Reforms so you don't need healing surges

[ferratus]

If D&D was a Naval Wargame, used the same combat system, and Class represented type of ship.....What would you think of these Healing Surges?

Bilge pumps of course. The ship is sinking but the crew pumps the water out and/or does emergency repairs.

But this thread is about how to replace healing surges with more "narrative" friendly options. You want the thread "should 5e have healing surges" next door.

 

[Hassassin]

Healing always has had and always should have a limit.

You carry X potions, so you can drink up to X. Why would there additionally need to be a time limit? I haven't seen any 24h adventuring days that I would need to get rid of.

 

[ferratus]

You carry X potions, so you can drink up to X. Why would there additionally need to be a time limit? I haven't seen any 24h adventuring days that I would need to get rid of.

It becomes more of a problem with item that have charges (wands of cure light wounds). If the party can keep going forever, then there really isn't much of a consequence in not taking your down time until the wizard runs out of spells.

Also, you don't feel ground down and weakened by the opponent's henchmen, and since you don't get worn down, they just feel like a huge waste of time.

 

[Hassassin]

It becomes more of a problem with item that have charges (wands of cure light wounds).

That's a problem with the item in question, I think.

The quotes from 5e designers and testers imply that magic items aren't built into level advancement and that not all items will be easily craftable by PCs.

 

[KarinsDad]

Also, you don't feel ground down and weakened by the opponent's henchmen, and since you don't get worn down, they just feel like a huge waste of time.

In 4E, my home group ran out of healing surges a lot more frequently than they ran out of Dailies, especially once we got to Paragon. I guess we got into a habit of not using Dailies and Action Points in typical encounters, using a few from the entire party on moderately hard encounters, and only pulling out quite a few of them in a tough encounters.

It's a very similar problem to 3E, but in reverse.

3E Wizard: "Can we rest? I'm spent."
4E Wizard: "What do you mean you're tired? I've got most of my spells ready to go."

It went, at least for our game, from one extreme to the other.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

I'd rather see LESS healing, not more. Can the healing surges, lose the wands of healing. No spontaneous casting of healing spells. Makes players more cautious about setting off traps willy nilly and fighting every single rat in the dungeon. Spontaneous casting of healing spells forces the cleric into a medpack role. Without that option, he can prepare combat spells, utility spells, or whatever. If the party takes a beating, he can load up on heals to restore them. He's low on spells for one day, not every day. And he can still be a walking medpack if he so chooses, but it's by choice, not forced upon him.

 

[Izumi]

Bilge pumps of course. The ship is sinking but the crew pumps the water out and/or does emergency repairs.

But this thread is about how to replace healing surges with more "narrative" friendly options. You want the thread "should 5e have healing surges" next door.

The Chainmail Man-to-Man rules killed you in one hit, the Naval Wargame rules were added to prevent that, and finally the abstractions were added to stifle complaints that it wasn't realistic. Adding Bilge pumps helps a lot.
I don't mind if 5th has them or it or not, but I don't think there is any way to give this a narrative friendly option.

 

[Hassassin]

Bilge pumps of course. The ship is sinking but the crew pumps the water out and/or does emergency repairs.

Which is of course only possible X times a day, where X depends on the ship's class.

 

[Stalker0]

Hmm... it cut off "so you can ignore healing surges" from the thread title. It must be too long for a thread title.

Can I get an thread title edit for this? "Reforms so you don't need healing surges" would be good.

Taken care of

--Stalker0

 

[Ahnehnois]

i.e.:

I'd rather see LESS healing, not more.

Edit: The idea here is that the ability to completely heal all damage in short order is not an assumed resource that every character should be entitiled to, and that pressing on through adversity and injury is exactly the kind of adventure that D&D is about.