D&D 5E Tweak Instant Cure spells to fix whack-a-mole

[Yunru]

If the problem is caused by what you say it is caused by, there would be no "some do not". That's why it is relevant that some do not - because that is evidence that you've confused a non-obstacle (an enabler, if you prefer) as being the cause.

I'm trying to use just the littlest bit of a scientific approach to help you find, and thus potentially solve, the cause of a problem - and you are insisting on ignoring me and solving the symptoms. Which I will now get out of your way and allow you to go right on doing.

Except you're really not. You're using differences in playstyles to ignore core evidence. Players who have the whack-a-mole mentality do so because it provides them with a benefit that outwieghs the risks and costs.

Simple logic dictates that you can either reduce the benefit or increase the risks and/or costs.

 

[Psikerlord#]

While I personally have no issue with "whack-a-mole" this solution creates a problem in my eyes.

A character falls in combat, perhaps suddenly due to a crit. The cleric rushes over to heal them, you roll that t takes 3 minutes to heal them. 30 rounds of combat. Within 6 rounds the character is either dead (and thus the cure spell is wasted) or they are stabilized.

Meanwhile, 2 players are out of the fight.

So, the healer will now never attempt to save an ally who falls in battle. They will wait til after the fight because it is impossible to save them before the death saves will run out. This means a player who falls is left sitting the rest of the fight out, until they either know if their character died from their wounds or will survive and the party can do nothing to save them.

Unless you still allow medicine checks to stabilize, and then I have to wonder if the healer feat can still heal while their at zero, and that makes a non-magical heal more powerful than a magical one.

If your table wants the game to be that deadly, then go for it, but personally I think it is a more tense and tactical battle where the healers have to see if they can reach a fallen ally and give them enough healing to survive long enough to retreat or get out of the line of fire.

The cleric would spend an action to stabilize the pc, so it's still hard to die, just not easy to be popped back up during the same fight

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

You're using differences in playstyles to ignore core evidence.

False.

 

[Yunru]

False.

Okay then. Since you're so sure, go find the reason. And when you find it boils down "The reward for doing so outweighs the risk", I'll accept that apology [emoji14]

 

[Satyrn]

So here's the idea to fix whack-a-mole:

If you're 1 hp or above, cure spells are instant. If hp 0 or below, cure spells take 1d3 minutes to work before the target is healed.

No more whack-a-mole?

What do folks think?

I think the 1d3 bit is unnecessary dice rolling. I've rarely encountered a situation in game where it would matter if something took 3 minutes instead of 1 or 2, and it's not something I'd bother futzing with. I thinm you should just go with 1 minute for this.

Also, as people have suggested above, I'd have the healing stabilize the character immediately even though no hit points have been gained (and I think you intended that anyway, just forget to mention it here) .



I'd actually go with 1d3 rounds so the player isn't left out of the rest of the fight.

 

[nswanson27]

So maybe I'm missing something here. The premise of this thread is that whack a mole strategy is a "problem" that needs to be "fixed". Why is this a problem exactly? Is the game suffering somehow because of it?

 

[Satyrn]

So maybe I'm missing something here. The premise of this thread is that whack a mole strategy is a "problem" that needs to be "fixed". Why is this a problem exactly? Is the game suffering somehow because of it?

I'm assuming the OP's is, at least somewhat.

Mine's not.

 

[Psikerlord#]

It would solve the problem at hand, provided it stabilizes instantly and then the HP recovery happens later.

In general, the more characters you can remove from combat, the faster combat will go. It makes the healing character less powerful, but that works for both sides of the fight. If you're mostly in fights where the PCs have magical healing and the opposition does not, then this rule would make the encounters more dangerous for the party, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

More dangerous combat is definitely the objective.

 

[Yunru]

More dangerous combat is definitely the objective.

Then I would definitely make failed death saving throws last longer. If that's not sufficient (you may need to whack a downed player to have them auto-fail two to really emphasis it, but only if you're pretty sure they're going to get healed), also adding a one turn delay on healing (with instant stabilisation) should​ suffice.

 

[Psikerlord#]

There's another solution:

Unconsciousness causes exhaustion. If you get knocked down three times in one fight, you now have 3 levels of exhaustion.

I dont mind the "gain a level of exhaustion" solution, but it is quite severe at low levels once you hit level 3!