Healing while Down

[Caliber]

Ok, so here's the issue.

Dragonborn Paladin finds himself surrounded by mean little nasty Kobolds. Buggers probably haven't washed in weeks. A pair of them stab him in the kidneys (or, at least, Dragonborn analogue) and he drops to the ground, unconscious and dying.

Queue the Dwarven Cleric and Warlord to run up and Heal/Inspire his unconscious form with their respective Words.

Do the Kobolds still surrounding him know he is conscious again? Is there a check he can make to continue to play dead? Or is he still out of commission as far as they are concerned?

Should all Defenders train in Bluff for this situation? Or should Leaders always Delay so they can heal someone right before their turn, thus letting them stand and do something before losing all their new HP?

This issue came up last week and the DM ruled a certain way, but we'd like to know if it was correct or not. I'll come back alter and post what my DM did, but I don't want to skew the results before hand.

 

[Kordeth]

I think the situation you're describing is a little too specific to apply a general rule, but I'd say a Bluff check opposed by the targets' passive Perception (active Perception if they actively examine you) is a good basis. Some effects might make it more or less obvious that the dragonborn is up.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Note that the general advice in the DMG is that bad guys don't bother targeting downed foes.

I wouldn't have the kobolds target him unless he did something to provoke OA from them. They are more worried about the two new guys to kill.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I think the situation you're describing is a little too specific to apply a general rule, but I'd say a Bluff check opposed by the targets' passive Perception (active Perception if they actively examine you) is a good basis. Some effects might make it more or less obvious that the dragonborn is up.

If I called for this I'd go for bluff vs passive intuition, personally.

 

[md3]

We used Bluff vs. Passive Insight. It's not that they were just targeting a downed Dragonborn, they just saw him get up a round prior to this healing. Basically, this wasn't the first time the Paladin had gotten up after being knocked unconscious. The healing just so happen to fall in initiative order just before the kobolds went yet prior to the Paladin's turn.

As a player pointed out, had it not been for 4 attacks on a conscious yet prone Paladin, the Cleric would have surely been killed. In the end, the Cleric simply prolonged his own demise.

 

[erik_the_guy]

You should get a big bonus to your bluff check to play dead (around +10) if all you have to do is lie there. It's not likely the kobolds will notice he is awake if they are in a fight, at least not the first time it happens.

 

[kouk]

If you are concerned about the timing, have the healer Delay until the Paladin's turn in the initiative is about to come up, and heal him right then. That way he can get up right away without staying vulnerable on the ground while conscious.

 

[Donatello]

The DM should run this based on what kind of creatures surround said paladin. Kobolds, yes, would be keeping an eye out and the paladin would have to make a Bluff check to have them believe him still dead. Other monsters may not be so alert (like zombies) and the act of continuing to lay there would be enough.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that every Defender should trian Bluff, but I think this further goes to show that no skill is useless anymore.