Hit Points and Recovery Rate

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xtricksterxBF
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Hit Points and Recovery Rate

Post by xtricksterxBF »

First of all - apologies if this topic has been raised elsewhere and I just couldn't find it..
I know the internet is rife with discussions about HP recovery, rests (be they short or long), and things like "grit" HP which represents experience/skill/higher level, and "flesh" HP which represent actual wounding. I quite like the "slow" natural healing in many OSR systems but there is a thing which I often ponder: A character with 5HP max takes 5 days to heal up. Another higher level character with 30HP takes 30 days to heal up. This kind of feels very wrong. Mightn't it be better to recover a percentage of your total each day? I'd be interested to hear what other "solutions" people may have tried for this problem. I get that HP represents more than actual bodily damage, but the question about wonky recovery to full health still stands. Thanks for your thoughts.
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ThorinSchmidt
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Re: Hit Points and Recovery Rate

Post by ThorinSchmidt »

Usually by that time (30hp) a character has access to magical healing. This is why having a cfleric (or two!) in a party is so important. Also, going to a church can get healing for your character (at the cost of Gold or services) giving the DM more adventure hooks. There are lots more options than bed rest for higher-level characters.
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SmootRK
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Re: Hit Points and Recovery Rate

Post by SmootRK »

Also unfair that weakling MU bounces back much faster than a robust Fighter....

I address this by the base rate of healing is 1point for classes w d4 HD, 2 points for classes w d6 HD, and 3 points for d8 classes. I generally add Constitution bonus to the daily heal as well.

Not perfect, but puts a little more favor to the stronger folks to get back to normal a tad quicker.
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xtricksterxBF
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Re: Hit Points and Recovery Rate

Post by xtricksterxBF »

Thanks - I like that - relating the "natural" healing rate to the HD size of the class being healed. I take the point about the availability of magic healing via clerical spells etc, and that as a party levels up their cleric(s) heal spells also get better in line with the larger HP pool characters have.
I read somewhere (I THINK it was "Words without number"), that non-natural healing puts a stress on your body which builds up - to the point where it just can't TAKE any more and has to be allowed to heal via natural means. I kind of like the idea of this. Too much magical healing - pushing a character to keep going - will take its toll.

At the end of the day "If you're all having fun at the table: you're doing it right." Thanks for the quick responses.
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Dimirag
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Re: Hit Points and Recovery Rate

Post by Dimirag »

There are lots of alternatives, using the class HD is one, other is to increase the HP recovered based on situations, like:
Resting: 1hp
Light activity + rest: 2hp
Full-rest day: 3hp.

Some games increase the hp recovered the longer the character rest, like:
1 day: 1hp
full week: 14hp
Full month: full heal
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Boggo
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Re: Hit Points and Recovery Rate

Post by Boggo »

the easiest way to address your concern is base healing rate on character level say 1hp /night for level 1-3, 2hp /night for 4-6, 3 hp /night for 7-9 etc.
then the additional 1hp for bed-rest, and the other additional 1hp for medical care

I've seen another suggestion from a LOTFP player, which is simple and honestly I don't mind the concept (I'm considering using it) Keep the healing as written except multiply it by character level (or monster HD) so a 10th level fighter heals 10 hp per nights rest, 20 for a full days bed rest.
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JugglinDan
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Re: Hit Points and Recovery Rate

Post by JugglinDan »

Boggo wrote: Tue May 16, 2023 9:04 pm the easiest way to address your concern is base healing rate on character level say 1hp /night for level 1-3, 2hp /night for 4-6, 3 hp /night for 7-9 etc.
then the additional 1hp for bed-rest, and the other additional 1hp for medical care

I've seen another suggestion from a LOTFP player, which is simple and honestly I don't mind the concept (I'm considering using it) Keep the healing as written except multiply it by character level (or monster HD) so a 10th level fighter heals 10 hp per nights rest, 20 for a full days bed rest.
I like this. It's nice and simple. Currently the only house rule I use is to add the Constitution bonus to the natural healing per day.

I can't find the source for this right now, but I once read a blog post where they suggested that the way to understand all the long times given in early D&D is to realise that worlds were intended to live in real time even between sessions. Things like X months to research a high-level spell, or to build a stronghold, or the slow healing rates start to make sense then. Sounds sort-of plausible, but I have no evidence that was ever the actual intention. I always just put these things down to the "things take time in real life" simulationist perspective.
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dymondy2k
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Re: Hit Points and Recovery Rate

Post by dymondy2k »

I also add the Con bonus in as well.. Doesn't feel like its breaking anything and does speed up the fighters getting better..
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leon
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Re: Hit Points and Recovery Rate

Post by leon »

JugglinDan wrote: Wed May 17, 2023 12:36 am I can't find the source for this right now, but I once read a blog post where they suggested that the way to understand all the long times given in early D&D is to realise that worlds were intended to live in real time even between sessions. Things like X months to research a high-level spell, or to build a stronghold, or the slow healing rates start to make sense then. Sounds sort-of plausible, but I have no evidence that was ever the actual intention. I always just put these things down to the "things take time in real life" simulationist perspective.
My reaction to speeding up healing is that takes away some fun from managing HP as a resource. My game tracks times strictly, and healing time frequently comes into play. After a big battle, the players will be figuring out how long it will take to heal back up, and sometimes its more than a day even with magical healing.

More dramatically, the PCs recently were beat up by a mummy priest. Three of them were dropped to low HP and they got mummy rot. Rather than run off to pay for healing, they opted to pool coin to get the paladin up a level so he could cast cure disease. That took a week, and then I think he can cast the spell once a week, so it ended up taking those three PCs out of action for three weeks. The players switched to alts during this time. It was an interesting negotiation that will end up paying off if/when they get hit with disease again.

This isn't primarily about simulation. Hit points don't strike me as particularly realistic. For me, it's about making it a fun game with more systems to interact with.
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JugglinDan
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Re: Hit Points and Recovery Rate

Post by JugglinDan »

leon wrote: Wed May 17, 2023 3:52 pm
JugglinDan wrote: Wed May 17, 2023 12:36 am I can't find the source for this right now, but I once read a blog post where they suggested that the way to understand all the long times given in early D&D is to realise that worlds were intended to live in real time even between sessions. Things like X months to research a high-level spell, or to build a stronghold, or the slow healing rates start to make sense then. Sounds sort-of plausible, but I have no evidence that was ever the actual intention. I always just put these things down to the "things take time in real life" simulationist perspective.
My reaction to speeding up healing is that takes away some fun from managing HP as a resource. My game tracks times strictly, and healing time frequently comes into play. After a big battle, the players will be figuring out how long it will take to heal back up, and sometimes its more than a day even with magical healing.

More dramatically, the PCs recently were beat up by a mummy priest. Three of them were dropped to low HP and they got mummy rot. Rather than run off to pay for healing, they opted to pool coin to get the paladin up a level so he could cast cure disease. That took a week, and then I think he can cast the spell once a week, so it ended up taking those three PCs out of action for three weeks. The players switched to alts during this time. It was an interesting negotiation that will end up paying off if/when they get hit with disease again.

This isn't primarily about simulation. Hit points don't strike me as particularly realistic. For me, it's about making it a fun game with more systems to interact with.
Your approach is closer to how I'm currently doing things. I agree it's about resource management, and the interesting or difficult decisions that come about from the tension between different goals and resource requirements. For example, in my current game the players retreated from the mine in Gold in the Hills to heal. This required managing their food reserves, drinking water, a roster of guards for the camp, and risking random encounter rolls. Then when they returned to the mines, they encountered quite a few hastily rigged traps in areas they assumed were safe. The remaining goblins were not idle during that time.
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