Modified Heal Skill, Input Appreciated

[Paulcynic]

I have a particular dilemma at my current table, where after weeks of playing with a new group, not a single one is interested in any sort of healing class or set of abilitites, and each spends all of their resources on murder-gear. I don't prefer to strongarm my players, but to accommodate their play style, in this case they like to roll to hit and that's about it. But... they need some sort of in-combat healing, and a couple of them have asked if the Heal Skill can be used to restore HP.

This is what I've come up with:

Triage: Successful use of the Heal skill will restore 1HD (roll) worth of Hit Points to the target being attended and uses up a heal kit. Restore an additional HD worth of Hit Points for every 5 by which you exceed the DC. The DC is (Total lost Hit Points), and is a full-round action.

[SheepishEidolon]

There is actually now a feat which improves healing with the Heal skill significantly: Incredible Healer

Maybe it's worth to be offered at level 3 already.

[LordKailas]

The Heal skill can already be used to restore HP, but it takes 1 hour and can only be used once per character per day.

Heal: Treat Deadly Wounds wrote:

Requirement: You must expend two uses from a healer’s kit to perform this task. You take a –2 penalty on your check for each use from a healer’s kit that you lack.

When treating deadly wounds, you can restore hit points to a damaged creature. Treating deadly wounds restores 1 hit point per level of the creature. If you exceed the DC by 5 or more, add your Wisdom modifier (if positive) to this amount. A creature can only benefit from its deadly wounds being treated within 24 hours of being injured and never more than once per day.

Action/Time: 1 hour.

Retry? Varies. Generally speaking, you can’t try a Heal check again without witnessing proof of the original check’s failure.

If the group wants to handle all of their healing via items/skills they could also get a wand with healing magic and use the Use Magic Device skill in order to use it. The primary advantage of having a character with healing spells/abilities is that it tends to be far less costly then the alternatives.

For the skill you're proposing, I think the DC needs to be a flat number instead of what you propose. Consider the two senarios

Fighter 1 is missing 10 hp which constitutes as 75% of their total health.
So, it's a DC 10, if I make a 25 on my heal check I heal them for 4d10 hp, so on even an average roll I will heal them for 22 hp more than enough to restore them to full hp.

Fighter 2 is missing 58 hp which constitutes 50% of their total health.
So, it's a DC 58, if I again make a 25 on my check I heal them for zero. In fact even if I made an amazing DC 60 on my check I would only heal 1d10 hp, which is probably less than what they could achieve by just resting for a day.

If you made it a flat dc 10 or dc 15 instead of being based on how many hp the character is missing it will keep the skill useful regardless of level.

Alternatively, you could make treat deadly wounds a full round action and remove the limitation that it can only be used once per day per character.

[Mike J]

I was going to suggest Strain-Injury but those house rules are for handling healing between combats, not during combat.

In-combat healing is really ineffective and should only be used in emergencies (i.e. someone is about to die). In most cases, whatever was healed is wiped out by the next hit from the monster. Also, the healer probably could have done something more effective with their actions. Not having in-combat healing is not the end of the world. Frankly, it is "gold plating" rather than a "must have". Usually, the issue is between combat healing, hence strain-injury.

How is the party healing up between combats?

I get that you don't want to strong arm them (and you shouldn't). But what would you do if they decided not to invest in defense (armor, shields, etc.)? Lower the attack bonuses of the monsters?

I recommend taking a more real-life grown-up approach: choices have consequences (good and bad). Don't buy armor, you will get hit a lot. Don't buy a wand of CLW or potions, you don't heal up fast. Don't pay the electric bill, you live in the dark. Don't put gas in the car, you have to walk.

Just a thought.

[Cavall]

I would play it out as normal.

They made the choice not to have casters. That's fine. They made the choice to not I best in healing items. That's fine.

Just look up items like vest of surgery as a way to help them use the heal skill and move on. Until they change you shouldn't or you only encourage it.

[Talonhawke]

Kirthfinder wrote:

First Aid: If a character has lost hit points, you can restore some of them. A successful check, as a full-round action, restores a number of hit points equal to your Heal check results. You can take 20 on this check by spending 2 full minutes. First aid can be performed on a character once per fight in which he or she is injured, to a maximum amount of damage healed equal to the amount sustained in that fight.

[Paulcynic]

Talonhawke wrote:

Kirthfinder wrote:

First Aid: If a character has lost hit points, you can restore some of them. A successful check, as a full-round action, restores a number of hit points equal to your Heal check results. You can take 20 on this check by spending 2 full minutes. First aid can be performed on a character once per fight in which he or she is injured, to a maximum amount of damage healed equal to the amount sustained in that fight.

That's great man, thank you. Helps shape the Heal modkfications that I'm making.

[Talonhawke]

No problem