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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pour" data-source="post: 6045442" data-attributes="member: 59411">Something that Mike Mearls mentioned on the Google+ Hangout kind of sparked an idea. He was talking about the Warlord in Next and where non-magical healing fits into the game given the abstractness of hit points. Then he said something I actually never knew was a design intent, that with the bloodied mechanic in 4e, all damage up until being bloodied (brought to half hit points) was largely superficial, stamina, morale, and energy, while everything afterward, into negative hit points and eventual death, were the actual, serious wounds. Expanding that idea, and if you're willing to accept the abstractness of hit points, what if non-magical healing only worked on characters at the bloodied threshold or higher, and could only affect hp within the 50%-99% threshold. Magical healing then only works on characters below their bloodied threshold, and only affects hp within the 49%-0% hp and lower threshold. So a Cleric's prayers literally close wounds, while a Warlord's commands keep people going, replenish morale, push them back from the brink.That said, I do believe there should be some cross over, unique powers to keep a man conscious on the Warlord's side or give him one, last heroic surge, while the Cleric might inspire men with religious fervor, but these types of powers don't necessarily have to do with healing. Ultimately, I believe dividing the hp threshold and making each the master of one side of the pie gives both non-competing space to work in the same business of keeping players alive and well, using largely the same mechanics, but not stepping on each others' toes. I also think it creatively colors the type of aid a Warlord or Cleric could offer, the Warlord weighted toward the early rounds, more or less directing combat (Warlords do use strategy, don't they) by choosing who stays healthiest and who receives their commands/boons. Clerics in combat come into play later or after particularly brutal onslaughts which drop characters below bloodied, times when you're 'living on a prayer'. This also takes some of the pressure off being a heal-bot because clerics by RAW can only really intervene when a player is 49% hp or lower. In terms of out of combat healing, I imagine both would be able to apply their art to some degree, whether through field medicine or additional prayer, though even then it might be better to keep these proposed hp threshold limits.</blockquote>

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