D&D 5E Those who come from earlier editions, why are you okay with 5E healing (or are you)?

[Einlanzer0]

My preference is to view HP more in the abstract that represents something closer to battle vitality than it does actual injury. I think using optional injury/madness rules is a better way to increase grit in the game than making HP healing really slow.

 

[Chaosmancer]

The game rules ARE the setting! They have to be, otherwise all you've got is an inconsistent mess.

I hate to break it to you, but even if you take every game rule as representing the setting... you've got an inconsistent mess.

The big one for me recently is slot levels in magic. They make no coherent sense. They are entirely a fabrication of the game.

But, they make the game easier to play, and it is far more trouble to fix than it is to just leave alone and ignore. (Spell points don't neccesarily help, just move the problem around)

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Even though it should be - and, given the amount of discussion that arises every time the subject is broached, clearly is.

One can get a fair amount of the way there by modifying any of 0e-1e-2e such that armour gives damage reduction and h.p. don't increase with level anywhere near as fast as RAW would have them.

They're partly meat points (for various reasons including poison they have to be), and that you can still fully function at 1 h.p. having lost 76 h.p. is and always has been a glaring hole in the rules.

No, I'll just kitbash D&D.

Falling damage has always been another glaring hole in the rules, though it's much more easily solved than some others.

Some of that stems from a simple desire to narrate a hit differently from a miss. Otherwise you end up with:

Miss: "The blow glances off your shield for no damage."
Hit: "The blow glances off your shield for 7 damage."

And it's entirely possible the very use of the word "damage" might be at fault, as damage is usually defined as (and most certainly implies) something being physically harmed or broken or even destroyed.

I definitely agree that damage being seen as physical breaking is an issue. Harm or something might have been better, but that term is deeply embedded now.

However re poison I think that's actually a hole in the rules similar to falling - but I presumed that the old saves vs poison were more about not getting even scratched rather than resisting it. That it later changed to Con type saves showed other people thought otherwise though!

Re the amount of discussion, its not correct to say that's necessarily meaningful, given where we are and how rarely this comes up at most tables (in my experience). I've seen falling rules be subject to easily ten times as much discussion IRL than the concept of HP or what they exactly represent. Everyone thinks the falling rules are dumb, pretty much, in my experience.

If I were doing a bonfire of the sacred cows (a BBQ?) I would definitely throw HP as is on there so they could be clarified and/or re-imagined but I'd definitely keep similar rules in terms of of simplicity and being able to fight until you couldn't. I've never seen death spiral rules or similar produce particularly attractive results. I would probably introduce some kind of simple wound system for going down and for when it feels appropriate, like hard falls (but a real simple one). I daresay some D&D cousin has already done all this.

I agree with @Einlanzer0 that an injury system does a better job re grit than slow HP regain.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I hate to break it to you, but even if you take every game rule as representing the setting... you've got an inconsistent mess.

The big one for me recently is slot levels in magic. They make no coherent sense. They are entirely a fabrication of the game.

But, they make the game easier to play, and it is far more trouble to fix than it is to just leave alone and ignore. (Spell points don't neccesarily help, just move the problem around)

As far as spell slots goes, or spell points (being slightly better IMO) goes, both are inferior to a spell drain system. You can continue casting until the spell's power overwhelms you and you need a short rest (or similar) before you can cast again.

I suppose one could argue spell slots and points represent that, but it is too uniform for my taste to work as a drain mechanic.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

You're the third or fourth or sixth person to bring this up, that nobody wanted to play the Cleric; and it's not always true. The Cleric in those games is supposed to be first and foremost a support class rather than a front-and-centre class, and believe it or not some people like playing the support class.

However doing nothing but substandard attacks because all your spells were needed to heal is one of the least interesting ways of playing a support class.
5e is a good point between that extreme and 3e's attempt to make playing one less onerous that overshot rather severely.

And it's entirely possible the very use of the word "damage" might be at fault, as damage is usually defined as (and most certainly implies) something being physically harmed or broken or even destroyed.

If you want to get down to that level, "Hit" is also problematic, given the AC system.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Just envisioning how every D&D novel would read if combat in the novels was handled how some people here advocate handling combat in the game. None of the heroes ever actually gets wounded or takes damage their whole career. Drizzt just only ever gets winded, no matter if the battle was against giants or wraith Zaknafein. And people think he was a Mary Sue now. Just imagine lol

 

[Argyle King]

I don't have an issue with the healing.

I think, if I have an issue with how healing works, it's probably actually an issue with numbers bloat and how D&D treats HP and damage.

 

[Fanaelialae]

Just envisioning how every D&D novel would read if combat in the novels was handled how some people here advocate handling combat in the game. None of the heroes ever actually gets wounded or takes damage their whole career. Drizzt just only ever gets winded, no matter if the battle was against giants or wraith Zaknafein. And people think he was a Mary Sue now. Just imagine lol

A game is not a book. A book is not a game. (Let's ignore choose your own adventure style books, which while bridging that gap to a degree, are really more game than book.)

In a book it's not a problem if the hero gets the stuffing knocked out of him and is laid up for weeks or months recovering. In a book that focuses on a solo character, you might largely fast forward through it. Or focus on their inner turmoil during i5. In a book with a larger cast, other characters can easily have adventures while the injured guy recovers, since the author has no obligation to involve that character.

That doesn't work as well in a team oriented game like D&D. It would be crappy to tell the player that they can't play the next few sessions because their character is too beat up. Having them roll up a new character in the interim is certainly an option, but not a great one if the player has any real investment in their character. It can also be annoying for the party to have to sit around and wait for the guy to recover if they're fine and would otherwise have adventures they wish to pursue (it doesn't make sense to sit on your hands for weeks if the innocent dragon's life is threatened, having been kidnapped by an evil princess).

Finally, I don't think even Drizzt novels, action oriented as they are, have as much combat as the average D&D campaign. Some things just work better for different forms of entertainment.

 

[Oofta]

Just envisioning how every D&D novel would read if combat in the novels was handled how some people here advocate handling combat in the game. None of the heroes ever actually gets wounded or takes damage their whole career. Drizzt just only ever gets winded, no matter if the battle was against giants or wraith Zaknafein. And people think he was a Mary Sue now. Just imagine lol

In one of the recent novels, Bruenor almost dies and is layed up for a few months. Others have described bruises and small cuts, aches and pains.

Of course Drizzt has plot armor, so he never really gets hurt.

 

[Hriston]

Of course Drizzt has plot armor, so he never really gets hurt.

Oh, you mean he has hit points?