4th EDITION D&D SRD (PREVIEW) - HEALING & RESTING

Hit Points, Healing, and Dying

Over the course of a battle, your character takes damage from attacks. Damage reduces your hit points.

• Maximum Hit Points: You have a maximum number of hit points, as determined by your class, level, and Constitution score. Your current hit points can't exceed this number.
• Bloodied: When your current hit points drop to one-half your maximum hit points or lower, you are bloodied.

Certain powers work only (or work better) against a bloodied target.

• Dying: When your current hit points drop to 0 or lower, you fall unconscious and are dying. Any damage you take continues to reduce your current hit points until your character dies.
• Death Saving Throw: When you are dying, you make a saving throw at the end of your turn each round. If you succeed (roll 10 or higher), there is no change in your condition. If you fail the save (roll lower than 10), you slip one step closer to death. If you fail three times, your character dies.
• Death: When you take damage that reduces your current hit points to a negative number that's the same as your bloodied number, or if you fail your death save three times, your character dies.

Healing in Combat

Even as the battle rages around you, you can heal. You can heal yourself by using your second wind (see below). An ally can use the Heal skill on you (see below). An ally can use a healing power on you.

When a power heals you, you don't have to take an action to spend a healing surge. Even if you're unconscious, the power uses your healing surge to restore hit points.. And some powers don't require you to spend a healing surge at all.

Healing the Dying

When you are dying, any healing restores you to at least 1 hit point. If someone has stabilized you using the Heal skill but you receive no healing, you regain hit points after an extended rest.

HEALING SURGE: Each character has a certain number of healing surges. Some powers (like some cleric prayers) will also heal you your healing surge value, and you’ll tick off your healing surges for them as well. When you run out of healing surges, you’ll want to take an extended rest.

SECOND WIND: Once during each encounter, you can take a standard action called a second wind; this gives you a certain amount of hit points back equal to your healing surge value and gives you a +2 bonus to all your defenses until the start of your next turn. You then tick off one of your healing surges for the day. When a character has been knocked down a few hit points, taking a second wind action is a good idea.

Rest and Recovery

Outside of encounters, you can take one of two types of rest: a short rest or an extended rest.

SHORT REST: A short rest lasts 5 minutes, and is a long enough time for you to regain your encounter powers and use healing surges to heal up. You can take as many short rests per day as you want. During a short rest, you have to rest; no strenuous activity, no interruptions.

If you’re outside of combat, you can take a short rest and tick off the healing surges you need to heal up damage.

EXTENDED REST: An extended rest is akin to “camping” and lasts 6 hours. You have to rest or sleep during this period. After an extended rest, you’re fully healed, you regain any hit points you lost, you have a full compliment of healing surges, you have your daily powers back, and you reset your action points to 1.

It’s good to take an extended rest when some members in the group are down to about 1 healing surge remaining, or everyone has used all their daily powers.

Sources: D&D Miniatures Game Battle Rules∞, What You Need to Know About D&D - Quick Rules Primer∞, d20 System SRD∞, D&D Glossary∞

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