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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Should healing word require hit dice?
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<blockquote data-quote="Clint_L" data-source="post: 8921795" data-attributes="member: 7035894"><p>Because <em>healing word</em> is a bonus action that you can cast at a 60' range, and it doesn't just stabilize someone, it pops them right back into combat. It's not comparable.</p><p></p><p>I think OP's suggestion is a good start but doesn't go far enough. <em>Healing word</em> fundamentally changes encounter design in 5e because, as OP correctly points out, it makes the "whack-a-mole" strategy of only healing people when they drop to 0 HP the most efficient, effective way to heal, and drastically lowers the stakes in combat because rescue is usually just a bonus action away. And the caster still gets to take another action. It's almost a get-out-of-jail-free card.</p><p></p><p>If you run a combat where the party has, say, a Bard and Cleric both with <em>healing word</em>, it is extremely difficult for the party to be in peril. From a storytelling perspective, I think <em>healing word</em> lowers the stakes too much. I would like to see it nerfed in OneD&D, but instead they are doubling down by giving Bard's a new ability where they can effectively do <em>healing word</em> (more or less) as a reaction. So then a bard will be able to pick two members up and still take an action (and if they have the medicine skill, that action could be to pick up a third member).</p><p></p><p>Edit: something as consequential to the story as saving your bleeding out teammate should at least require your action, IMO. Not an afterthought.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Clint_L, post: 8921795, member: 7035894"] Because [I]healing word[/I] is a bonus action that you can cast at a 60' range, and it doesn't just stabilize someone, it pops them right back into combat. It's not comparable. I think OP's suggestion is a good start but doesn't go far enough. [I]Healing word[/I] fundamentally changes encounter design in 5e because, as OP correctly points out, it makes the "whack-a-mole" strategy of only healing people when they drop to 0 HP the most efficient, effective way to heal, and drastically lowers the stakes in combat because rescue is usually just a bonus action away. And the caster still gets to take another action. It's almost a get-out-of-jail-free card. If you run a combat where the party has, say, a Bard and Cleric both with [I]healing word[/I], it is extremely difficult for the party to be in peril. From a storytelling perspective, I think [I]healing word[/I] lowers the stakes too much. I would like to see it nerfed in OneD&D, but instead they are doubling down by giving Bard's a new ability where they can effectively do [I]healing word[/I] (more or less) as a reaction. So then a bard will be able to pick two members up and still take an action (and if they have the medicine skill, that action could be to pick up a third member). Edit: something as consequential to the story as saving your bleeding out teammate should at least require your action, IMO. Not an afterthought. [/QUOTE]
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Should healing word require hit dice?
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