D&D General What's the DC for a fighter to heal their ally with a prayer?

[Eric V]

Right, I think if I was running 5e I might even just say to the fighter player "OK, you didn't bring a healer's kit, but if you pay some small cost (a libation, bleeding out an HD, something) you can basically have the benefit of one." That seems like an answer that would be pretty OK.

Honestly though, I feel like these simple "resource balance" answers, while they honor the concept of players needing to make resource decisions and build choices, don't extract maximum 'coolness' from the situation. I think this is a rather large lost opportunity and what separates ordinary play from really extraordinary play.

In other words, the above solution will work, and play will continue, and it will be little noted nor long remembered. OTOH if Death answers and bargains with the fighter and the consequences of the bargain shape his fate for the rest of the campaign to some degree, that feels like its falling more into the range of "wow, remember that time..." I mean, I've played a LOT of D&D, and I can tell you, there are only probably a few % of those games that I distinctly remember were super amazing.

I tend to agree. It's a very metagame situation to involve "resource balance" answers, and as such, it tends to deflate what could be a good, dramatic narrative.

That's why I wondered earlier if we as GMs could trust our players enough to carry the "consequences" of getting that favour completely on their own.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I tend to agree. It's a very metagame situation to involve "resource balance" answers, and as such, it tends to deflate what could be a good, dramatic narrative.

That's why I wondered earlier if we as GMs could trust our players enough to carry the "consequences" of getting that favour completely on their own.

Well, I would think more in terms of how to facilitate that happening. I think a lot of it usually gets done by system expectations and such.

 

[Chaosmancer]

My answer remains pretty much "play by the rules".

A character wants to move more than their speed? Dash. That's not enough? Well, let's hope they make it to next round.

You can move your speed. Not your speed + 5'. I wouldn't allow a monster to do this (absent some special trait or something) either.

There are rules that allow you to jump further with an athletics check. There are rules to allow you to lift more with an athletics check.

Why is it wrong to allow you to run farther with an athletics check? It isn't like there is no precedence.

 

[the Jester]

There are rules that allow you to jump further with an athletics check. There are rules to allow you to lift more with an athletics check.

Why is it wrong to allow you to run farther with an athletics check? It isn't like there is no precedence.

The rules also state that if you jump more than your speed you end your turn in the air, mid-leap.

 

[Baron Opal II]

You don't even need the healers kit, it's just a straight DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check to stabilise someone, it's not actually all that difficult to hit it. The healers kit just removes the need to make a check.

The I guess the answer to the question

The fighter's friend is hurt, even dying. The fighter prays to the gods to heal their friend. How is this action resolved? If it's a Religion or similar sort of check, what's the DC?

is answered by RAW. The fighter makes a Medicine check or uses a kit. The prayer is irrelevant.

Well, that was fun.

 

[pemerton]

he fighter makes a Medicine check or uses a kit. The prayer is irrelevant.

Well, that was fun.

Suppose that the friend is on the other side of a crevasse from the fighter, or similarly out of reach? Or suppose that the fighter trusts more in the gods than in their own skills as a surgeon?

 

[Voadam]

The I guess the answer to the question

is answered by RAW. The fighter makes a Medicine check or uses a kit. The prayer is irrelevant.

Well, that was fun.

No, the question was what happens when the fighter prays to the gods for healing. Whether the fighter has a healing potion, is in reach to stabilize, or is a multiclass fighter with healing spells does not mean he does that instead. The question is what happens when someone prays to the gods. Anyone can pray at any time. Prayers can be answered or not. Stuff can happen as a result of the prayer or not.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Mod Note:

I’m seeing some tempers beginning to rise. Let’s keep it respectful, folks. Less mind reading. Fewer loaded questions..

 

[Chaosmancer]

The rules also state that if you jump more than your speed you end your turn in the air, mid-leap.

The rules are a bit more vague than that, I tend to rule that you finish the jump and then cannot move anymore.

But this still doesn't answer the question. Athletics to push your movement, at a potential penalty and with limits, is not outside the realms of the possible, so what is wrong with doing so?

 

[AnotherGuy]

For the cost of 5 GP a fighter, or any other character, can do it 10 times.

HEALER’S KIT
This kit is a leather pouch containing bandages, salves, and splints. The kit has ten uses. As an action, you can expend one use of the kit to stabilize a creature that has 0 hit points, without needing to make a Wisdom (Medicine) check.

I feel like people are overstating the resources involved in this action.

I feel like you are understating the resources involved in this action.
How in your mind does Pemerton's description of the fighter praying and the mentioning of a Religion check correlate with the use of a Healer's Kit in your post? It appears you were describing an entirely different action.

I put it to you another way, when was the last time you heard the phrase "My thoughts and healers'-kits are with you"