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<blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 6914973" data-attributes="member: 12731">To answer&nbsp; [MENTION=6801228]Chaosmancer[/MENTION] specifically and succtinctly: The reason heal-from-zero is an issue now but wasn't then, is that 5th edition is the first edition where all damage past zero is simply not counted.This opens up a previously unavailable healing strategy where you (ab)use the way negative hp doesn't count to provide the bulk of the healing for you.---This means that if a huge monster deals you 40 points of damage, if you had only 5 hp, 35 of those damage points simply evaporate. This is a HUGE savings in healing oomph. Compare to if you had 75 hp. Then you'd take the full 40 damage and fall down to 35 hp.Traditionally, a cleric assuming the role of combat-medic would cast a heal or cure spell from a high level slot to heal all those 40 damage.But in 5E, the cleric can choose a different strategy. If he waits until you fall to zero hp, he can then cast a cheap Healing Word spell (cheap in that it only spends a first level slot; cheap in that it only requires a bonus action; cheap in that it can be cast from a distance so the cleric doesn't waste time moving back and forth on the battlefield).This will bring you back up from unconscious, with a few hit points. Effectively 35 of those 40 incoming damage points are simply gone. And the best part is - the next time the monster hits you, 35 of those 40 damage points are negated once again. Each time you the Cleric1) save movement2) save spell slots3) save time (since you only spend your bonus action, you can use your regular action for offense, to help defeat the monsters)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CapnZapp, post: 6914973, member: 12731"] To answer [MENTION=6801228]Chaosmancer[/MENTION] specifically and succtinctly: [B]The reason heal-from-zero is an issue now but wasn't then, is that 5th edition is the first edition where all damage past zero is simply not counted. This opens up a previously unavailable healing strategy where you (ab)use the way negative hp doesn't count to provide the bulk of the healing for you.[/B] --- This means that if a huge monster deals you 40 points of damage, if you had only 5 hp, 35 of those damage points simply evaporate. This is a HUGE savings in healing oomph. Compare to if you had 75 hp. Then you'd take the full 40 damage and fall down to 35 hp. Traditionally, a cleric assuming the role of combat-medic would cast a heal or cure spell from a high level slot to heal all those 40 damage. But in 5E, the cleric can choose a different strategy. If he waits until you fall to zero hp, he can then cast a cheap Healing Word spell (cheap in that it only spends a first level slot; cheap in that it only requires a bonus action; cheap in that it can be cast from a distance so the cleric doesn't waste time moving back and forth on the battlefield). This will bring you back up from unconscious, with a few hit points. Effectively 35 of those 40 incoming damage points are simply gone. And the best part is - the next time the monster hits you, 35 of those 40 damage points are negated once again. Each time you the Cleric 1) save movement 2) save spell slots 3) save time (since you only spend your bonus action, you can use your regular action for offense, to help defeat the monsters) [/QUOTE]

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