Healing 5e
Healing for DnD 5e is used essentially as-is. Here is presented a "Lingering Injuries" add-on, inspired by DanDwiki [1]. The reason is to add deadliness to the system.
Lingering Injuries
If a character receives more damage than half their maximum HP in one turn or they have to roll death saves, the player rolls a D20 and consults this table. Multiple Lingering Injuries of the same type can mean permanent damage.
For every 2 (round down) Lingering Injuries the player already has, reduce 1 from the result.
| Roll | Injury | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | Surface wound | Gain Hemorrhage 1 (1d2 hemorrhaging damage for 1d2+1 rounds) |
| 19 | Flesh wound | Gain Hemorrhage 2 (1d4 hemorrhaging damage for 1d4+2 rounds) |
| 18 | ||
| 17 | ||
| 16 | ||
| 15 | Deep wound | Gain Hemorrhage 3 (1d6 hemorrhaging damage for 1d6+3 rounds) |
| 14 | ||
| 13 | ||
| 12 | ||
| 11 | ||
| 10 | Arm Injury | You lose the ability to use the injured arm. |
| 9 | ||
| 8 | Leg Injury | You lose the ability to use the injured leg. |
| 7 | ||
| 6 | Light Internal Injury | You take 1d2 Con damage and gain +1 Internal Injury lvl. Make a Con save DC 8 + (Internal Injury lvl²) (max DC 20). If you fail you become Stunned until the start of your turn. |
| 5 | ||
| 4 | Sight Injury | You are blinded on one eye. |
| 3 | Serious Internal Injury | You take 1d4 Con damage and gain +2 Internal Injury lvl. Make a Con save DC 10 + (Internal Injury lvl²) (max DC 20). If you fail you become Stunned until the start of your turn. |
| 2 | Head Injury | You take mental ability damage: 1d4 Int, 1d4 Wis and 1d4 Cha. On your turns, until next Long Rest, succeed on a save of Int, Wis or Cha save (whichever is lower) DC 8, or lose your action and reaction that turn. |
| 1 | Critical Injury | Roll twice on this table, -1. You may add your Con modifier to the roll (note: this is not a constitution check). |
If any of your physical ability scores ever reach below 1, you die. If any of the mental ones reach below 1, you become unconscious and it's not possible to wake you unless the score becomes more than 0.
Keep track of each Lingering Injury. Each needs to be cleaned before a Long Rest (15 minutes, Medicine DC 10 check) to not risk infection. Keeping a Lingering Injury clean is not the same as attempting to cure it.
Creatures with unusual numbers of limbs or eyes may be affected differently.
Following the Long Rest, make a Healing check (Con DC 15):
- Each Lingering Injury is tracked and rolled for separately
- Failure adds Infection (see below)
- Succeeding on 5 (total) Con checks heals the Lingering Injury
- If you receive 1h medical care (Medicine DC 15) in conjunction with a Long Rest, you roll with advantage
Healing a Lingering Injury
A Lingering Injury is healed by:
- Succeeding on 5 (total) Healing checks Con checks to heal the Lingering Injury
- Use a 3rd level or higher healing spell on the target
- 20 points of magical healing applied directly to the injury (not used to replenish HP loss)
- A Lesser Restoration spell with a Tooth Component*
- A second Lingering Injury can be healed if a Greater Tooth Component is used.
- A Greater Restoration spell (no material component needed)
Hemorrhage
The Hemorrhage condition comes in levels:
- Level 1: 1d2 hemorrhaging damage for 1d2+1 rounds
- Level 2: 1d4 hemorrhaging damage for 1d4+2 rounds
- Level 3: 1d6 hemorrhaging damage for 1d6+3 rounds
Hemorrhage damage reduce the maximum hit points of the character and applies a level of Exhaustion for every 1/4 of the hit point total so damaged. If a character ever receives hemorrhage damage equal or greater than their hit point maximum, they die.
The damage is rolled and applied at the start of your turn. If you have received different levels of the Hemorrhage condition, use the highest level and use the longest duration. Hemorrhage levles don't increase or decrease by application, but by the highest you have received or the longest duration, whichever is worse.
The Hemorrhage condition can be removed by:
- A Medicine check (DC 11 + Hemorrhage level)
- 3 points of magical healing per Hemorrhage level
- 1 point of fire damage per Hemorrhage level (note: avoid getting 0 HP again!)
- Using the spells Lesser Restoration or Greater Restoration
Removing the Hemorrhage condition doesn't restore lost hit point maximum or remove the Lingering Injury that caused it that still needs to be cleaned.
Temporary hit point maximum loss caused by hemorrhage is recovered:
- 1d8 points per long rest
- 3d8 points per long rest by spending a whole day recuperating
- 1 point per 8 points of magical healing spells of lower than 3rd level
- 2d8 points per Lesser Restoration with a Tooth Component (4d8 with Greater Tooth Component)
- All hit point maximum loss is healed with Greater Restoration
Arm Injury
If you receive a second injury of the same kind for limbs or sight, it's your choice how it lands on you, whether it deals a second damage to the injured body part or an injury to the second.
If an injured body part recives a second Lingering Injury, it is permanently disabled and probably will require amputation. It requires a Regeneration spell to restore.
If your arm has a Lingering Injury, you can't use the injured arm for physical actions like lifting, shielding, attacking or crawling. You have disadvantage on Strength checks & saves and on attacks that requires the use of that hand (including Grapple). Your carry capacity is decreased by 1/4.
If your second arm also has a Lingering Injury, you are unable to perform any actions requiring arms. Your carry capacity is decreased by 3/4 due to lack of grip and the pain.
Leg Injury
If you receive a second injury of the same kind for limbs or sight, it's your choice how it lands on you, whether it deals a second damage to the injured body part or an injury to the second.
If an injured body part recives a second Lingering Injury, it is permanently disabled and probably will require amputation. It requires a Regeneration spell to restore.
If your leg has a Lingering Injury, your base speed is decreased by 10ft (to a minimum of 5ft of movement) and you take a -2 Dodge penalty. Any movement you make that isn't part of a Disengage, Tumble or movement to engage an enemy provokes opportunity attacks. You have disadvantage to climb and any Strength checks/saves involving your leg. If you Jump, Tumble or move further than your base speed on your turn (e.g: if you Dash), you have to succeed on a DC 11 Acrobatics check or fall prone.
If both of your arms have a Lingering Injury, your base speed is 0 and you can't perform any actions that require legs.
Internal Injury
The Internal Injury condition comes in cumulative levels and at the beginning of your turn you must succeed a Con save DC 10 + (Internal Injury lvl²) (max DC 20) to control your damaged body. If you fail you become Stunned until the start of your turn.
- DC 9 Con
- DC 12 Con
- DC 17 Con
- DC 20 Con
- DC 20 Con
- You die.
You don't need to saves out of combat, but your ability to do things is limited by the condition. Each level of Internal Injury must be removed to remove the condition but only one Medicine check to keep the wound clean is needed per day. Removing the last Internal Injury level removes the Lingering Injury but leaves some deformation.
Reducing Internal Injury
Internal Injury levels are reduced the same way Ability Damage is healed, with the difference that when an Internal Injury level is reduced, the recepient gains the same levels of Exhaustion, unless it's a Greater Restoration spell.
Sight Injury
If you receive a second injury of the same kind for limbs or sight, it's your choice how it lands on you, whether it deals a second damage to the injured body part or an injury to the second.
If an injured body part recives a second Lingering Injury, it is permanently disabled and probably will require amputation. It requires a Regeneration spell to restore.
You are blinded on one side you have disadvantage on any attack roll that is not Str based, on any Dex saves, and any Perception checks that rely on sight. After a Long Rest, make a flat check DC17. On a success, you have grow accustomed to the one-sided vision for Dex-based attacks and saves. The Perception penalties persist while you have the Sight Injury or if you are permanently blinded.
If all your sources of sight are injured or permanently blinded, you are blind.
Head Injury
Multiple Head injuries simply apply ability damage. You don't need to saves out of combat, but your ability to do things is limited by the condition.
Infection
An infection can spread from an untreated Lingering Injury. If you have an Lingering Injury that has not been cleaned (15 minutes cleaning per Lingering Injury; Medicine DC 15) in conjunction with a Long Rest, you gain one Infection level for each. If you have any Infection levels after a Long Rest, you must make an Infection Check (Con DC 10 + Infection level). If you succeed, you reduce the Infection level by 1. If you fail, you take 1 Con damage and increase the Infection level by 1. If you decrease the Infection level to 0, the condition is removed (but the Lingering Injuries are unaffected).
If you received successfull Medical care for 1 hour in conjunction with your Long Rest, you can make the check with advantage.
Even if you haven't reduced the infection level to 0, when you succeed a 5th time on an Infection, the Infection clears up and is reduced to 0.
On the 4th and further Infection checks, you take 1d2-1 Con damage even on a success and 1d2 on a failure.
Reduce Infection levels:
- 1 for each day you succeed on an Infection check
- One hour Medical care (Medicine 15) gives advantage to the check
- 1d2 for each Lesser Restoration with a Tooth Component (2d2 with Greater Tooth Component)
- All infection levels are healed with Greater Restoration
Tooth Component
A Tooth Component can be used to enhance spells. These include either a pristine vampire, werewolf, dire wolf, ghoul or zombie tooth ground down as material component.
Pristine vampire or werewolf teeth also qualify as a Greater Tooth Component.
Lesser Restoration House Rule
Lesser Restoration can, in addition to its existing condition remedies, also use a Tooth Component as a material component to restore either a Lingering Injury or 1d2 ability damage (chosen by you). If a Greater Tooth Component is used, Lesser Restoration may remove two Lingering Injuries or 2d2 points of ability damage.
Scars
The character will retain scars from their injuries which can only be removed with a greater Restoration spell that specifically targets the scar.