D&D (2024) Should Goodberry get improve like Cure and Healing word?

[Paul Farquhar]

in what way?

Put it this way, there was a whole camp of outlaws living in the forest who didn’t need to be fed because they had a Druid casting goodberry every day.

I’ve never seen anyone bother with the healing, it’s just used to eliminate the need for food.

 

[Horwath]

Put it this way, there was a whole camp of outlaws living in the forest who didn’t need to be fed because they had a Druid casting goodberry every day.

that is the part that I would like to get rid off, I even stated it in 1st post.
there needs to be some challenges in exploration at early levels.

if we remove that and comparing to Cure wounds spell should get some buff in healing amount.

as both cure and healing word depend somewhat on casting modifier spell could be:

15+spellcasting mod number of berries.

and it need to be clarified that you eating a SINGLE berry is Bonus action but making someone unconscious to eat it must be at least an Action.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

technically you cannot give it to someone else who is incapacitated as you have to actively eat it.

Indeed. Never noticed that. RAW you can only ever eat it yourself.
Then it was always a terrible spell and the upgrade is not an upgrade at all as for 1hp it does not matter if it is a bonus action or an action...

Might allow as an Action to force feed someone.

I'd just ignore RAW and follow the rules for healing potions.

and it's also melee range vs 60ft range.

(I conveniently ommited that)

 

[Horwath]

Indeed. Never noticed that. RAW you can only ever eat it yourself.
Then it was always a terrible spell and the upgrade is not an upgrade at all as for 1hp it does not matter if it is a bonus action or an action...

with few more HPs to heal and removal of feeding a squad of soldiers from thin air, it can be a good spell for what it is intended to do; healing up to full after combat without risk of wasting spell on overheal or needing an extra slot because of bad healing roll.

 

[Krachek]

technically you cannot give it to someone else who is incapacitated as you have to actively eat it.
Might allow as an Action to force feed someone.
and it's also melee range vs 60ft range.

But stabilizing a pc with a bonus look so cool that it may become the new standard.
Drinking a potion with a bonus action become enough popular that the rule change for that.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Put it this way, there was a whole camp of outlaws living in the forest who didn’t need to be fed because they had a Druid casting goodberry every day.

I’ve never seen anyone bother with the healing, it’s just used to eliminate the need for food.

So it's OP because it removes an annoying part of the game and acts as a justification for certain encounters?

 

[ezo]

The only nerf you need for Goodberry is to make it so you actually have to have berries to cast it on and have a single berry provide a half-ration (you won't necessarily starve with 1 berry a day, but you won't be in good shape after a while...).

A DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) or Wisdom (Survival) check to find 3d6+proficiency bonus berries, takes an hour (make it part of the casting), etc. Adjust the DC depending on terrain, climate, time of year.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

So it's OP because it removes an annoying part of the game and acts as a justification for certain encounters?

It wasn’t just a justification for a single encounter. There was an entire rebel army living of goodberry for years. And in Rime of the Frostmaiden we had ten starving towns, and the PCs march in tossing goodberry’s left right and centre.

It needs to provide nutrition for one day, but if you live off them for an extended period you become ill.

Why do farmers exist when we could replace them all with druids?

 

[Horwath]

It wasn’t just a justification for a single encounter. There was an entire rebel army living of goodberry for years. And in Rime of the Frostmaiden we had ten starving towns, and the PCs march in tossing goodberry’s left right and centre.

It needs to provide nutrition for one day, but if you live off them for an extended period you become ill.

hehe,yes.
1st level (half)caster with Magic initiate(druid) can feel 30 people indefinitely.
Suck on that Startrek with your fancy replicators.

 

[ezo]

It wasn’t just a justification for a single encounter. There was an entire rebel army living of goodberry for years. And in Rime of the Frostmaiden we had ten starving towns, and the PCs march in tossing goodberry’s left right and centre.

It needs to provide nutrition for one day, but if you live off them for an extended period you become ill.

While I see your point and agree to an extent (goodberries providing a half-ration means you can't live off of them entirely), I have never seen it as a viable long-term solution to a problem PCs face.

Sure, goodberries can help in Rime, for example, but you only have 10 at a time and there are dozens up to hundreds of people living in the different towns of Ten Towns. You can't feed them all. If you tried, the PC in question would become a town assest to be fought over like the cauldron.

And unless you have several platoons of Druids using all their spell slots on goodberries, you are not feeding a rebel "army" by any means.

In regular play, it removes the need to track food for the party, but that is about it IME anyway.