Yet another houserule for overnight healing

[Elodan]

I'm sure everyone is sick of these but I want to throw it out there anyway. Most of my group dislikes the full recovery after a long rest mechanic (we're going to have our 2nd D&D Next session today).

I mentioned this approach in the "Please Reconsider" thread but I'm pretty such it got lost in all the back and forth of people trying to "convert" someone to their way of thinking. If someone else already threw this out there, then I apologize for the duplication.

I'm going to recommend that during a long rest you roll your total HD and get that total plus your Con bonus back. For example, a 2nd level cleric with a 12 Con rolls 2d8 for a total of 9 then adds 1 for his/her Con bonus for a total recovery of 10 hit points during the long rest. This may or may not bring him/her back to full.

I think it works well as it leverages existing game rules. Also, using the average it gives you back a little over half your hit points which encompasses the notion of hit points being both physical and other (fatigue, etc). Whatever hit points you don't recover during the long rest is a lingering physical ailment.

Personally, I'd like the core rules to have a couple of sections where some of the rules are presented as options.

 

[soulcatcher78]

I think this sounds like a great alternative to the "full healing on long rest" playtest rule. I would be happy to use this as a player (as it's better than gaining a single HP) but not so jarring as complete healing. Enviornmental factors should affect the number of HD used (if any) though; i.e. starvation, dehydration, etc for those who are running a game about survival (hex crawl, etc).

 

[rushtong]

I think advantage/disadvantage might help add some flavor to the more realist approaches:
Healer's kit->advantage on each die roll
Nice soft bed, fresh meals -> gain advantage
Rough conditions -> disadvantage on die roll
Extreme temperatures -> disadvantage.

I think I prefer the mechanic as they are in the playtest rules just for simplicity's sake, but I think that WotC should have this aspect fully explored so that the options for healing can have the widest appeal possible.

 

[vectner]

The only problem with this is that it's still no better than a short rest where you decide to use all your HD at once. And at 1st level it's almost no help at all, since you start with a much larger HP pool than your HD can catch up with.

One quick fix would be to change it to HD plus CON. So your cleric would get 21 HP back and be much closer to full health. That would make a long rest much more worth it and still not be a complete heal.

 

[Elodan]

The only problem with this is that it's still no better than a short rest where you decide to use all your HD at once. And at 1st level it's almost no help at all, since you start with a much larger HP pool than your HD can catch up with.

One quick fix would be to change it to HD plus CON. So your cleric would get 21 HP back and be much closer to full health. That would make a long rest much more worth it and still not be a complete heal.

Good point, for some reason we interpreted the rule to only being able to roll 1 HD during a short rest with the daily limit equal to your HD total.

After reading the rule again, I'm unclear if you can even regain hit points during a short rest without a healer's kit.

I like the CON idea, thanks.

(We did use the rule as written during our 2 playtest sessions).

 

[Bagpuss]

After our play test we didn't think there was enough healing available, after five "encounters" the group were looking at returning to town, because the cleric had used both his spell slots on CLW (something he wasn't happy about), and everyone else had blown their one hit dice.

Giving less healing just means either more time relying on the charity of the local church or buying healing potions. I can see the issue if you view hit points as actual blood loss all the time, but if most of it is stamina and lucky I don't see the point in dragging it out.

I'd prefer so sort of longer lasting penalty if you had to be brought back from 0 or less hit points. What that would I'm not sure.

 

[Obryn]

After our play test we didn't think there was enough healing available, after five "encounters" the group were looking at returning to town, because the cleric had used both his spell slots on CLW (something he wasn't happy about), and everyone else had blown their one hit dice.

That was us, too.

I can sympathize with a desire for slower healing, because it promotes a certain long-term expedition feel. I'm also good with overnight resets, because it's simple and reduces the number of trips back to town.

-O

 

[thundershot]

I'd much rather keep it simple. My group has done overnight healing for YEARS. Anything else just detracts from the adventure, in my experience.

They're more than welcome to add other optional rules in the core books, of course.

 

[jadrax]

After reading the rule again, I'm unclear if you can even regain hit points during a short rest without a healer's kit.

We played that you needed the Healing Kit.

 

[Bagpuss]

I'm going to recommend that during a long rest you roll your total HD and get that total plus your Con bonus back. For example, a 2nd level cleric with a 12 Con rolls 2d8 for a total of 9 then adds 1 for his/her Con bonus for a total recovery of 10 hit points during the long rest. This may or may not bring him/her back to full.

Which will just lead to Healer's Touch being a mandatory feat for the cleric (or other healer if such exist). Which will remove the random element.

Also, using the average it gives you back a little over half your hit points which encompasses the notion of hit points being both physical and other (fatigue, etc).

Only after about 3rd level does it start bringing back just over half. At first level on average it will bring back less than a 1/3rd. Eventually at higher levels on average it would bring back nearly all of them. Since your hit points increase by low average and this regains method increases by the average, so every two levels it gains 1 hp.

So it penalises groups at low level where they don't have easy access to magical healing, so just end up staying in town another 3 days*, and is the same as full healing for higher levels where they have easy access to magical healing to make up for any bad rolls anyway.

I'm not seeing what this rule adds to the game.

Personally, I'd like the core rules to have a couple of sections where some of the rules are presented as options.

I'm all for optional rules for delayed healing (although I wouldn't use them in most games), but I think it needs to be more even across the board and account for things like the ease of access to healing.


*Although saying that the Cleric of Pelor's background means even a low level party is back to full health on arriving in a town with a temple.