Healing Rules
Any character healing where services are available, heal at rate of 10% their total hit points per day. This healing is restorative, removes all fatigue, and furthers the characters progress toward healing massive wounds/permanent injuries.
While “on the trail” but unmolested, characters can heal to their 25%/50%/75%/100% hit point level for each 2 hours of rest. Additionally, if the character is a spell caster they may re-study 25%/50%/75%/100% of their spell slots. These provisions are required, however:
While actively adventuring (in combat, no rest time, etc.) healing is calculated via the given rules. Hero Points may be used, but only provide 25% of maximum allotment of points. All calculations are rounded down. If you are a “Quick Healer” you round up.
Hit Points Hit points represent a combination of physical and mental durability, the will to live, and luck. Hit points are an abstraction that represent a creature’s ability to survive the many perils lying in wait.
Hit Point Maximum. A creature’s hit point maximum is, simply, the number of hit points the creature has when it is has all of its hit points.
Hit Dice. Every creature has 1 or more Hit Dice, short for Hit Point Dice. Player characters have 1 Hit Die per level. A creature’s hit point maximum is determined by rolling each Hit Die (or taking its average) and adding to it the creature’s Constitution modifier, but at 1st‐level, a player character takes the Hit Die’s maximum result, rather than rolling it. A creature has a minimum of 1 hit point per Hit Die. After a creature rests, it can also spend Hit Dice to regain hit points (see “Resting” below).
Current Hit Points. A creature’s current hit points, or just hit points, can be any number between the creature’s hit point maximum and 0. This number often changes. As a creature receives healing or takes damage, its hit points rise or fall.
Damage. Whenever a creature takes damage, that damage is subtracted from its hit points. Creatures with more hit points are more durable and, therefore, more difficult to kill. Those with fewer hit points are more fragile. The loss of hit points has no effect on a creature’s capabilities until the creature drops to 0 hit points.
Describing the Effects of Damage. Dungeon Masters describe hit point loss in different ways. When your current hit point total is half or more of your hit point maximum, you typically show no signs of injury. When you drop below half your hit point maximum, you show signs of wear, such as cuts and bruises. An attack that reduces you to 0 hit points strikes you directly, leaving a bleeding injury or other trauma, or it simply knocks you unconscious.
Healing. A creature heals whenever it regains hit points. Creatures can heal by magical means, such as from a cure wounds spell or a potion of healing, or by resting. Regardless of the method, add any hit points regained to your current hit points. Remember, your hit points cannot exceed your hit point maximum, so any hit points regained in excess of this number are lost.
Dropping to 0 Hit Points. When you drop to 0 hit points, you fall unconscious. You must also subtract 1 Sanity.
Instant Death. Massive damage can kill you instantly. When damage reduces you to 0 hit points and there is damage remaining, you die if the remaining damage equals or exceeds 10.
Falling Unconscious. If damage reduces you to 0 hit points and fails to kill you, you fall unconscious. This unconsciousness ends if you regain any hit points.
Bleeding. Whenever you start your turn with less than 0 hit points, you must make a constitution check. A failure means that you lose 1 additional hp that round. A success means that your condition stabilizes and you no longer need to roll.
Damage at 0 Hit Points. Each time a creature with 0 hit points takes damage it is considered a critical strike with no saving throw.
Monsters and Death. Most DMs have a monster die the instant it drops to 0 hit points, rather than having it fall unconscious and make death rolls. Mighty villains and special non-player characters are common exceptions; the DM might have them fall unconscious and follow the same rules as player characters.
Stabilizing a Creature. The best way to save a creature with 0 hit points is to heal it. If healing is unavailable, you can, at least, stabilize the creature so that it isn’t killed by a series of failed rolls.
How to Stabilize. To stabilize a creature, you must use your action to tend to the creature, and you must succeed on a Wisdom check to administer first aid to it.
The Effects of Being Stable. A stable creature doesn’t make rolls, even though it has 0 hit points, but it does remain unconscious. The creature stops being stable, and must start making rolls again, if it takes any damage. A stable creature that is not healed regains 1 hit point after 1d4 hours.
Knocking a Creature Out. Sometimes an attacker wants to incapacitate a foe, rather than deal a killing blow. When an attacker reduces a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack, the attacker can knock the creature out. The attacker can make this choice the instant the damage is dealt. The creature falls unconscious and is stable.
Resting. The most expedient method of healing is through the use of magic, but when magic is not available, you can regain hit points by resting. You can take two different kinds of rests: a short rest and a long rest.
Short Rest. A short rest is a period of downtime, approximately 4 hours, during which you catch your breath, eat, drink, and clean and bind wounds. A short rest provides the benefit of returning 50% of your hit points provided you meet the requirements provided at the beginning of this article.
Long Rest. A long rest is a period of extended downtime, at least 8 hours long, during which you sleep or perform light activity: reading, talking, eating, or standing watch for no more than 2 hours of the rest period. If the rest is interrupted by a strenuous activity - such as attacking, taking damage, or casting a spell (beyond healings) - you must start the rest over to gain any benefit from it. You must have at least 1 hit point to take a long rest. At the end of the rest, you regain all your hit points. You cannot benefit from more than one long rest in a 24-hour period. A spell caster may regain their entire compliment of spell slots during this time.
Extended Rest. An extended rest is a term of days/weeks/months in which your character is refraining from the rigors of adventuring to make a full recovery and to aid the recovery of a critical wound. All hit points are returned and the character has a chance, under proper ministrations, of recovering from a critical wound. Each ciritcal wound is different and requirements will be set on a case by case basis.
Critical Wounds. Any wound that is the result of a critical strike makes a lasting injury for your character. This wound should be recorded and included in role-playing. This wound cannot be healed back to standard function by any of the resting times given above. Their wounds would only be healed by appropriate magical healing or Extended Rest with the aid of a skilled healer. Both styles of healing will result in some sort of scar unless otherwise indicated. Regardless of the wound, the hit points can be returned to the character by the standard rest times as named above.
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