D&D 5E (2014) How has 5e solved the Wand of CLW problem?

[PnPgamer]

By not giving the players cure wound wands.

Fifth edition makes magic items to be on strict mercy of the dm, as magic items are only found, not made or bought (aside from few minor ones, like cure potions or holy water). This way players only get stuff if dm wants to.

 

[CapnZapp]

The problem with the wand of Cure Light Wounds was that players could buy them, easily, and it allowed them to heal up to full after every fight without expending any meaningful resources. The item was ludicrously cheap, compared to the expected-wealth-by-level chart.

That problem is fixed in 5E, because magic items aren't for sale.

For some, that's throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

A more specific reply, that I feel is much more accurate, could read:

That problem is fixed in 5E, because there are no cheap wands of CLW.

Indeed, it could read:

That problem is fixed in 5E, because there are no wands where you can dump 50 charges in one go.

 

[CapnZapp]

I'd never heard of this wand problem until these boards. Sounds super broken to me. I cant imagine many DMs permitting it.

Clarification: we were discussing 3rd edition/d20.

A lot of campaigns were played with the heroes having practically unrestricted access to these wands and similar items, either because the party could buy them or because the party wizard could create them.

Many 3E DMs didn't want the fuss that would come with saying "you can make X and Y and Z but not Wands of CLW".

 

[CapnZapp]

If you were experiencing a problem with too many wands of cure light wounds, you could have changed that. Either stop buying or using them, or limit their availability.

You could have... but many players felt it went against the philosophy of the game. The game was clearly designed to give access to them.

The reason the issue was never addressed I think was a feeling of futility... trying to stem the tide, as it were. Simply outlawing "Wand of CLW" would have been a dissatisfying solution to many. Not to mention how it wouldn't technically solve the problem: there are many other ways to manufacture cheap healing. Even if you don't go rules lawyer on me, the questions still abound: Should you disallow wands? Healing spells? Potions? Wondrous items? Scrolls?

Of course the problem wasn't impossible to solve. Of course you could simple make a "gentleman's agreement" with your players not to abuse the system. Or, you could go the 5E route of banning most or all sales/manufacture of magic items.

However, creating and purchasing magic items were such a big part of the game that many players simply didn't want to strike that part of the game out of their campaigns. Plenty of gamers loved 3E for how it allowed you to buy or create lots of magic items (including designing your own).

To me, this explains why lots of d20 campaigns went with wands of CLW. After all, it did allow you to press on and not have the five-minute adventuring day.

 

[CapnZapp]

So, the wand of CLW was in many games a necessary evil. I managed to avoid the problem in 3e with it by allowing auto heal for every 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep and keeping super hard encounters to a minimum.

How has 5e dealt with that problem aside from full heal after long rest (sleeping)? How do you heal hit point drain in your games during the day during and in between encounters? Do you always make sure there is a cleric or bard in the party to provide healing? Do you stock up your players healing potions?

The most interesting aspect of this problem area revolves around games with no primary healer.

(That is, not necessarily "games without a cleric" but more specifically "games without a player liking to spend a lot of her actions on healing". The distinction is subtle, but it's there, and I'll happily expand upon it if you like)

My ideal solution is for the game to offer an optional rule or agreement for these campaigns - a rule you simply don't use when you have a "traditional" party (with a primary healer).

This optional rule could of course have been "let's add lots of wands or scrolls or potions to the game", but that makes the game too magical for my tastes.

Instead, I propose
a) allowing you to spend a Hit Die using an action
b) replenishing Hit Dice on a short rest

This would allow groups with no healing spells (no spellcaster and no spells-in-a-bottle) to still work as the game intends (that is, adventuring for 5-8 encounters a day).

Of course, such a rule would not suit every group and that's why it should be optional.

 

[PnPgamer]

Cure wound wands might get again highly sought after if they would function like wand of magic missile, except of course casting cure wounds.

 

[CapnZapp]

Cure wound wands might get again highly sought after if they would function like wand of magic missile, except of course casting cure wounds.

Yes.

Write an adventure handing out half a dozen such babies, and you're back at square one. (that's 6x6=36 free CLWs a day)

 

[KarinsDad]

The problem with the wand of Cure Light Wounds was that players could buy them, easily, and it allowed them to heal up to full after every fight without expending any meaningful resources. The item was ludicrously cheap, compared to the expected-wealth-by-level chart.

That problem is fixed in 5E, because magic items aren't for sale.

Actually, magic items can be for sale in 5E. It's just not recommended by the game designers, but it is a possibility mentioned by them.

And in 3E, magic items could also be crafted (I suspect that at more tables, Wands of CLW were crafted instead of purchased). Crafting items is also a possibility in 5E, it's just notoriously time consuming to do so.

 

[KarinsDad]

Cure wound wands might get again highly sought after if they would function like wand of magic missile, except of course casting cure wounds.

How much do you want to bet that they will show up in a 5E splat book?





Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

 

[Klaus]

Any character with proficiency in the Herbalism Kit can churn out potions of healing, so there *are* magic items for sale... or crafting.

That being said, it varies from group to group. Some DMs just adjust encoutner difficulty, so there's never a *need* for gp-for-hp (healer's kits, potions or wands) full healing before fights. Others see no problem in taxing PCs to the max, and allow them to pile up on gp-for-hp healing. And Hit Dice (an evolution of 4e's healing surges) cover most of the healing needs for most parties.

The best part of 5e is that there is no one-size-fits-all play style.