Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Kazadvorn Nov 25, 2014 9:33:33	Just wondering how other DM's envision the general subject of 'healing' in their campaigns.   When 'little Johnny' falls out of the apple tree and breaks his arm, does he go to a Cleric or Alchemist for a 'cure light wounds' spell or potion? Who takes care of the village when there's an outbreak of Cholera?   Do you envision teams of low level Devine or Arcane casters being sent out by the Forgotten Realms equivalent of the CDC or are most health issues handled by 'mundane' doctors, midwives, nurses and surgeons?   It's always something that bugged me... If magic healing is widely available, it seems to make the process a lot less - well - magical.   On the other hand, I have a hard time envisioning a Cleric of a 'good' deity turning away a person in need just because they're behind on their 'tithes'.   In the past, I've controlled access to Arcane healing by making the components for potions and spells fairly expensive... and beyond the budget of the average person. Devine healing - well that was a tougher nut to crack.   What's your take?
#2 Ashrym Nov 25, 2014 10:19:12	Magical healing isn't widely available. Actual spell casting is a very small portion of the population. There simply isn't enough in the first place, let alone of a high enough level, to significantly impact a large scale healing. Additionally, the casters cannot be in 2 places at once so anyone needing the healing needs to travel to the healers, which can happen but isn't always possible, followed by waiting in line. They could die waiting in line at the rate of 2 people per day and hundreds looking for help. Generally, individuals trained in healer kits and getting supplies from an apothecary is the standard healing based on availability to cover demand. Hope that helps you. :-)
#3 Drycanth Nov 25, 2014 10:21:16	Carefull. This is a land mine question. There are lots of different views of what HP represent and it is a HUGE issue that will spawn massive walls of text and blow up like an atom bomb.   In general there is no right answer
#4 iserith Nov 25, 2014 10:56:25	Kazadvorn wrote:
#5 Saelorn Nov 25, 2014 10:53:01	Traditionally, magic is rare and most people will go their entire lives without witnessing the miracle of healing magic. There was an AD&D supplement (Sages & Specialists) which detailed the capabilities of an herbal healer, but even those sorts of folk were fairly rare.   As of 5E.... I don't know. Falling causes HP damage, and all HP damage is healed by taking a long rest. Likewise, a healing spell (or healing potion) cannot heal wounds that are any more dire than what could be recovered from naturally with a long rest. It's the main thing that stops me from playing 5E.
#6 Ansbach Nov 25, 2014 16:55:37	In my fantasy campaigns, healing magic is somewhat rare and is part of what makes the PC Cleric special.  The common folk are used to living without it so all of the normal healing methods are default.  In a small village, magical healing might have to be sought after in the larger town a week's travel to the north or from that crazy old witch living in the woods.  In the larger towns, there is no where close to enough magical healing to go around so the few clerics that work in those areas must be very selective with who they use it on.   If it's not the focus of an adventure, it's just not important to enjoying a good adventure in the game.  Any marginally creative or plausable soultion you can come up with will work just fine, and remember that the rules for PCs don't need to be applied to the entire world.  You don't want to overthink it and be this guy: Saelorn wrote:
#7 iserith Nov 25, 2014 12:28:19	Saelorn wrote:
#8 OoftaMeg Nov 25, 2014 13:04:40	In my campaign low level magic works, so there are hedge witches and healers that most people go to. PCs do not have sole access to magic, but are exceptional in how quickly they can cast. So little Jonny will be taken to the healer to have his arm magically set. If his parents can afford it, they will be given herbs to speed the healing. So seeing a healer in many ways for most is like us going to the doctor, very limited miraculous healing, much better than medieval doctors.
#9 Saelorn Nov 25, 2014 15:01:29	iserith wrote:
#10 Ansbach Nov 25, 2014 17:49:20	Saelorn wrote:
(Reply to #3) DungeonKrusher	Drycanth wrote:
#12 iserith Nov 25, 2014 16:16:18	Ansbach wrote:
#13 cowleymen Nov 25, 2014 16:48:51	Ansbach wrote:
#14 Illithidbix Nov 25, 2014 17:01:09	1E and AD&D had suggested demographics of NPCs with class levels that gave an average of a 2nd level cleric and two 1st level Clerics in every Hamlet of 200 people.   Personally I entirely disagree with this view of a world, so I don't use it.   My worlds vary but my current campaign work by these assumptions   Divine Magic, is almost entirely unheard of, certainly it's not found in the hands of village priests or even the High Priests of the Great Cathedral. If one could be found, they would be viewed as either a Prophet, a Saint or a dangerous heretic... In fact many organised faiths look on Divine magic as a suspicious challenge to authority and question if it is even Divine in nature. (for a start it behaves suspiciously similarly to arcane magic...)   NPCs don't work by the rules of Classes and Levels that PC's do. (Classes are abstractions for game purposes, not states of existence in the world... OR they are states of existence in the world but very rare)   NPCs have skills and abilities as required of their place in the world, regardless of class and level. And most of them go squish as you'd expect people to do.   NPC spell casters rarely have the ability to output as much magic as players. Casting spells for most is a more expensive and time consuming process, even to perform even a cantrip.   PC spellcasters far, far more capable of raw magic output than almost anyone else. However NPCs also don't follow PC spell progression, so they might be able to (slowly) cast a higher level spell than PC's can, because they've studied it for far longer than PCs have.   Although the NPCs who can perform PC like feats of magic are rare, they're also going to be the sort of people the PCs will butt heads with in what they're likely to be doing.   Also one I'm experimenting with: Magical Healing does not always fully work on most people. If someone is slowly dying from a gut wound then healing them might merely ease the pain and extend their life, it might well not stop them dying.   Whilst healing works on PCs as expected, you can't guarantee healing everyone who is dying by using Cure Wounds on them. - This is mixed in with the idea of players (and certain rare NPCS) being the “unfettered” who have their raw potential unleashed in a way that most people don't.... finding out exactly why being a core theme of the campaign.
#15 Kentus Nov 25, 2014 17:26:12	It's largely by campaign world in my case. Forgotten Realms? Of course there are a lot of spellcasters there if you compare it to a gritty Sword&Sorcery campaign and most likely every town have a divine caster (since there are shrines and temples everywhere), who might cast some spells for a donation. Gods of the Forgotten Realms are dependant on mortal followers and divine casters are one of the best ways to ensure that the sheeps follows the herd. Eberron? Spellcaster-wise there are a lot, even compared to FG, because it's great if you want to get a good job. And magic items doesn't craft themselves, even a Mark of Making doesn't beat enough Magewrights. In my campaigns, PCs aren't blessed with a special status as a spellcaster, even though they have more traits (since including too much class traits in a monster is unnecessarily complicated and won't do too much: Even though Red Wizards definitely get the Arcane Traditions, since they're Red Wizards!).   I discriminate wounds generally. Normally HP presents every wound without lasting effects (minor cuts, bruises, etc.) and is more of a vitality parameter (since getting hit by a giant's club would definitely end with bruises -> he could deflect the attack with the shield, but his arm got numb in the process). So healing a cut with magic: Possible, but somehow a waste, if you can just grind your teeth instead. Stabilizing someone who suffers a greater wound which could lead to death: Worth it. Healing a broken arm? More of a Greater Restoration, we're talking about months until full recovery. Means that this is something a strong spellccaster could do, but little Jimmy is too poor for that kind of donation, so he have to hope, that the cleric in the far city will do it out of compassion.   Choleria? Here we have our Lathander/Pelor/etc.-clerics who fights epidemics for the sake of their gods, not every cleric is a bump, who tries to get fast money by adventuring, some of them takes their responsibilities serious.   And normally there are a lot of cultures in most campaign worlds, who actually uses their power for the benefit of the people. Since it's Fantasy.   But like most people, spellcasters doesn't do things just because. As long there is a viable reason why they use their limited magic to normal people, I see no problem in them doing so.
#16 MechaPilot Nov 25, 2014 17:30:31	Drycanth wrote:
#17 Saelorn Nov 25, 2014 21:46:32	Ansbach wrote:
#18 MechaPilot Nov 25, 2014 21:50:31	Saelorn wrote:
#19 Saelorn Nov 25, 2014 22:06:52	MechaPilot wrote:
#20 MechaPilot Nov 25, 2014 22:13:12	Saelorn wrote:
#21 iserith Nov 26, 2014 5:56:32	Saelorn wrote:
(Reply to #9) Timborama	Saelorn wrote:
#23 Ansbach Nov 26, 2014 8:15:31	Saelorn wrote:
#24 Saelorn Nov 26, 2014 10:26:15	Ansbach wrote:
#25 iserith Nov 26, 2014 10:47:08	It is not a house rule for the DM to narrate things that happen in the game world. The rules only come into play when the DM says so which is when the DM needs to resolve uncertainty - uncertainty which is established by the DM anyway.
#26 Sorxores Nov 26, 2014 10:54:29	Kazadvorn wrote:
#27 Saelorn Nov 26, 2014 11:15:18	iserith wrote:
(Reply to #3) Kazadvorn	Drycanth wrote:
#29 DungeonKrusher Nov 26, 2014 11:49:13	It might be noted that in the PHB, magic is described as very rare in the day-to-day life; only in an adventuring lifestyle do people routinely run into magic and sorcery. I'm not sure if that skews anybody's ideas or perceptions.   However, such a statement should be kept in mind when playing the game or interpreting rules. The designers intend to eschew the corner market with a selection of +2 throwing daggers and Heals-For-Hire. That does not preclude them from your game, but that seems to be the intent.
#30 iserith Nov 26, 2014 12:02:31	Saelorn wrote:
#31 iserith Nov 26, 2014 12:05:04	Kazadvorn wrote:
#32 Saelorn Nov 26, 2014 12:19:55	iserith wrote:
#33 iserith Nov 26, 2014 12:40:58	Saelorn wrote:
#34 Saelorn Nov 26, 2014 12:54:35	iserith wrote:
#35 iserith Nov 26, 2014 13:03:58	Saelorn wrote:
#36 Ansbach Nov 26, 2014 13:28:50	Saelorn wrote:
#37 Saelorn Nov 26, 2014 13:24:34	iserith wrote:
(Reply to #36) DungeonKrusher	Ansbach wrote:
#39 iserith Nov 26, 2014 13:26:47	Saelorn wrote:
#40 Saelorn Nov 26, 2014 13:31:19	Ansbach wrote:
#41 Saelorn Nov 26, 2014 13:34:51	iserith wrote:
#42 iserith Nov 26, 2014 13:35:50	Saelorn wrote:
#43 iserith Nov 26, 2014 13:38:02	Saelorn wrote:
#44 Ansbach Nov 26, 2014 14:12:17	Saelorn wrote:
#45 Saelorn Nov 26, 2014 14:11:43	Ansbach wrote:
#46 MechaPilot Nov 26, 2014 14:16:05	Saelorn wrote:
#47 Ansbach Nov 26, 2014 14:31:05	The common sense comes in knowing when not to apply the rule in the first place.     You start forcing yourself to always apply the RAW to every situation and suddenly 10' tree falls are fatal to 2hp kids 5/6ths of the time, or there is no way for anyone to ever break their arm because it's not covered in the rules, or everyone and everything in the world magically heals all of their wounds after a full night's rest.     Again, the bottom line: the problem is not with the rules, it's with your rigid insistence that they always be applied to every situation instead of just serving as a guide when needed.  Which is a position that, ironically, is not supported by the rules themselves.  If there is anything at all that you get from this conversation, it should be that you are suffering from a self-inflicted problem.  You've imposed unnecessary and unsupported constraints on yourself and then you are complaining about them.
#48 iserith Nov 26, 2014 14:16:57	Saelorn wrote:
#49 Ansbach Nov 26, 2014 14:45:18	iserith wrote:
#50 OoftaMeg Nov 26, 2014 14:41:34	I think this has veered off somewhat into the philosphical "what do HP stand for".  Not a bad debate per se, but not necessarily relevant to the topic.   Unless you're using alternate rules, PC (or monsters for that matter) don't break their arms in combat.  Depending on how you view it they get bruised, scraped and beaten but I look at HP being a combination of physical stamina and action hero "flesh wounds".   So if a PC did break an arm?  Without magic healing it would not be ok the next day.   It comes back to how magical is your world?  I have all sorts of NPC casters that couldn't cast a fireball to save their lives but can work rituals and do magic in ways that PCs can't.  PCs may be battle ready, but that doesn't mean there is only one type of magic or one type of casting.
#51 Saelorn Nov 26, 2014 14:51:18	iserith wrote:
#52 Saelorn Nov 26, 2014 14:58:29	Ansbach wrote:
(Reply to #43) DungeonKrusher	iserith wrote:
#54 iserith Nov 26, 2014 15:14:19	Saelorn wrote:
#55 iserith Nov 26, 2014 15:17:21	DungeonKrusher wrote: