First Aid & Healing System but with Resident Evil Herbs instead

So while recently running a campaign for newer players; I came onto a problem my own First Aid Rules caused. Truthfully, it's been something I've thought about for a while. I really like the healing system; allowing players to do plenty of out-of-combat healing allows you to keep individual combats dangerous (since you can balance them around being vs a full strength party instead of an HP tax), gives scholarly/smart characters something beneficial to do during downtime besides magic stuff, adds risk-reward to the time management minigame (you can heal during an exploration turn, but you will get a wandering monster roll- if you get a random encounter, you may lose more health/resources then you'd gain from the break, so it's always a balancing act), and finally improve the resource-management depth of the game. 

I've used the healing system in multiple dungeon crawls and it hasn't really upset the balance as much as I once thought; PCs can still die, and making a tactical retreat out of the dungeon once you get enough treasure is still a priority given the strict time pressure I like to add to the game. But the different types of healing items I was never quite satisfied with. I never found the players actually debating what kinds of items to bring with, no make the strategic decision to prioritize certain items over others. The idea of bandages being the best and most useful (as well as most "realistic") stuck out constantly. To simplify this system somewhat for a group of newer players, and as an experiment, I changed it so simple bandages were the primary healing item. This felt like it fit the fiction and was simple and easy to understand. Almost immediately, the players began trying to abuse it a bit. While I like the idea of player skill being used to stock up on supplies or improvise useful items in a dungeon was appealing and something I approved it, it completely killed the careful planning aspect and the limited starting gold the players were given to buy equipment, torches, healing items, and so forth.

Side note; I had more thoughts on this basic system, which I decided to outline in this small post.

After just one session of them tearing up every single piece of clothing to make an endless supply of improvised bandages, I already had enough. Then it hit me, just make it healing herbs instead.

Healing Herbs (from Resident Evil)
Healing herbs fulfill the function of bandages (as being a "general purpose" healing item), but with the exclusivity of being something you can't easily scavenge from anywhere. You could still have them found out on an adventure, such as in a dungeon or in the wilderness, but these would be more rare and selective. Maybe even something your Druid or Ranger types can get a bonus to search for. That's a fun mechanic to come out of the concept. It also doesn't deny you to use a more case-sensitive uses for things like improvised healing items or "puzzles" for the players to solve; using bandages for any context specific deep wounds that drain your Hit-Points over time. Plus it also solves a very small issue I had in both games where it came up; explaining to players that you treating the wound may not in fiction actually magically "heal" it, but for the purposes of the game, the wound is cleaned and bandaged and "healed" for purposes of hit points. It's a small issue, but enough that I feel healing herbs would solve, since magical herbs that make wounds less severe is very simple to understand, and could be easily explained as actual accelerated natural healing, making these small breaks in verisimilitude less important.

And on top of all that, it also solves the minor issue of healing items (potions specifically, but bandages fall under this too) of being something that doesn't expire or can be stockpiled. Something complained about before, with other solutions too; but in this case, herbs eventually dry up and go bad! Everyone knows this inherently, especially once you pluck them from the ground and carry them around, so it puts a time pressure on their use. You wanna be the guy carrying around a bunch of potted plant healing herbs with you so they stay healthy until you need them? Bam, instant character concept. Another added benefit? They aren't too mystical or magical like a limited use healing wand or whatever for players to wonder why they can buy them in preparation for an adventure. In the same way you head to the general store to buy rope, the bowyer to buy arrows, and the herbalist for healing herbs.

Another reason why I like the idea? You can make different herbs do different thing; you can just straight up steal it from Resident Evil.

Healing Herbs Rules
Require an exploration turn (10 minutes) to prepare and apply an herb. Herbs are applied to wounds, or eaten. You can combine multiple herbs in a single application to a maximum of 3.

Green Herbs heal 1d6 hit points per Green Herb.
Yellow Herbs restores 1 point of any damaged attribute. (Or +1 Max HP if your attributes are all ok)
Blue Herbs remove poisons you are suffering from, or grants you an one extra save against the effect. If it's not the type of poison cured by "mortal" means, it delays its onset by one hour. (Or alternatively; ignores the healing negative from Aggravated Wounds?)
Red Herbs double the numerical value of any other herb used with it, but does nothing on its own. Burning Red Herb might scare away ghosts. Trying to use two Red Herbs at once will probably make you have a seizure (or grant +1 AC temporarily or something, up to you)

Note: Normally red herbs make a green herb into a full heal, but making it so you can pick and choose what effects you want to boost, from making poison take longer to harm you or restoring attributes, might be more interesting. If you want to make Red Herbs an actual full heal, then be my guest, appropriately priced it isn't that much different then just stacking a bunch of Green Herbs anyway. At least this way you can maximize the value of different curative effects.

I like to imagine different healers (and adventurers) have their own methods of using healing herbs. Primitives throw them into a campfire and just rawdog the smoke into their lungs. If you're healing yourself, chew it up and spit it on the wound. Wizards smoke them in a big hookah. Motherly types add them into a pot with her stew. Horsemen put them in a feed bag and chew on them while watching down a hallway for the telltale yellow eyes of a goblin sneaking up on the party while they take a short rest. If you play a goblin, he probably smokes it in a little crack pipe; fun stuff like that? That's free roleplaying.

Dirt Simple First Aid

Whenever you are in a dungeon, out in the wilderness, or in an adventure location, you can take a short rest (exploration turn) to perform various actions. One of these is healing.

In order to heal another party member, you must expend bandages (or healing herbs) to heal them. You heal them 1d6 + your Intelligence modifier and the healing item is consumed. Your character can also be trained in the arts of healing, either as a class feature or as training that can be purchased in downtime (similar to weapon training, or studying for new spells). Every time you train your healing, you can increase the amount you heal by +1.

Certain hazards, rusted blade-traps, the undead, and complex injuries become aggravated. This means that the injury deals its normal Hit-Points effect of damage, but any healing roll made to heal that character is now made at a minus, and subtracts the amount you heal with your healing action by that amount. For example, a triangular bayonet is very difficult to stitch up, and has a aggravated wound value of -3, the touch of a Wight would be -7. This means that attempting to heal it while unskilled can actually make it worse. (This acts as an incentive to have dedicated healing-focused characters to be able to safely restore health, and reduce healing effectiveness overall).

Additionally, certain items like healing potions and food heal when consumed, which do not trigger aggravated wounds. Regular rations consumed on a short rest restore +1 Hit-Points. This means that even if you're cursed and burned with acids and all other sorts of shit, you can still recover a little bit of HP in a safe if time-inefficient way.

This system is the trimmed down version of this.

[Class] Destructive Star Physician

This class's name was randomly generated by this random generator, which I was smitten by.

Destructive Star Physician
HD- d6
Max AC- 13 / Minimum Hit-Points- 4

You are a doctor, but not just any doctor. You know about the Others, the star children, the Great Old Ones. To you, human biology, and indeed the biology of any living creature, is objectively inferior to the biology of these otherworldly astral beings. As much as possible, you want to stretch the limits of what a living thing can be. You hurt people pretty much as much as you help them.

You are a healer first and foremost, and can heal people using first aid and medical items. You can use two healing items in a downtime turn (10 minute period) at level 3, three healing items at level 6, and four healing items at level 9. Healing dice are split up among multiple patients and/or damage types.

Your knowledge of anatomy also grants you a bonus to combat. You gain +1 damage on hit with all attacks at levels 4 and 8.

While you are a doctor and physician, your main goal lies in the ascension of raw, mundane flesh into that of the star beings and others beyond. Starting at level 2, you may experiment on any willing (or unconscious) party member. You may only experiment once per level, but can experiment on the same party member multiple times every time you level up, if you want to make a freakshow. 

At levels 2 thru 4, roll a d4 on the table below.
At levels 5 thru 7, roll a d6 on the table below.
At levels 8 and 9, roll a d8 on the table below.
At level 10 and above, roll a d10 on the table, or pick the result if you're within your laboratory.

Star-Physician Experiment Table
[1] The Doctor loses 1d3 Wisdom, the Patient loses 1d6 Charisma or goes partially insane.
[2] Patient takes 1d8 points of acid damage. This patient cannot roll this result a second time.
[3] Patient gains 1d3 points to a random physical stat (Str, Dex, Con) but loses -1d6x10% of their remaining life expectancy.
[4] Patient is healed from all wounds, and gains +2 permanent maximum HP. The patient is also now host to several alien parasites; they must eat an extra ration per day.
[5] Patient is immune to all earthly diseases and ghoul paralysis. However, they must save vs death if struck with a silver weapon.
[6] Patient rolls on a mutation table. If the mutation does not have any beneficial effects, reroll.
[7] Doctor has removed an important organ from the Patient- heart, lungs, or pancreas. The patient gets +2 to all saving throws, but if the organ is destroyed outside of their body they will die.
[8] Patient now has a poisonous bite that deals 1d6 damage on a failed save. If rolled a again, it is now poison spit. If rolled again, poisonous blood.
[9] Roll a random Damage Type (1d8 for damage types here) OR a random element. The patient now takes half damage from that damage type. The Patient is also now an Other and does not "detect" as their original race or type of being.
[10] Patient is now ageless, and appears stuck at whatever age they were when this experiment took place. The patient also has a strange symbol tattoo'd on their body, and their mind is filled with a Terrible Knowledge.

At 10th level, you become an Astral Healer and can astral project your consciousness at will. This allows you to seek things and see the unseen, but every time you do the DM will add +1d6% to a DOOM tracker hidden from you. Every time you astrally project, there is a d% chance your spirit will be taken by something out there and your body will die without a soul.

Vagueposting- Optional Ramblings about Medical Items

This is a direct follow-up to The Healing System. This is a Vagueposting article, meaning it is very long, kinda pointless, and was posted separately as to not muddy up the actual rules and mechanics post itself with a long ugly text wall at the end. You have been warned.

Ideas and Digressions about each type of Healing Item
Sharp damage is generic. Bandages are for sure the easiest item to carry around. They're also the easiest to improvise- anyone can just rip up a dirty shirt for a lower healing value. I would also totally let elves and the like make some bandages out of woven grass or fallen leaves. For this reason, I hardly consider them a recovery item at all and would almost just wrap up the both most basic damage types (sharp and blunt) to just be 'freebies' you can heal at any time- splints are just a hard object + a bit of string to make a basic splint so it's also pretty simple. Exchanging time + safety for healing is a good enough trade off without needing to bother with keeping track. However resource management is important in a dungeon crawler, and I like the idea of getting magical bandages at some point. Plus there is also the psychological factor of having regular “bandages” you bring from home being better, healing 1d6, where as improvised bandages healing only 1d3 or 1d4, even if they are pretty much infinite. This means players will feel like they're running out of the more optimal healing even if it doesn't actually change that much for the game.

Blunt damage is pretty similar to broken bones. If you wanted to make it more “realistic”, only allow the use of the limb after its been splinted, but the damage can't be restored with basic items. Another idea is to just fold this into bandages, since it's pretty simple physical damage- you wrap up limbs and the skull when it is heavily bruised or after a nasty fall, as splints don't work as well as well for body parts that aren't straight, long bones like an arm or leg. Splints are also really easy to make in the field, just a bit of rope or a bandage + a random straight hard object on the ground like a bone or even a dulled sword. I also like the idea of using casts in the form of plasters that require water, but few people keep track of water rations. How else could you make a cast? Use wooden bracers for a couple of downtime turns to carve them- requires wood and 1d4 turns of effort but heals 1d8 or more? This is the type of injury that is less easy to explain with the first aid idea of it healing, but could be useful for those with a more rulings-over-rules mindset. Every broken bone or injury could be unique.

Ointments are one of my favorite healing ideas or solutions. You can pretty easily imagine fire, lightning, and acid damage burning and scorching the skin. Ointment makes perfect sense. It can be carried in a tub and is probably one of the more expensive healing items. Improvisation is my favorite for this one; you can rub cooled ash from a wood fire into the wound for its alkaline properties, 1d3 for being improvised. You can also make your own ointment by boiling monster fat- I'd give this 1d4 or perhaps healing equal to the monsters HD, but there's a pretty nice opportunity to force a mutation roll for this. Also since water and water magic often have healing connotations, I'd let it heal 1d2 or just one hit point if you spend a turn running fresh water from a spring or fountain onto these kinds of wounds, but if you prefer water MAGIC as healing then keep this for specific spells or class powers.

Cold damage being healed by warming up is one of my favorites for thematics. I like it for two reasons; the first is the sort of “old wives tale” vibe of a bowl of chicken noodle soup actually curing a cold, and two because it fits with the theme of surviving in a cold place. Most cold damage will be coming to you in cold lands with snow and cold creatures and blizzards and ice magicians. You need to keep careful stock of your firewood, your bourbon, your black pepper. Oh, by the way, all of those can help restore cold. Good alcohol and spicy food help warm you up just as much as a blanket and a fire. Of course this is still limited by restoring items; 1d6 per turn sat around a fire with a limit of counting once per person; so a Sage can't start four fires around someone or something- that's not the idea. Cold is a slow and steady killer in that regard; not like a bleeding wound which you can keep piling bandages on to. I like that sort of asymmetry in the damage types and treatment methods. Spicy foods or alcohol can be used too and would restore 1d4 for both, except really good Dwarf alcohol can restore more. I also had the thought that Dwarves can just restore any damage type by drinking beer which fits their character but might be a little strong since it's the same as a health potion, so making it just cold damage works well and fits that sort of cold mountain dwarf aesthetic if you go for that.

Miasma is another great one. This is where the damage types start to dive more into that “mythical realism” idea I want to push so hard. Miasma is caused by foul air- the rotting or diseased living things or even foul smelling substances in the earth like sulfur cause harm. In this case, not disease but shortness of breath and toxic fumes. It's the medieval fantasy version of gas warfare. The idea is that it can be cured by smelling nice things- the same as the plague doctor with a perfumed beak. Miasma would be hard to cure except if you consider perfume and sweet smelling things to be the cure; huffing a handful of recently clipped flowers would restore 1d4, where as a vial of aromatic extract or healer's perfume would be 1d6 hit points for being more expensive and exclusive. Simply being in a place with fresh air- away from a city and out in the mountains and country, also restores 1d4 per day. Good for fitting in with the ideas about health and disease as mythical people might think of it.

Poison is pretty simple, and is relatively common. Most of the time though I think antidotes just stop poisons as opposed to restore damage done by them, but if we're going with this system, then poison can be removed from the body which counts as healing. Emetic drugs work as a method to induce vomiting- which I've seen (mostly in Eastern fantasy?) as a way to remove impurities or poisons from the body. It's not just the drug, the act of vomiting itself removes the toxin. I like to imagine in the fantasy/medievalist mindset that the stomach has the power to concentrate poisons in the blood that can be spewed out, which leads to black bile and the like. So an emetic drug to induce vomiting also concentrates toxins better. Some kind of plant or herb that causes you to vomit would be 1d6, eating some moldy bread or spoiled meat is 1d4, and just sticking a finger in your mouth to throw up would be like 1d3 or less.

Terror. For terror- I wore my inspiration on my sleeve. I stole Terror/Mortal Terror status effect straight from Sekiro. I really liked this mechanic; when fighting ghostly enemies, there is a status effect bar in the typical soulslike style where it slowly fills and when it is filled, it causes the status effect. Mortal Terror has the effect of instantly killing you, you “die of fright”, regardless of what your health bar looks like. I liked this idea a lot to ground the player characters a bit in this fantasy world, and make the undead feel more fantastical. One issue with this is players will feel like their characters are being controlled too much by the DM- and not in the form of mind control. Like if you want to be a badass warrior you don't want to hear how he get scared. But the idea here is it's supernatural, which I kind of like in terms of undead. Like even if you're brave you start shaking, your hair turns white, etc. And if you get too scared your heart will stop and you'll die. Terror is also a damage type that is a bit harder to cure- pacifying drugs is the main type. Lavender/calming elixirs and tranquilizers would work. I don't know if taking a nap really makes sense here- if it's fear you'd probably just have a screaming nightmare, but at the same time forced people to sleep could be cool. Pacifying drugs are 1d6, lavender sprigs are 1d4. Maybe singing a happy song is 1d3. I personally like the idea of a music box or something like that being used as opposed to a group activity, since it's an “item”, but it's kind of a minor thing.

Wasting damage is caused by draining. I like to imagine death spells, the touch of undead, and blood draining enemies, and being starved as being its causes. The issue with this damage type is it's a bit of an overlap with terror and/or cold when it comes to what could be the main damage type of the undead or “dark magic” sort of thing. I like keeping them separate because it's more authentic to the fantastical realism- and it's a body more “physical” and noticable then something like negative energy or level drain. I do like energy dream but I feel like it could be roped into wasting, but it could also be separate for a more spiritual feel. Eating a ration restores 1d6 wasting damage, a snack is 1d4, a feast is 1d8 or better. Maybe better ingredients have a semi-magical amount of restoration. You could also improvise this with poor quality or raw ingredients- if you're dying of hunger just killing a squirrel and eating it raw because you don't have time to cook it and have a meal makes sense to me. Wasting is more like a drain of your “life force” energy, so you could also make it restored by food, sleep, sex, etc.

The Healing System

This is the healing system. It was created to make healing a more active, full featured part of the game. Some complexity is involved, but none of it is present in combat. This system was created from the ground up to facilitate rulings over rules- and to give my Sage class something to do. Sages were the logical, thematic replacement to the generic robe wearing magic user for people who don't like traditional magic in TTRPG.

The original draft of this system was first made here.

Taking Damage

Instead of counting down hit points, count up instead. Normally in a game, a Fighter with 20 Hit Points maximum is considered at maximum life and totally healthy at 20, barely scratched at 19, on death's door at 1, and dead/dying/rolls on death & dismemberment at 0. Instead, flip it. The Fighter with 20 HP maximum is considered right as rain at 0, barely scratched at 1, almost dead at 19, and dead at 20. Imagine Hit Points as the “points worth of hits” you can take before you die- similar to using wounds or a damage tracker. This makes more sense to me anyway- Life or Health is usually used for values that count down, hits and wounds count up instead.

Whenever you take damage from a hit, the Dungeon Master will tell you what type of damage it was. Write a letter or symbol by the wound you just took. If you're close to going over, add up your hit points and see if you're at your maximum or above- in which case, you die.

Addition is faster then subtraction, so combat is not slowed down. The only potential problem with this system is that somebody could make an error and not notice they went over their Hit Points- but unlike a subtracting HP total, an earlier mistake won't mess you up for several rounds in advance. I'd write each injury individually, which gives you a nice little history of your misadventures, but you could run several running totals for each damage type if you like. You can also keep a total Hit Point counter to save time and easily tell when the next hit kills you.

In many ways, this system actually speeds up combat. Now you can tell instantly what wounds are killing you. It also helps for special powers or abilities- the character who is resistant to bludgeoning damage just writes half the value down on their sheet, instead of doing subtraction twice. The werewolf can regenerate 1d6 hit points every round- except the silver wounds, which are now separate from their hit point total so you won't get confused.

Healing

In order to heal damage, you must spend an exploration turn taking a short rest. Characters can tend their own wounds or the wounds of other characters. In-combat healing is no longer a thing, except through magic items and spells, which was how it worked normally to begin with.

In order to heal someone, you must apply an item, remedy, a technique, use your healing hands, or some other method to cure their injuries. This ties into resource management. Sages get to heal people the most- as classes advance, they get to use more healing items per downtime turn to treat their bigger injuries (since they have more Hit Points); Sages get to spend additional items based on their level. Every healing item heals an amount of Hit Points based on its quality or effectiveness of the treatment.

Note: This healing system isn't literally realistic. Of course, in real life the only way for the body to heal is through its own natural process. However, this healing system is meant to evoke a sort of mythological and fantastical world where a bowl of chicken noodle soup can actually cure a cold. Injuries may still cause pain or be reopened in the context of the universe, but in the game rules they're considered gone and healed once the treatment is applied.

For example; a default clean linen bandage restores 1d6 Hit Points. Your character can wrap up any wounds that cause bleeding or are deep cuts- sharp wounds mostly. Sword cuts, animal bites, sawblade traps and so on. However, say your party has run out of bandages, or had to dip them in oil and use them as a torch to see in the dungeon. Instead, your character can cut up a piece of clothing or the old tapestries hanging on the walls and use them as a makeshift bandage instead. These bandages are improvised and only heal 1d4 Hit Points instead. You will erase the result of the roll from the appropriate category- any excess healing over the damage type is lost and has no effect on other damage types. This makes healing fast- you can just erase any wounds you've taken instead of having to add back up your Hit Point total again and again.

The purpose of this healing system is threefold- it adds complexity and resource management as well as providing a platform for player creativity. Even a very basic circumstance can be roleplayed and given more complexity. One character has several large quills sticking out of their body from an encounter with a Quill Giant. They want to use bandages to cure their wounds; but the DM stops them. “The quills are still stuck in your flesh- you will need to pull them out, painfully, one by one. This means it will take TWO turns to apply the bandages.” Now the player has to decide if its worth spending the extra time to cure their injury, or move on. Of course, another player could be playing a Sage, a healer, with a high dexterity score, tweezers, and multiple arms. The DM allows them to pull out all the quills in the same span of time as it takes to apply the bandages, as they would be fast enough to do it.

The third reason is to apply a setting and theme through your damage types, remedy items, and healing process- the basic game mechanics selling the fictional space.

Damage Types

Most people know some basic first aid. In the fantasy world where monster attacks and sword fights are more common, people have some basic idea on how to cure themselves. However, mysteries can be a great a call to adventure to any, and a Sage may go on a journey to learn how to cure the wasting sickness that befell their village. Not all of these damage types and remedies may be known to the players- they may be hidden knowledge or found in secret tomes recovered from dungeons.

Every basic healing item removes 1d6 hit points of damage of its type.

Sharp damage from blades, claws, and arrows are cured by bandages.

Blunt damage from clubs, fists, and falls are cured by splints or casts.

Energy damage from fire, lightning, or acid is cured by ointment.

Cold damage from exposure and cold spells is cured by warming yourself up.

Miasma (Gas) damage from toxic fumes, choking winds, and fungal spores- cured by breathing “fresh vapors” and aromatic drugs.

Poison damage from venomous creatures or eating poison food. Cured by using emetic drugs that induce vomiting. Yes, even injected venom from a snake bite.

Terror damage from ghosts. This isn't just “fear”, but mortal terror that turns your hair white and can stop your heart. Cured by pacifying drugs.

Wasting damage from the touch of a mummy or having your blood drained by something. Cured by eating a hearty meal.

As you can see, all the damage types use a different first letter to make them easy to differentiate. If you're playing online, you could use different colors instead- useful for Roll20. If you want more ideas or to hear rambling nonsense about possible medical items or improvised medicine- read here.

Extra – What about Health Potions?

All health potions are “Potions of Healing”- no minor or major or grand or whatever. They restore all your damage, instantly. You can't use other healing methods to heal in combat. This may be too strong- but if you make Potions of Healing rarer it would be have the same impact. You can also make health potions that heal specific types of damage, or an amount of damage, if you want to fiddle with rules more. Personally I like the idea of specific cures that can be used in combat- like a rubber-blood potion that seals up all your bleeding wounds, or a potion of liquid warmth which cures your cold damage and stuff. Doing individual amounts like traditional d8 healing potions or healing spells would mean that different damage types would have to have a sort of set order, or letting the players pick what they are healing. I feel like this works too- drink the potion to cure internal damages, pour on the skin to cure cuts and bruises, etc. So it's not a huge stretch to let a healing potion heal whatever damage types you want.

I also wrote this concept up in this alchemy ruleset- but I also like the idea of cheap or weaker health potions with a short shelf life- tonics. The idea if players can make or produce them on an adventure, to fit with the theme of being a magical healer, and to give magical healing for in-combat stuff, but they expire and can't be saved adventure to adventure to prevent the problem of stockpiling too many (or by contrast- never using them because they want to save them until later).

Hit Points as Meat Points

Hit Points are usually described as an abstract fighting or health force within a character or creature that lets them keep going until it reaches zero. Of course, in an actual game this is sufficient. There are also some people like myself who prefer to describe “hit points as meat points”, aka all hit points are physical damage and the amount of physical damage you can take increases with level. Because higher level or tougher character can survive unrealistic amounts of damage, this opens the door to the concept of the hows and whys, in universe, “hit points as meat points” work.

6 Hit Points as Meat Points Explanations

[1] They're made of stronger stuff. Their skin is tough as leather, their muscle and flesh is like cutting into wood. Your sword can bite their skin, but only goes in a few inches even with all your might. Their blood may also be thicker then normal, clotting up wounds quickly. This could go up to include automatic beneficial mutations such as your bones being remade out of metals, or your skin taking on a golden hue to represent a more metallic consistency of flesh.

[2] They surround themselves in an invisible energetic field. This isn't necessarily a martial art or magical spell, it may just be an innate property of things that get powerful. This energy deflects weapons and make their points flow or bounce off their skin, but it isn't the same as having standby armor or deflection as each time this field absorbs or weakens a blow, it uses up some of its energy. Hence, it works as a reserve of hit points.

[3] The setting is described not using real life terms, as such real life physics don't apply. Things only die when at least one of their four elements (breath for air, body heat for fire, etc.) are expelled to the cosmos. It is entirely possibly a high level warrior has so much wind in their breast that stabbing through both lungs won't kill them alone. Perhaps their humors are too well circulated, or their warrior spirit burns too hot and you can only defeat them by wearing it away.

[4] Spiritual authority means that blades and crushing forces simply harm them less. Their skin is no stronger then anyone else, their blood is no thicker then anyone else, weapons just don't hurt them as much. You slam their head with your hammer and the skull doesn't crack, even though the force you put into the blow would. Your arrow simply pierces a tiny pinhole, not because their skin is harder then stone but because it refuses to harm one of spiritual superiority. Once injuries mount however, then weapons begin to deal more damage to their form, reducing their invincibility. It could be then that “real” wounds begin once hit points reach zero, as though this godly protection of Numen wore off once their fatigue sets in.

[5] Characters simply have an unnatural hold on life. You can hurt them the same as any real creature, but it doesn't stop them up to a certain threshold. You can pierce their heart, shatter their skull, cut the tendons in their arms and they can still move and think and fight until enough damage is dealt. Could imply that the undead are just people with a super powerful will to live, continuing after death.

[6] High powered warriors regenerate from fatal or near-fatal damage very quickly, as though their reserve of life force prevents a final blow, though shallower cuts take a nearly normal amount of time to heal. This means any killing blow is healed over quickly, but they can still accumulate damage and eventually die if enough is dealt. If characters heal at different speeds based on hit points, such as a percentage or class based amount, then it is a little more fitting in universe.

[Class] Haruspex

Pathologic's Haruspex- Art @Polymental69

Haruspex

HD- d6

Maximum AC- 13 / Minimum Starting Hit-Points- 3

You are a Haruspex. Cutter of flesh, diviner of the future, seer of life and death. In some cultures your role is that of a high priest, a lofty title, where as in others you are a runaway sorcerer outcast. Regardless of the reason, your power is macabre and morbid; requiring the bodies of the dead and your skill with knife and scalpel to ply your trade.

You are skilled with the knife. You get +1 to hit with daggers and cutting instruments, which increases to +2 at 4^th level.

You can tell how things died. By examining a corpse you know exactly what killed them. Anyone can do this in generalities; a corpse with a slashed open throat or black veins from poison are obvious causes of death, but you can tell more information. You can tell exactly with what blade made the cut, and could match it if it was in your hand. You can tell what poison, or what kind of venom, was used to kill a poison victim- such as from a snake or spider. At 3^rd level, this grows further letting you get a clue into the killer as well. You can tell if they were short, fat, tall, violent or methodical, and so on.

The truest talent of the Haruspex is the divination of the future. You may examine the organs, especially the liver, of animals or monstrous creatures to determine future events. Everything you examine must relate to the question posed. Bird entrails tell of the future weather and storms. Rust-Monster livers show the success of future crafting projects or metallurgical pursuits. The event or forecast posed is always explained in subtle ways and vague hints, which get both more accurate and closer in date to the time of the divination based on the Haruspex level. Apprentice flesh cutters will only get hints of a huge catastrophe many years in the future without any knowledge of how to stop it, where as Masters may see the Orc ambush that will happen tomorrow and so on.

Finally, the Haruspex is skilled at healing. While most of your art is about the cutting and divining of dead flesh, some of that knowledge of anatomy and mortification carries over to the living. You may use an additional healing item per exploration turn of first aid as per a Sage. You gain this bonus die at 5^th and 10^th level.

At 10^th level, you become a Anthropomancer. You gain the ability to divine the future of not just animal and creature organs, but of human or “people” organs as well. This is a very serious honor in every culture- often requiring the sacrifice of the young or specially touched individuals to get the most accurate predictions. You can tell the rise and falls of nations in the spots on a pancreas, or learn the secret paths through the mountains from the scarified liver of a dwarf.

Additionally, you gain the power to sap power from the hearts of special or powerful individuals. By eating the heart of an Emperor or a Divine-Child Prodigy you can gain +2 maximum hit points. If you eat three hearts, you get +1 to damage with all attacks or +1 to all healing rolls you make from absorbing the power inside the heart. This is a dark power and using it even once makes you detect as evil. You can do this as much as you want until your DM gets sick of it and tells you to retire the character already.

Multiple Methods for Downtime Healing

Traditional- Restore 1 hit point per day. Simple, easy to follow, makes healing take a nice long time. Only issue is that Fighters take longer to heal then classes with less HP. Giving them say 2 a day or 1d4 a day might work a little better, but ruins some of the ease.

Easy Seasons- Restore to full hit point between sessions. Not really a healing method. Abstracted 3 month period of time gives enough time for theoretically any injury or damage a character has to heal, but gives little useful information if you need current HP between seasons.

Slow Seasons- Restore maximum possible roll of class HD + Constitution per season. Not the modifier, the whole stat. Might put too much emphasis on stats though.

Heroic- Roll your class HD and restore that much, each day. You'll essentially heal in about your level's worth of days, which means there is no longer weeks and months long healing.

Slow- Restore 1 class HD of hit points per week healed. High level characters still take longer to heal, but characters heal a bit slower on average. Fighters can heal faster then the Traditional slow method, but things are more random. If taking the maximum HD possible roll of the class instead as healing per week, still a bit slower unless if you're a d8 or higher class. If you're interrupted halfway through a week you spent healing, either don't get any health or average out half or a third of the roll or whatever.

Boring Fast- Restore 10% hit points per day. You'll be fully healed in 10 days no matter what using this method. If you use 10% of your current hit points, then you start healing slow but heal faster later on. OSR characters rarely get enough hit points for this to matter as much.

Boring Slow- Heal 10% hit points per week. Maybe add Con bonus to amount healed per week, which would speed or slow things down considerably. Characters with low health and low Con may not ever get better; minimum of 1 hit point per week?

Needlessly Complicated- Roll Class HD. If you get a 4 or higher, heal 1 hit point for that day. If you get a 6 or higher, heal 1 hit point and restore the most damaged ability score by 1 point. If you don't have any damaged stats- heal 2 hit points instead. This method could mean classes with very small HD may never recover from their damaged attributes- d4 Wizards get a bad cough and keep it forever without magical healing or a doctor because of their sickly lifestyle.

Slow & Complicated- As above, but only roll twice per week. Could take months to heal. Want to make it even slower? Only restore a damaged attribute if all hit points are full, thus meaning you only restoring a minimum number of points. Maybe attributes heal whenever they are rolled instead, so hit points and attributes come back somewhat randomly and slowly.

Flesh & Grit- This one is easy; restore all Grit per day, or even per a long rest? Pick a slower method for flesh, or 1 hit point per day of flesh? Not sure what's all been written about this one.

Just Dumb- Heal 1 hit point per day per 10,000c worth of property, items, and servants you you have. Takes ages to heal if you're poor.

Sage Variant- Sage Magic Dice

As Dirt Simple Magic Dice, but applied to Sages instead. They have the following spells;

Healing- Die result = hit points restored to a creature. Excess points are lost.

Curing- Restores die result stat points. If target is diseased, reduces the disease as though they had die result days of bed rest, if terminal/incurable disease, it is suspended for die result rounds or turns instead. If target is under effect of curse, must beat monster HD/caster level to end the curse.

Warding- Protects against 1 environmental factor for die result turns; darkness, heat, underwater breathing, getting lost, supernatural dread, etc. Can also be used to create a Ward that turns away creatures of die result HD or less of a specific type (undead, beasts, constructs, etc.)

Bless- Grants die result +AC vs one attack OR bonus to one saving throw.

Counter-Spell- Cancels the result of an enemy's spell caster's die roll, reduces enemy spell power equal to roll result. If result is zero or negative; spell is nullified.

Warning- Detect a trap or hazard you suspect in die result feet.

Restore- Mend an item that has taken die result damage or less. Purify die result rations or flasks of water. If die result equals armor's normal AC bonus; armor is repaired. If die result equals weapon's maximum damage value, can restore it to working condition.

Revive- Die result + Negative hit points = 0 or higher; revives dead/dying at 1 HP and very weakened. Every turn spent dead increases negative hit points by -1d6 for the sake of this spell. You only get one chance to revive someone; else they can only be reborn by greater magicks.

Crunchy First Aid Rules

First Aid is one of those things that's hard to get right in OSR games. For one thing, healing potions being ubiquitous in a setting raises a lot of questions, but is a good way to facilitate simple healing. On the flip side, having NO healing beyond bed rest and time really limits the options of a party. Maybe you think that's a good thing, or maybe you don't.

This system for First Aid is done to give party members something to do while the others may be screwing around with locked doors or magic users casting or preparing spells. Plus it's still based on resources, but the resources are a bit flexible.

The Four Damage Types

Damage Tracking

Whenever a player takes damage from a direct source, notify the number and write a little letter or symbol next to it dictating its type. If the damage is over time, like from being lit on fire or multiple rounds in the razorblade hallway, keep track of all the damage from that source as one number.

Damage Types

There are four types of damage and a way to cure each.

Sharp damage is from swords, arrows, and claws. It is healed with bandages.

Blunt damage is from clubs, fists, and falls. It is healed with splints.

Elemental damage is from fire, ice, electricity, and acid. It is healed with ointment.

Death damage is from arcane magic like magic missile, poison, the gaze of a basilisk, the touch of an undead creature, and other miscellaneous effects. It cannot be healed with first aid.

First Aid

In order to perform first aid, you must take a turn while another character patches you up. Doing First Aid on yourself is possible but you get a -1 to TOTAL HP healed. You heal 1 HP per Hit Dice you possess + the Wisdom modifier of the healer vs the highest injury you have of that type, and use up one medical supply in the process.

This means that, in ideal circumstances, you'd be healing at minimum 1/6 of your maximum health each turn you get first aid, but since it is healing only the biggest injury at a time and of a specific type, this really cuts it down to size.

I ended up calling this one "The First Kill"

Medical Supplies

Medical supplies are carried in stacks of 3 per 1 load. You can bind one of each type together in each stack, or spread them out, either way. The nice kinds of medical supplies you can buy from the store heal +1 to the total HP healed from use.

However, you can also salvage medical supplies by using your environment. You can make a bandage by using rags, tapestries, paper, and other fabrics in an emergency. You can make a splint with some twine or rope and something straight and hard; like a rusted old sword or a bone. Finally, ointment can be made by melting the fat of the various monsters and beasts you kill, which just requires a fire and a pot to melt it down. These improvised first aid supplies work, they just don't get that store bought bonus as stated above.

Conclusion

This system is a little crunchy but I hope it gives people some thought about how useful magical healing really is if they have to jump through hoops to heal normally, and allows characters to both scale with the first aid system and have more interesting short rest/short downtime actions while they actually explore the dungeon.

I am probably not going to be using these rules anytime soon, but I think they may be fitting for a mega-dungeon where players need to spend a lot more time camping and healing within the dungeon itself, or for groups who want something more crunchy.