D&D (2024) How to buff healing, make it reliable and discourage whack-a-mole?

[Horwath]

1st thing:
combine Cure wound as Healing word into one spell:

Heal
1st level
range 60ft
Bonus action:
heal one target in 60ft for 15HP. Increase amount of healing by 10HP for every spell slot higher than 1st.
Caster can split this healing between target and caster.
(optional) when you are healed by this spell, you can spend an HD to increase healing. You can spend a number of HDs equal to spell level.

Healing domain: increase healing from spells by 3 HP per spell level. (2+ SL is horrible scaling for later)


2nd:
when you drop to 0HP, you gain exhaustion level.
This exhaustion level goes away if you are healed to 100% or after a Short rest. This amount can be tweaked to 75% or 50% of max HP, however you like the game to be gritty.

 

[Yaarel]

I am kinda happy the way UA Playtest 8 does it.

It surprised me. But.

Beefing up the healing reduces pressure on the healer player to heal, and reduces wack-a-mole by granting more staying power.

It changes the math assumption, yet nothing seems to be broken. It seems the new math is better.

The beefier healing is a brave and wise design.

 

[Yaarel]

Something 4e did that 5e can do too, is convert all healings into hit dice.

So the Fighter heals via d10 hit die (or 6 hp per die). The Wizard heals d6 (or 4 hp). Etcetera.

This proportional healing makes more sense, and benefits the character concepts that are in the middle of melee combat and soaking up the most damage.

 

[mellored]

Make it temporary hit points?

 

[Horwath]

Something 4e did that 5e can do too, is convert all healings into hit dice.

So the Fighter heals via d10 hit die (or 6 hp per die). The Wizard heals d6 (or 4 hp). Etcetera.

This proportional healing makes more sense, and benefits the character concepts that are in the middle of melee combat and soaking up the most damage.

that is why there is an option that target can spend it's own HDs to augment the healing.

Alternatively, HDs can be easily turned into Healing surges:

Healing surge: heals for 25% of max HPs, like 4E
amount per long rest is 2×prof bonus + Con mod.

Once per short rest you can take Dodge action as a Action and spend a Healing surge to heal for 25% of your HP.

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

Make it temporary hit points?

I think THP is a valid "other" option to keep your people alive, alongside normal healing... however...

I'm starting to wonder whether excess healing should translate to THP. That way healing is rarely wasted. If you already have THP, take the higher value.

 

[Charlaquin]

As long as dealing damage creates a bigger swing in the damage race than healing does, healing will always be a less efficient use of resources and action economy than dealing damage, unless it brings someone back into the fight who had been taken out of it. There are therefore only two ways to prevent whack-a-mole healing: buff healing so much that it outpaces damage, or remove the rule that an unconscious character regains consciousness if they gain HP.

 

[Horwath]

Make it temporary hit points?

overheal from this spell can be THP that lasts one minute(max of 10 THP).

 

[Horwath]

As long as dealing damage creates a bigger swing in the damage race than healing does, healing will always be a less efficient use of resources and action economy than dealing damage, unless it brings someone back into the fight who had been taken out of it. There are therefore only two ways to prevent whack-a-mole healing: buff healing so much that it outpaces damage, or remove the rule that an unconscious character regains consciousness if they gain HP.

why bother with healing if they do not regain consciousness?

 

[Staffan]

I don't think it's possible to put combat healing in a good place in 5e's daily resource paradigm.

Combat healing can be weak (as in core 5e). In that case, actions and spells spent on healing instead of defeating the enemy are wasteful, unless they bring someone back from being KO:ed, because shortening the fight is a better use of resources.

Or combat healing can be strong, as in PF2 where a single spell can restore a significant chunk of someone's hit points (about 50%). But that then leads to two different paths. Either enemies hit weakly, in which case healing becomes OP because it will undo several rounds of actions on behalf of the monsters. Or enemies hit like a truck, and healers become a necessity and need to spend a great deal of their resources on healing. But that means you need a healer to keep up, and the healer will quicky run out of juice.