I'd love any feedback on this proposed house rule. Pros? Cons? Ramifications to consider?
I won't try to justify or defend the proposed house rule here. I'd rather just let people provide feedback, why it might be good, why it might not, edge cases that would have to be taken into consideration, etc. I'd be interested in suggested modifications, too.
Thanks in advance.
Bloodied Exhaustion When a PC is Bloodied, if they are able to experience Exhaustion, they take a level of Exhaustion called Bloodied Exhaustion.
Mechanically Bloodied Exhaustion functions per normal Exhaustion, with the following caveats.
This level of Bloodied Exhaustion stacks on any previous levels of Exhaustion the PC may currently have - except when that would give the PC their final, fatal level of Exhaustion. The level of Bloodied Exhaustion is removed when the character is not Bloodied.
PCS will likely be bloodied for at least a third of the adventuring day, so this seems pretty anti-fun. It doesn't really do anything except make PCS fail rolls more.
PCS will likely be bloodied for at least a third of the adventuring day, so this seems pretty anti-fun. It doesn't really do anything except make PCS fail rolls more.
Thanks for thoughts. Do you think it might add value to healers and counter the 'issue' of yoyo healing? You know, where you don't heal someone until they go down?
As to the third of their day bloodied, that could just be because there's no downside to doing so.
Again, not arguing FOR doing this. Just trying to pick the mechanical idea apart.
The reason healers yo yo heal is that mechanically healing is far weaker than incomming dpr so its mathmatically the most efficient - most healers i know would rather not - that is one of the main reasons I boost healing in all my games.
I like the idea of penalizing injuries, assuming it applies to everything, but I think this would be a bit rough to play thru. I do think when the mechanics of the game penalize healing people as opposed to standing them back up after they go down, theres some serious flaws in it.
Maybe this instead, whenever a person loses consciousness, they get a level of exhaustion when they regain hitpoints? With exceptions for traits and spells that go along the lines of 'when reduced to 0 hp, you have 1 hp instead'
It gives players a strong reason to heal between fights and take short rests, use healing items, etc. But only penalizes them for actually getting taken out of the fight. It still puts a punishment for going down, which should incentivize avoiding being damaged, but isn't quite as rough with the actual mechanical penalties on the players.
Edit
When i say avoiding being damaged, I mean avoid staying damaged between fights rather than trying to heal.
I could see this working for a more "realistic" style of play.
Drop to 0 hit points and gain a level of exhaustion.
For those DMs who like to raise the level of challenge in their games this is an option they could use instead of just throwing more monsters at a group.
You could add in the option of removing the exhaustion by simply raising the character back to half hit points.
But house rules are great if you try them out openly willing to remove them if they just dontt work out.
Oh and write them all down so nothing can be argued. Writing them down tends to form them better also.
It all depends on how much healing is in the game and are you doing this to the NPC and Monsters also that may be bloody at the start of the fight?
If you have alot of healing so that most fight start at full health for all in the fight then I think this will work well. I you have it where the PC are starting hurt and the NPC's and monsters art at 100% I do not think this will work. If the NPC's are also starting out hurt like the PC's then it could work again.
For a different rule I am using is I replace the Death Rules. When you would fail a death save you get a level of Exhaustion. You do not die from 3 failed death saves but instead from Exhaustion . This means you die at 6 instead of 3 but they keep getting harder to make and unless you have magic, the effects can last for days. This make attacks on you when down a little less leathel as you can take more but the effect of them lasting longer. Mind you I also made Potion of Vitality rare changing the price from 20k to 2k each.
None of this will ever work i had ai do the math so it was simple and clear to understand - the only way to fix this is to significantly boost healers (I do in all my games) and give non healers a ba healing cantrip that hits for a d6+mod and scales like any other cnatrip - at that point you can actually out heal the incomming DPR otherwise there is ZERO advantage in not yoyo healing. WOTC Knows this and has admited the kept healing weak on purpose.
The Tier 1 Break-Even: In 2024, a 1st-level Cure Wounds ($2d8+Mod$) finally heals ~12–13 HP, roughly matching a CR 1 monster's average hit (~11). At low levels, healing is a viable "reset," but it still costs a precious spell slot to negate a single resourceless monster swing.
The Scaling Deficit: As you hit Tier 2+, monster damage scales through Multiattack and higher modifiers faster than healing scales through dice. A CR 5 monster deals ~35+ damage per round, while a 3rd-level Cure Wounds restores ~30 HP. Even with the 2024 buffs, you are spending your highest resources just to almost keep pace with a basic monster turn.
The "Overkill" Buffer: Monster damage in Tiers 3/4 regularly hits for 60–100+. If an ally has 10 HP, and you heal them for 30, they have 40 HP—but a 60-damage hit still puts them at 0. Healing before they drop "wastes" those hit points on damage that would have been deleted by the 0 HP floor anyway.
Action Economy Supremacy: 5e has no "wounded" penalties; a PC at 1 HP is just as deadly as one at 100 HP. Mathematically, using your action to inflict the "Dead" condition is the best healing in the game, because a dead monster has a DPR of 0 for the rest of the encounter.
TL;DR: 2024 healing is twice as strong as 2014, but monster DPR still scales faster.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hi all,
I'd love any feedback on this proposed house rule. Pros? Cons? Ramifications to consider?
I won't try to justify or defend the proposed house rule here. I'd rather just let people provide feedback, why it might be good, why it might not, edge cases that would have to be taken into consideration, etc. I'd be interested in suggested modifications, too.
Thanks in advance.
PCS will likely be bloodied for at least a third of the adventuring day, so this seems pretty anti-fun. It doesn't really do anything except make PCS fail rolls more.
Do not under any cirmucstances do this
"There are few problems that cannot be solved through the application of overwhelming arcane firepower" Mephistopheles
Titles Bestowed Upon Me
Baazle: Third Initiate of the Cult of The Fox | Golden The Burning Questioner
Alt Account of Good_Drow(aka I forgot the password)
PM me the word avocado
Pretty much agree with both comments above - bad enough healing stinks - now we punish players for engaging in combat - no thanks.
Thanks all.
Hmm.
Thanks for thoughts. Do you think it might add value to healers and counter the 'issue' of yoyo healing? You know, where you don't heal someone until they go down?
As to the third of their day bloodied, that could just be because there's no downside to doing so.
Again, not arguing FOR doing this. Just trying to pick the mechanical idea apart.
The reason healers yo yo heal is that mechanically healing is far weaker than incomming dpr so its mathmatically the most efficient - most healers i know would rather not - that is one of the main reasons I boost healing in all my games.
Appreciate the more in depth replies that attach explanations to the opinions (which people are, of course, welcome to have). V helpful. Cheers.
I like the idea of penalizing injuries, assuming it applies to everything, but I think this would be a bit rough to play thru. I do think when the mechanics of the game penalize healing people as opposed to standing them back up after they go down, theres some serious flaws in it.
Maybe this instead, whenever a person loses consciousness, they get a level of exhaustion when they regain hitpoints? With exceptions for traits and spells that go along the lines of 'when reduced to 0 hp, you have 1 hp instead'
It gives players a strong reason to heal between fights and take short rests, use healing items, etc. But only penalizes them for actually getting taken out of the fight. It still puts a punishment for going down, which should incentivize avoiding being damaged, but isn't quite as rough with the actual mechanical penalties on the players.
Edit
When i say avoiding being damaged, I mean avoid staying damaged between fights rather than trying to heal.
I could see this working for a more "realistic" style of play.
Drop to 0 hit points and gain a level of exhaustion.
For those DMs who like to raise the level of challenge in their games this is an option they could use instead of just throwing more monsters at a group.
You could add in the option of removing the exhaustion by simply raising the character back to half hit points.
But house rules are great if you try them out openly willing to remove them if they just dontt work out.
Oh and write them all down so nothing can be argued. Writing them down tends to form them better also.
It all depends on how much healing is in the game and are you doing this to the NPC and Monsters also that may be bloody at the start of the fight?
If you have alot of healing so that most fight start at full health for all in the fight then I think this will work well. I you have it where the PC are starting hurt and the NPC's and monsters art at 100% I do not think this will work. If the NPC's are also starting out hurt like the PC's then it could work again.
For a different rule I am using is I replace the Death Rules. When you would fail a death save you get a level of Exhaustion. You do not die from 3 failed death saves but instead from Exhaustion . This means you die at 6 instead of 3 but they keep getting harder to make and unless you have magic, the effects can last for days. This make attacks on you when down a little less leathel as you can take more but the effect of them lasting longer. Mind you I also made Potion of Vitality rare changing the price from 20k to 2k each.
I spell Goodly.
None of this will ever work i had ai do the math so it was simple and clear to understand - the only way to fix this is to significantly boost healers (I do in all my games) and give non healers a ba healing cantrip that hits for a d6+mod and scales like any other cnatrip - at that point you can actually out heal the incomming DPR otherwise there is ZERO advantage in not yoyo healing. WOTC Knows this and has admited the kept healing weak on purpose.
The Tier 1 Break-Even: In 2024, a 1st-level Cure Wounds ($2d8+Mod$) finally heals ~12–13 HP, roughly matching a CR 1 monster's average hit (~11). At low levels, healing is a viable "reset," but it still costs a precious spell slot to negate a single resourceless monster swing.
The Scaling Deficit: As you hit Tier 2+, monster damage scales through Multiattack and higher modifiers faster than healing scales through dice. A CR 5 monster deals ~35+ damage per round, while a 3rd-level Cure Wounds restores ~30 HP. Even with the 2024 buffs, you are spending your highest resources just to almost keep pace with a basic monster turn.
The "Overkill" Buffer: Monster damage in Tiers 3/4 regularly hits for 60–100+. If an ally has 10 HP, and you heal them for 30, they have 40 HP—but a 60-damage hit still puts them at 0. Healing before they drop "wastes" those hit points on damage that would have been deleted by the 0 HP floor anyway.
Action Economy Supremacy: 5e has no "wounded" penalties; a PC at 1 HP is just as deadly as one at 100 HP. Mathematically, using your action to inflict the "Dead" condition is the best healing in the game, because a dead monster has a DPR of 0 for the rest of the encounter.
TL;DR: 2024 healing is twice as strong as 2014, but monster DPR still scales faster.