D&D 5E Increased in-combat healing

[Blue]

With the exception of one life cleric with mass cures, almost all in-combat healing I've seen has been just to stand someone fallen and very little proactive healing.

To encourage proactive healing, I could make hitting zero or failing death saves scarier, such as adding levels of exhaustion. But that doesn't address what I believe is the root cause that it doesn't heal enough for the action spent.

So I thought I'd borrow an idea from 4e and 13th Age about spending a Healing Surge / Recovery during healing, and also to be able to trigger it yourself. Following is the primary rule, and then a minor corollary rule.

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Increase Magical Healing

GOAL: To make in-combat healing more viable then just to stand someone up.

PROPOSED HOUSE RULE:
When you are the recipient of a magical healing spell of 1st level or higher or from another magical source like a healng potion, you may also spend HD up to the number of dice from the healing.

Special: Lay-on-Hand counts allows 1 die of healing for each full 5 HPs healed. Other uses of lay-on-hands do not trigger this.

EXAMPLES:
Brandar the Fighter is healed using a 1st level Healing Word spell, which heals 1d4+Wis. He may also spend up to 1 HD, since the spell cures 1dX.
Later, Brandar drinks a Potion of Healing, which heals 2d4+2. He may spend up to two HD.
Even later, Brandar is one of the recipients of a Mass Cure Wounds spell. Since the spell cures 3d8+Wis, each of the recipients can spend up to 3 HD.

COMMENTS: I worry that this may make Potions of Healing too effective (from the lose-effectiveness-quickly place they are now). I was worried about martial types using up all HD and pushing for a 15 minute adventuring day, but then it occurs that they'd be spending about the same HD during short rests anyhow.

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Increased Non-Magical Healing in Combat

GOAL: Increased magical healing will likely have a response of an increase in challenge, and therefore more dependence on a magical healer unless there is also a way to do non-magical healing.

PROPOSED HOUSE RULE:
A new action, Rally, is allowed for all characters. When you Rally you may spend HD up to your proficiency bonus. Once you do so, you may not do so again until you complete a short or long rest.

EXAMPLE:
Brandar is 10th level with a proficiency bonus of +4. He may spend an action to Rally and may spend up to 4 HD.

COMMENT: This doesn't really compete with the Fighter's Second Wind. While it heals more it both (a) takes an action and (b) uses up surges. I don't think Fighters will mind having some extra, nor does it dilute their special ability too much that others have it because of where it fits in the action economy.

 

[I'm A Banana]

This will definitely do what you want.

One of the prices you'll pay is that combat will be less tense and short rests will be less valuable. The low amount of in-combat healing is there to make sure that a PC who is dropped to 0 hp still feels that during and after the combat, and to up the incentive to take a short rest ASAP if you happen to drop. If you can spend HD during a fight (or with a healing effect), a short rest is only really necessary for recovering certain short-rest-recharge abilities. These rules could also increase the pressure to long-rest as a character will be running out of HD much faster than it a typical party. So, more long rests, fewer short rests, all told (this may lead to short-rest-recharge characters like warlocks feeling a bit short-changed, since they won't get the true frequency of their abilities).

If that's a price you're willing to live with, then mission accomplished! If that's not a price you're willing to live with, you might want to consider adding something to a short rest to make it more valuable (maybe give a few HD back or provide some ongoing bonus for having short rested, possibly one which goes away the first time you hit 0 hp) and thus bringing it back to being a thing the PC's want to do after one of them was just dropped.

 

[Blue]

One of the prices you'll pay is that combat will be less tense and short rests will be less valuable. The low amount of in-combat healing is there to make sure that a PC who is dropped to 0 hp still feels that during and after the combat, and to up the incentive to take a short rest ASAP if you happen to drop. If you can spend HD during a fight (or with a healing effect), a short rest is only really necessary for recovering certain short-rest-recharge abilities.

Excellent point, I hadn't thought about the effects of this on the desirability of a short rest. Do you think I should pair this with easing short rests (making shorter, etc.) since there will be less pressure to take them and therefore the short-rest-recovery classes will be at a disadvantage?

For my next campaign I had considered changes to rest mechanics based off a thread on Adventures in Middle Earth changes to 5e from last week that would slow down rests slightly similar to the DMG variants, but that was for a specific feel to the campaign not for general use. I was already planning a "safety value" of if you complete three encounters since your last rest, you can recover features (but not spend HD) as if you had a short rest. The 3 encounters was more then expected - this was a safety value not the normal mechanic. But maybe that might fit well with these healing rules regardless of the campaign feel.

As for "less tense", an assumption I made but only referred to in passing in the second rule is that increase healing will likely have increased threat during encounter design. I know I design encounters for what my party can do instead of a generic placeholder - and some parties are more optimized or have more synergy while others aren't. If a party isn't feeling risk, I'll likely throw harder encounters their way.

These rules could also increase the pressure to long-rest as a character will be running out of HD much faster than it a typical party.

I'm not sure I see that. I was thinking that if you need to spend HD to heal 40 HPs of damage, it doesn't really matter if it happens during combat or during a short rest. What am I missing?

[Changes from the expected based on these changes] ... f that's not a price you're willing to live with, you might want to consider adding something to a short rest to make it more valuable (maybe give a few HD back or provide some ongoing bonus for having short rested, possibly one which goes away the first time you hit 0 hp) and thus bringing it back to being a thing the PC's want to do after one of them was just dropped.

I wouldn't want stacking bonuses, like HD back each time, but a short rest bonus that diminishes or goes away could work. Doesn't even need to go away with dropping - it could fade over encounters and give an incentive to take a short rest, which those classes with short rest recovery would enjoy. As a side note, the Rally action is recharged by hosrt rests so it's already an encouragement. On the flip side, we're already giving PCs a boost - an additional boost pushed them even further off the norm. Maybe more negative consequences that can be resolved by a short rest.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Excellent point, I hadn't thought about the effects of this on the desirability of a short rest. Do you think I should pair this with easing short rests (making shorter, etc.) since there will be less pressure to take them and therefore the short-rest-recovery classes will be at a disadvantage?

For my next campaign I had considered changes to rest mechanics based off a thread on Adventures in Middle Earth changes to 5e from last week that would slow down rests slightly similar to the DMG variants, but that was for a specific feel to the campaign not for general use. I was already planning a "safety value" of if you complete three encounters since your last rest, you can recover features (but not spend HD) as if you had a short rest. The 3 encounters was more then expected - this was a safety value not the normal mechanic. But maybe that might fit well with these healing rules regardless of the campaign feel.

As for "less tense", an assumption I made but only referred to in passing in the second rule is that increase healing will likely have increased threat during encounter design. I know I design encounters for what my party can do instead of a generic placeholder - and some parties are more optimized or have more synergy while others aren't. If a party isn't feeling risk, I'll likely throw harder encounters their way.

Easier short rests might help, but what might go farther is incentive to short rest. Ideally, you want your players to want to short rest. Default 5e uses limited healing to incentivize that desire (by the stick of loss aversion). With your house rule, you'll want to give them something that a short rest prevents or grants them that they don't otherwise have access to.

I'm not sure I see that. I was thinking that if you need to spend HD to heal 40 HPs of damage, it doesn't really matter if it happens during combat or during a short rest. What am I missing?

In-combat healing is a lot more frequent than a short rest is, typically. 6-8 encounters with a reasonable chance to drop to 0 on each of 'em means 6-8 "healed from 0" events each adventuring day (maybe 3-4 if the party is handling their fights reasonably well) vs. 2 "short rests" per day. With long rests being the only source of HD restoration, I'm imagining a lot of folks running out of HD after a few encounters and being more interested in that long rest.

Maybe more negative consequences that can be resolved by a short rest.

That's one of the big things this house rule subtracts from the regular game's pacing, so adding that back will help. Perhaps a short-rest-restored level of exhaustion or somesuch? I think you've got a lot of possibilities.

 

[mellored]

Some ideas, though i'm not exactly sure what you are looking for.

*When you take damage, you can expend any number of HD, adding your Con mod to each die spent, and reduce the damage by that amount.
*When you are below 1/2 your hit points, you take -1 to all d20 rolls. (or possibly +1 when you are at max HP).
*Durring a short rest, you can expend your HD, and gain that many Temporary Hit Points.

 

[mellored]

As for short rests, a house rule i've used for a while.

Twice each day, you can take an action to gain the benefits of a short rest. (replaces normal short rests).


The "downside" is that big fights are less dangerous.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

One of the major reasons why they went with the short-rest and Hit Dice mechanic in 5E is the same reason they had encounter powers and healing surges in 4E: No matter what happens, or how many resources you expend in your first fight of the day, you should always have enough to keep going for at least one more fight after you take a short rest.

If you could spend Hit Dice by taking potions or being the recipient of a Cure spell, then a likely outcome of a tense battle is that you are out of Hit Dice for the day. Which means, if there is another combat after that, then you get to spend the whole fight hiding, because it's too dangerous for you to risk getting hit.

By the model in the book, you always have a little bit in reserve, after the first fight. After one terrible combat, you still have enough Hit Dice to get back up to half. If the wizard went through all of their spell slots, then they still have Arcane Recovery to get one back. If the life cleric is tapped out on healing, then they get their channel which can heal people who are low. Everyone has some amount of resources that you just can't access right now, but which will be available later.

That's the risk you run, with this change. You make the current combat last longer, at the expense of this combat's punching-bag being unable to recover for the rest of the day.

 

[GMMichael]

Dang it! Not much point in jumping into a thread after these guys...

...except to suggest that the entire thing be avoided by making encounters -easier- in the first place? Also, if as a deity, I caught my cleric of life and healing spending so much time in melee combat that he didn't have time to heal his comrades before they started making death-saves...I'd have to revoke his powers for a while.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Easier short rests might help, but what might go farther is incentive to short rest. Ideally, you want your players to want to short rest. Default 5e uses limited healing to incentivize that desire (by the stick of loss aversion). With your house rule, you'll want to give them something that a short rest prevents or grants them that they don't otherwise have access to.

Short resting represents a short break from adventuring. Patching up your wounds, checking your weapons, unwinding for a bit with a short nap, eating, etc. So how about this incentive:

Players may only eat pizza while PCs are taking a short rest. Play resumes when everyone is done with their pizza.

 

[Hakon Blum]

the solution to your house rule is simple

healing potions no longer heal 2d4+2 HP
now they heal 1d8+3 HP

this means they can only spend 1 extra hit dice during use of a potion