CM
Adventurer
We all know that HP and Healing are one of the biggest hurdles for WotC to overcome in D&D Next's development. The number of threads on this topic on this forum alone proves the point. Some people want it gritty, old-school, realistic, simulationist (or whatever you want to call it). Others want characters to be action movie heroes who can take a beating and get up again, seemingly good as new.
Below is my take on what the dial on the HP and Healing system could possibly look like for the next D&D. It's purely hypothetical, and I try to account for the existing playtest rules without posting any of them in order to avoid breaking the playtest agreement. Unless otherwise indicated, each method uses the normal playtest rules as-written.
I'm going to try to post a poll with this, but haven't ever done one before, so bear with me...
Method I (similar to early editions):
Method IV (similar to 4th edition):
Below is my take on what the dial on the HP and Healing system could possibly look like for the next D&D. It's purely hypothetical, and I try to account for the existing playtest rules without posting any of them in order to avoid breaking the playtest agreement. Unless otherwise indicated, each method uses the normal playtest rules as-written.
I'm going to try to post a poll with this, but haven't ever done one before, so bear with me...
Method I (similar to early editions):
- Starting HP: Characters have starting HP equal to their Hit Die roll result (optionally, maximum) plus their CON modifier.
- Hit Dice: Characters have only a single Hit Die (as it applies to healing) and do not gain more per level.
- Short Rest: Characters do not heal during a short rest.
- Long Rest: Characters eligible to take a long rest regain HP equal to their CON modifier (minimum 1). A character with the Healer’s Touch feat using the tending-wounds-during-rest portion of that feat can allow the character to roll their hit die and take that result if it is higher than their CON modifier, instead of the feat’s default ability.
- Below 0 HP: When healing a character at negative HP, add the healing amount to the negative number. For example a character at -5 HP who is healed for 4 HP is now at -1 HP. Characters below 0 HP regain HP according to the normal playtest rules for stabilized.
- Default playtest rules as-written except:
- Long Rest: Before resting, characters eligible to take a long rest can spend any number of remaining Hit Dice as per playtest rules for short rests. Characters regain HP equal to their level plus CON modifier (minimum 1). The character’s Hit Dice refresh, and the character can spend these hit dice on additional healing if necessary as per the rules for short rests.
Method IV (similar to 4th edition):
- Starting HP: Characters have starting HP equal to their maximum Hit Die value plus their CON score plus 6.
- Hit Dice: Characters have a number of Hit Dice equal to 6 plus their level.
- Second Wind: A character can use their action to spend one hit die and regain HP equal to the die result plus their CON bonus. Every four levels the character can choose spend an additional hit die while using Second Wind (up to two Hit Dice at level 4, three at level 8, four at level 12, and so on), adding their CON bonus to each hit die. This action can be combined with the Dodge action. This ability is not affected by the Healer’s Touch feat. This ability cannot be used again until the character takes a short rest.