Trouble with Short Rest and Healing Word

[Regicide]

Ok, it's rules legal, but I still think it's cheesier than a box of Cheez-its wrapped in a pizza and dropped in a vat of Velveeta somewhere in Wisconsin. Not because I don't want clerics healing outside of combat, but because of the way the system is set up.

Jump off a cliff, lose 90% of your HP, climb back up, jump off again and you're vulture food.

Jump off a cliff, lose 90% of yoru HP, climb back up, take a 5 minute rest, jump off again, and you're fine having only lost 90% of your HP again.

4E healing is cheesy period. Just grin and bear it.

 

[amysrevenge]

Jump off a cliff, lose 90% of your HP, climb back up, jump off again and you're vulture food.

Jump off a cliff, lose 90% of yoru HP, climb back up, take a 5 minute rest, jump off again, and you're fine having only lost 90% of your HP again.

4E healing is cheesy period. Just grin and bear it.

3E

Jump off a cliff, lose 90% of your HP, climb back up, jump off again and you're vulture food.

Jump off a cliff, lose 90% of your HP, climb back up, spend 30 charges off your CLW wand, jump off again, and you're fine having only lost 90% of your HP again.

 

[nittanytbone]

grinding random encounters for xp and loot

Which is why instead of Random Encounters, you narrate one, charge everyone a healing surge, and move on. No XP, no loot, no wasted table time.

 

[nittanytbone]

Ok, it's rules legal, but I still think it's cheesier than a box of Cheez-its wrapped in a pizza and dropped in a vat of Velveeta somewhere in Wisconsin. Not because I don't want clerics healing outside of combat, but because of the way the system is set up.

I can feel the players trying to pimp the system when they do this. My players can, too. We generally say if you've got encounter healing left over at the end of an encounter, you can just spend that, take your rest, and move on.

I don't see it as cheesy at all. After all, healer's lore is one of the cleric's main class features. Why deny them the use of that?

What is better is to design adventures that force interesting choices. The "wandering monster eating your surges" mechanic I describe on page 2 is one such. Another would be setting timers -- "The bad guys will complete their ritual in 30 minutes" or "the army starts their attack in 15 minutes so you must open the gate by then." Then the PCs need to weigh extra 5 min rests against completing the objective.

Failing to meet the timer could derail the entire adventure or just impose a penalty -- maybe the ritual opens a rift to the Shadowfell that causes -1 to hit for all the PCs for teh encounter, or if the gate isn't opened there are more foes to deal with (no bonus XP awarded for them) as the enemy has been alerted to the attack.

 

[Grabuto138]

As a medic, when we would stop for a rest I would regulary inspect feet, put moleskin on blisters, remove ticks and apply bandages.

My Warlord inspects his comrades after every fight. He gives them a pep talk and offers advice and enouragement. This is simulated the additional 1d6 HP everyone gets from their surges during a short rest.

 

[Nail]

I don't see it as cheesy at all. After all, healer's lore is one of the cleric's main class features. Why deny them the use of that?

...Because that's not how 3.xe is played!.....


....errr, wait.....

 

[Dragonblade]

Total non-issue.

So the cleric spends multiple rests using Healing Word multiple times. The PCs still have to spend their own healing surges to benefit. So its not like they are gaining unlimited healing.

The fact that this makes healing more efficient is a GOOD thing. Not only is that the advantage of having a leader in the party, but it allows the group to take on more encounters in a day.

This again is a GOOD thing. It reduces the 15 minute adventuring day problem.

We have a hard enough time in my group getting anyone to play a leader. I as DM frequently encourage them to use the heck out of Healing Word so that they can take on more encounters.

Again, this is a NON-issue. You should be encouraging your players to use Healing Word efficiently, not discouraging them.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

I say run it as written. 5 minutes per healing word / inspiring word (my character is a Warlord) use, and apply it as needed. If the players should be in a hurry, nail them for it. If they want to be healed and not spend a whole lot of time, then they can just burn the extra healing surges.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Old Gumphrey]

Again, this is a NON-issue. You should be encouraging your players to use Healing Word efficiently, not discouraging them.

So using Healing Word efficiently = spamming it on every single surge? Kay.

We actually do encourage efficient use of it; don't use it if someone is only missing one surge worth of HP, etc.

This conversation basically boils down to "lol it's not against the rules, so if you don't play that way, you're wrong". I don't stop my players from doing this. They stop themselves. I also like that I'm being compared to a 3.x nazi because I think an entire party getting free +2d6+6 healing per surge at level 7 is totally crazed.

I'll say it again: my level 7 party is nearly death-proof. They can handle several encounters per day at higher encounter levels. It's not a big deal for my PCs to smack down a solo that's 4 levels their senior. They don't even need this trick to constantly win at D&D. The game is really not that hard anymore unless you consistently shoot craps with your dice, or you think it's fun to go look for trouble with no surges left.

So I guess the take-home message is, all healing surges get extra healing with a leader in the group, or else you're wrong/an idiot/etc.? Cool.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

So I guess the take-home message is, all healing surges get extra healing with a leader in the group, or else you're wrong/an idiot/etc.? Cool.

Nope.

The second part is "...and then you get to hit them with more encounters in a day, which is generally more fun anyway, especially when they're out of dailies and they run into the solo."

Brad