improve the efficiency of healing? In combat? Out of combat? or both?
Scaling the healing will work in all cases.

 

[Mannahnin]

So I definitely think your ideas about scaling healing with HP to some extent are entirely sensible. They can avoid at-the-table math easily too by simply having PCs pre-calc 25% and and 50% of their HP (or whatever values you're using as additions) and write them down on the character sheet.

Definitely. Though with the smaller absolute values I'm usually dealing with in OSR, the math will still be pretty quick if they drop the ball on that.