D&D 5E (2014) Should healing magic be based on HD or not?

[Oofta]

The bards would like a word.

A Healing Word.

Every bard believes they are heaven sent, who am I to argue?

 

[Lyxen]

So... we make everything worse so we can get a bloated spell list? Cool.

Hmmm ? No, we open the game to lots of possibilities and we have the player choose what he wants rather than railroad him into a specific choice.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I would requite reworking a bunch of spells, but I do believe that low level healing spell would require you to spend HDs, like most healing in 4e. Surge-less healing, like it was known by then, should be rare-ish features or less powerful. It would require to have more HD available at low level, maybe HD per day could something like half-level + proficiency.

Another idea: have creatures at 0 hp spend 1 HD to receive any healing. So no Hit Die remaining? No easy healing word for you!

Then you would need monsters/spells/challenges that drain HD from players or Conditions that affect the spending of HDs.

 

[BrokenTwin]

One of the disadvantages with using 5E's hit dice as the primary source of healing (as opposed to the 4E Healing Surges) is that lower level characters have a lot fewer HD in 5E than HS in 4E. Which would make the disparity between low level and high level lethality even larger.

 

[payn]

I dont mind the limits being on both external and internal forces. Sometimes a creature can only take so much damage, tempt fate so many times, just has a limit that cant be passed. I mean, folks like to point to a God's power channeling through their follower, but that follower cant keep doing it as often as they want. Why can one have a limit, but not the other?

 

[payn]

One of the disadvantages with using 5E's hit dice as the primary source of healing (as opposed to the 4E Healing Surges) is that lower level characters have a lot fewer HD in 5E than HS in 4E. Which would make the disparity between low level and high level lethality even larger.

Yeah if I had my designers hat on again, Id probably go HD + Con mod or something to add a few extra shots every day.

 

[LordEntrails]

So how much a 20th level Life Cleric can heal depends upon the target and not the power of the cleric and their deity?

Yea, no. Not for me.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Every bard believes they are heaven sent, who am I to argue?

I make heaven wherever I am.

 

[BrokenTwin]

Yeah if I had my designers hat on again, Id probably go HD + Con mod or something to add a few extra shots every day.

I'd be all for giving Con mod more to do, but then we're adding complexity instead of changing complexity, which has its own issues.

In regards to healing magic, I would totally add a spell or two that can recover a character's expended HD. Frankly, I'm shocked a spell like that doesn't already exist. I also think that you should be able to expend HD to recover Exhaustion on a short rest, but that's just me.

Really, Hit Dice as a mechanic is shockingly underutilized in 5E in general.

 

[HammerMan]

See my last post though and I do not see how a priest making a potion can imbue it with knowing who is going to drink it to determine how much power is in it. I also wonder if it would be gamed and the fighter gets all the potions since he can roll a d10, or the barbarian with a d12. Although it might make the potion be used more in combat.

the priest or alchomist puts the same energy in... the energy that lets you tap a bit more of your luck vigor and defensives (represented by HD)