D&D 5E Magic healing of inborn conditions

[humble minion]

In a world with standard D&D healing magic, how would you mechanically handle the healing of congenital conditions, or birth defects? Things like a club foot, cleft lip/palate, etc, or even gigantism and so on. It's obviously not a wound, so hp-restoring spells wouldn't help. Greater restoration? Wish? Regeneration? The text of healing spells obviously focuses on a return to how you were a little while ago before the monster punched you, not fixing something that you've had since birth. True Polymorph, into a version of oneself without the condition?

(I was going to suggest 'hunchback' as another possible example, but I discovered recently that most hunch backs had their origin in tuberculosis, you learn something new every day...)

Context: I'm running a 5e Dragonlance game at the time of the War of the Lance. There's been no healing magic in the world for centuries, an NPC with a number of obvious deformities that have led him to hide away from society has discovered that the true gods have returned, and that the PCs have a healer in their group. He's going to ask if they can 'fix' him. They're level 4 right now, so they probably won't be able to right away, but in future?

Similarly but less emotionally heavy, would you allow minor permanent physical changes from magic, without demanding the use of a very high level spell? A hair/eye colour change, or bald spot removal, etc etc? If so, how would you mechanically do it?

 

[Kurotowa]

Philosophically, we have to ask where the line is drawn between magical healing and magical transformation. What conditions does magic, especially divine magic, react to as an injury or curse, and what conditions are simply the person's natural state as part of their race's biodiversity? Sure, maybe it's a feature they don't like and would call a disability. But does that call for healing magic, or does it call for magical reconstructive surgery?

Strictly by the book, True Polymorph is what's needed to smooth away a great many physical defects. Regeneration would be more appropriate for fixing old crippling injuries, possibly with some elective surgery to reset the area. Greater Restoration might be able to cure some of what we classify as genetic diseases, depending on DM interpretation. Or for certain things, simple replacement with a magical prosthetic.

Beyond that, we move into the realm of house rules and the topic of non-adventurer aimed magic. One of Baker's third party Eberron books introduced Cosmetic Transmutation for primarily civilian use. It's a good example of how the PHB spells are for adventurers to use in battlefield or dungeon conditions. Spells and rituals for treating birth defects isn't really part of that repertoire, so the DM would have to decide how that interfaces with the usual PC spell lists.

 

[Lanefan]

Wish could fix a major deformity. In my view that's almost the ideal use of a Wish.

I have it that Heal generally can't fix things like this, as it tries to make the body whole in the way that body expects to be...which means if there's a built-in issue with said body Heal ignores it. Regeneration also can't help; its job is to grow back missing pieces and in this case nothing has been lost.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

In fantasy, I let my players decide if and when the question pops up. The world will still be populated by people with "defects", since hey class society.

In Sci Fi it's only a matter of credits.

 

[Horwath]

Wish could fix a major deformity. In my view that's almost the ideal use of a Wish.

I have it that Heal generally can't fix things like this, as it tries to make the body whole in the way that body expects to be...which means if there's a built-in issue with said body Heal ignores it. Regeneration also can't help; its job is to grow back missing pieces and in this case nothing has been lost.

wish seems like a good idea for major changes, but Reincarnate is 5th level spell and it returns you as completely different species, maybe even different size category.

So that kind of change is possible for 5th level spell, or if you died as heamophiliac human, do you reincarnate as heamophiliac gnome?

maybe if changes are really cosmetics and it does not affect ability scores or change your species, spell level could be lower, maybe even 3rd level.

spell:

G.A.T.T.A.C.A.
3rd level transmutation
Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
target: one humanoid
range: touch
Casting time 1Hr(Ritual)
Components: V, S, M(1000GP worth of diamonds)
Duration: instantaneous,

You change subjects physical appearance and health status within the limits of your species.
you can cure all inborn conditions with this spell or gain them if you wish so that are possible within your species.

 

[humble minion]

Obviously the D&D spell list is angled towards spell that adventurers would use, but it makes a lot of sense to me from a setting point of view that there'd be spells for this sort of thing. I mean, I'm SURE there's been some wizard or other, even in a relatively low-magic world like Krynn, who got sensitive about his bald spot or greying hair or pot bely or receding chin etc and decided to spend a couple of months researching a solution. And once one wizard knows it, it's probably the sort of thing he could do very well out of trading to his fellows, or even setting up shop in a major city and charging nobles enormous amounts of money to cast it for them. Similarly, in a world where there's gods of beauty, or motherhood, or healing, then presumably their clerics would be able to access spells to address birth defects?

So yeah, I've got no qualms inventing something if there's no existing spell short of 9th level which would do the job. I'd be interested to hear what sort of level people think it should be though.

(I've long since thought that 'Ease Childbirth' is another spell that almost certainly exists in the world but isn't in an adventurer's spellbook, as well. And 'Enhance Fertility'. And 'Contraception')

 

[aco175]

I seem to recall a 2e/3e article on this in Dragon Magazine. There was a mold flesh spell if I recall that could soften bones to be moved back together and such.

 

[abirdcall]

I'm just going to go ahead and assume that magic knows what is an impairment and what is just part of who the person is.

If I could have just waved a magic wand to physically transition, better believe I would have, and would like to think that magic would let me do so in a fantasy world. Magic that makes me not trans though (changing my gender) would be a horribly awful curse.

That's how my fantasy world works, hope the distinction clarifies things.

 

[Mind of tempest]

In a world with standard D&D healing magic, how would you mechanically handle the healing of congenital conditions, or birth defects? Things like a club foot, cleft lip/palate, etc, or even gigantism and so on. It's obviously not a wound, so hp-restoring spells wouldn't help. Greater restoration? Wish? Regeneration? The text of healing spells obviously focuses on a return to how you were a little while ago before the monster punched you, not fixing something that you've had since birth. True Polymorph, into a version of oneself without the condition?

(I was going to suggest 'hunchback' as another possible example, but I discovered recently that most hunch backs had their origin in tuberculosis, you learn something new every day...)

Context: I'm running a 5e Dragonlance game at the time of the War of the Lance. There's been no healing magic in the world for centuries, an NPC with a number of obvious deformities that have led him to hide away from society has discovered that the true gods have returned, and that the PCs have a healer in their group. He's going to ask if they can 'fix' him. They're level 4 right now, so they probably won't be able to right away, but in future?

Similarly but less emotionally heavy, would you allow minor permanent physical changes from magic, without demanding the use of a very high level spell? A hair/eye colour change, or bald spot removal, etc etc? If so, how would you mechanically do it?

we could use me as an example as I am asthmatic.

 

[humble minion]

we could use me as an example as I am asthmatic.

Yeah, and I’m very short sighted, went bald at 27, and catch any respiratory illness that even wafts past my neighbourhood. I’d be all over a spell like this if one existed. Even food allergies would count. It’s the sort of thing that a magical society would likely have access to, even if its adventurers didn’t think about it too much.