D&D 5E On the healing options in the 5e DMG

[Mistwell]

What was not mentioned in this thread is the Lingering Wounds system in the DMG.

I guess you roll on a lingering wounds chart when a character is reduced to 0 HP, takes a critical hit or fails a death save by 5 or more.

From the linering wounds chart:

There's stuff like losing an eye, a hand, a foot or a limb (you need regeneration to counter this effects).

Other effects include:

Limp: reduce speed, make a DC 10 dex save or fall when dashing, cured by magical healing.

Internal Injury: when attempting an action in combat make a DC 15 con save or lose the action and the next reaction. Cured by magical healing or 10 days of complete rest.

Broken Ribs: as above, but the save is DC 10.

Horrible Scar: disadvantage on persuasion checks. Advantage on intimidation. Requires healing magic of 6th level or above.

Festering Wound: reduce maximum HP by 1 every day. Cured by magical healing or 10 successful daily medicine checks.

Minor scar: No specific effect. Requires healing magic of 6th level or above.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

It's only half if you roll maximum on the dice or have a feat or feature that maximizes the result. If you take the average die result of half your total HDs, that's approximately 25% of your HPs.

Wouldn't that be the case, only if you took maximum on each die when gaining a level? If you take half (or roll) for each level, then you'd average exactly the same as if you'd rolled that many dice later on.

A level 10 fighter with Con 14 has (10d10 + 20) HP, and can spend 10 Hit Dice to recover (10d10 + 20) HP. Give or take a few HP for maximizing the die at first level, it's the same, right?

 

[Mistwell]

Another issue is you can combine options. So for instance you could make a different kind of grim and gritty system with: only healing by expending hit dice (no HP recovery on long rest); and you can only expend HD by using a healer's kit (hence more clearly connected to an actual physical wound and binding/dressing/treating such a wound); and if you are reduced to 0 HP or take a critical hit or fail a death save by 5 or more, you roll on the lingering wounds table to see what lingering effect happens to your character.

To me, this is a LOT of options they've given us. It's seven different options, and most of them can be combined with any or several of the others, to get to your preferred system.

 

[MechaPilot]

Wouldn't that be the case, only if you took maximum on each die when gaining a level? If you take half (or roll) for each level, then you'd average exactly the same as if you'd rolled that many dice later on.

A level 10 fighter with Con 14 has (10d10 + 20) HP, and can spend 10 Hit Dice to recover (10d10 + 20) HP. Give or take a few HP for maximizing the die at first level, it's the same, right?

You were correct before when you said half HP recovery; I don't know why, but I was assuming max HPs for the PCs and average rolls on the HDs. Using the average die result (rounded up) for both the leveling and the HDs, it works out like this:

The fighter you proposed has 10 + (9*6) + (10*2) or 84 HPs. That fighter also has 10 HDs to spend on day one. However, if the fighter spends them all on day one she only gets half of them back after a long rest. That means that on day two she can spend a maximum of 5 HDs to regain (5*2) + (5*6) or 40 HPs.

 

[Lanefan]

[MENTION=44909]barasawa[/MENTION] makes an excellent point, that to change the healing rules might have some unintended knock-on effects as written. The solution: divorce just about everything from "rest" timing and put it on to actual timing. Thus for example casters don't regain spells after a "long rest", instead they regain them after each sunrise* provided they've had at least 8 hours rest since they last regained spells.

* - or whatever other time period suits your game.

[MENTION=2525]Mistwell[/MENTION] also raises a good point: with lingering wounds** you have another lever to tweak. Want it harsher? Have a chance of lingering wounds come up if you go below half h.p. (a variant on 4e's bloodied idea) Want it easier? Don't use lingering wounds at all. And so on.

** - something I'd add to the lingering wounds table is some form of incurability - if you have a lingering wound magical healing will not work on you for x-period-of-time except to cure the lingering effect itself; but you can regain h.p. by simple resting over time as usual.

I for one don't mind characters getting back a bit of health both during an overnight rest (I use 1/10 of full h.p.) and if they spend a few minutes after a combat patching themselves up, getting a drink, seeing to the nicks and scratches, etc. (d3 h.p. but only heals damage taken in that combat).

Lan-"a body point-fatigue point system would be even better, but I haven't heard tell of that in the 5e DMG yet"-efan

 

[guachi]

I didn't actually like the short/long rest mechanic when I saw it in the Basic Rules. What it does have going for it, however, is combining healing and class mechanics in one rule for ease of use.

Like Lanefan writes, if you wish to lengthen healing then perhaps you should decouple long rest healing and long rest class effects. Lanefan's ideas are extra, but not crippling, bookkeeping of the sort I plan on implementing in my non-Adventure League campaign whenever it gets started.

 

[Sailor Moon]

Seriously? After starting a huge flame baiting thread on the WotC board you decided to do it also here? Are you that bored?

Warder

You do realize that posts like yours are what start the fire to begin with. What did you hope to accomplish by calling him/her out on it other than to start what you are giving out about?

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

There isn't, as long as the DM changes his style of play to accommodate it. This system would assume fewer encounters or generally weaker encounters per (real) day to make up the 6-8 encounters between "rests".

Not necessarily. "Grim & Gritty" makes me think of OD&D/1E sandbox play. Players who realized their limitations and avoided unnecessary conflict lived. Those who relied on the DM to modify the world to suit their brazen style of play died. The DM doesn't have to worry about "encounters per timespan" if his campaign is not encounter-based. The players are the ones that need to use caution not to overextend themselves.

 

[Sailor Moon]

Not necessarily. "Grim & Gritty" makes me think of OD&D/1E sandbox play. Players who realized their limitations and avoided unnecessary conflict lived. Those who relied on the DM to modify the world to suit their brazen style of play died. The DM doesn't have to worry about "encounters per timespan" if his campaign is not encounter-based. The players are the ones that need to use caution not to overextend themselves.

Those are the types of games I like to play and run. I hate the whole "encounter limit" for balance.

 

[Baumi]

All that Grimm & Gritty (and other slower Healing Rules) does, is to focus more on magical instead of natural healing. So Clerics, Bards, etc. are even more important .. is that really that a good thing?