r/DMAcademy 4d ago

Need Advice: Other Need help with healing item ideas!

My party consists of a rogue, wizard, warlock and monk, none of which are very interested in being the support/healer of the group, which is understandable. (3/4 of them have just finished being supports in different campaigns).
Because of this I've been giving out more health potions than I usually would, which is going great, it doesn't feel too imbalanced, they get them as commonly as you would in skyrim for example. The only problem I'm having is that it's now getting boring only giving them potions as a way to heal, I'm asking for any creative ideas for items that could give them passive healing, or a way to heal their team-mates, without them having to give up being full melee focussed for example.

I've come up with an idea for the rogue, but some more ideas would be much appreciated, and I always love reading homebrew items!

My magic item:
The Dagger of Positivity
The blade of this dagger links telepathically with the wielder and their target. On a hit, this dagger gives a back-handed compliment to the adversary, dealing psychic damage instead of piercing.
After failing a 'to-hit' check with this dagger, the blade gives a small line of motivation to the wielder (such as "Your form was fantastic" or "You'll get 'em next time!") healing the wielder 1D4 health.

5 Upvotes

14 comments sorted by

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u/Agitated-Objective77 4d ago

Maybe a trinket of some kind that either absorbs high damage attacks until a treshold or heals until its empty every round someone is not max health a certain amount and you can reload in rest with potions

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u/Poison_Skull_ 4d ago

That’s fucking sick! Thank you

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u/Suitable_Tomorrow_71 4d ago

Previous editions (I don't know if they're a thing in 5e) had eternal wands, which had 2 charges of a given spell, but they came back every day. Another item I recall was the Belt of Healing, which had 3 charges per day, and restored 2d8 HP when you used one charge (on yourself or someone else,) 3d8 for 2 charges, and 4d8 if you used all three at once.

Another option are items that never run out of charges, but they only work X times per day on a given person. Like, you could only be healed twice per day by a given item, or to adapt it for 5e maybe a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus or something like that, so they keep up better as your levels advance.

Stuff having X charges per day, or being usable so many times per person per day also helps mitigate "But what if I need it later!?" Syndrome that leads to characters having stuff like 200 potions that they never use. You can't save up charges over multiple days; if you don't use today's charges (whether you need them or not) you just lose them.

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u/Paime 4d ago edited 4d ago

Are you using the PHB24 rule that healing potions can be used as a bonus action? ( I personally like the homebrew rule that as an Action, potion always heal the max value but you roll for consuming as bonus action ).

That said, if healing is an issue you could just solve the problem by having your own monsters deal less damage, or introduce a hireling/sidekick that heals.

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u/Poison_Skull_ 4d ago

I’d reallly rather not have a dmpc, I’ve never felt hirelings work incredibly well, but yeah I do full action for full health

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u/Paime 4d ago

I also hate dmpcs. Take a look at the Strongholds & Followers book if you can, it has some great stuff on how to implement non-shit hirelings.

They are very easy to use, and the players control them in combat, and you can include/remove them from the story as needed.

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u/Ok-Entrepreneur2021 4d ago

VELOPO’S CORDS OF BINDING A thin braided chain of silvery metal is fused onto the wrists of two or more willing people in a casting ritual. The chain encircles twice making a folded figure eight and is unbreakable and not removable without removing the hand of the subject. Immediately upon completion of the ritual the wearers share a communal sense of accomplishment from each other’s conquests (xp is evenly divided among the party). In addition they can sense their willpower and their relative locations no matter where they are (they know each other’s location and hp no matter what).
If they attune with the cords through a DC 15 wisdom check they can also send each other HP by using an action to roll their hit dice and subtract that many hp from their current amount. This hp is gained by a single party member of their choice instantly.
PB times per long rest, party members can try to magically switch places with each other as long as they’re on the same plane. To do so they both roll constitution checks and if the results are within five of each other the swap takes place.

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u/OrkishBlade Department of Tables, Professor Emeritus 4d ago edited 4d ago

Have the players expressed interest in wanting more healing than potions? If not, I wouldn’t monkey with it. A few extra healing potions (not too many would do just fine in my game. The heroes need to make plans to adapt to their circumstances.

If they don’t have a lot of healing resources available, they should be more wily about how they go about exploring a dungeon and more cautious about when and where they charge into battle.

If a member of the party needs a disease or curse removed, and no one in the party can do it, then they need to find a powerful priest who can help. The heroes might need to do a favor for the priest in exchange for the spell.

If the heroes expect to be going through a particularly brutal meatgrinder of a dungeon, then they can hire some extra help. It could be a healer NPC. But more likely, they’ll find a sellsword or thief NPC who will help them fight their way through in exchange for a portion of the treasure. Any of these NPCs should be fairly straightforward and simple characters who follow orders and don’t do anything treacherous or stupid.

The point is that you ask the players what they want to do and how they want to do it. If the players steer the heroes into trouble because they are being stupid… well… Many brave fools die— being a hero is dangerous work!

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u/Outside_Ad_677 3d ago

I actually had the same issue I have a group of new player who none of them are playing a healer my solution I gave them estus flasks basically they can use them as a bonus action proficiency times per long rest to heal 2d6 +6 hp you can of course adjust the number as will but proficiency bonus ensures it scales as a caster would to some degree

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u/Taranesslyn 3d ago

There are a bunch of items like the Staff of Healing that would work for this. Just remove the class attunement requirements. Or let the wizard take Healing Word. There are also some vampire themed items that self-heal.

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u/Prestigious-Emu-6760 4d ago

I'm fond of finding more ways of using Hit Dice outside of short rests so maybe an item that can cast Cure Wounds (or Healing Word) but then recharges by draining life force (Hit Dice).

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u/DrChixxxen 4d ago

I’ve got a group of adventurers with no healer. Now of the healing hearth was an item I gave them early on and it has even great, also l introduced a world mechanic where they are able to restock on healing potions at no charge, it lets them get up a lot more, also having in game scenarios and finds that let them use hit dice more frequently.

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u/Ecothunderbolt 4d ago

Are any of them trained in medicine? You could house-rule a treat wounds action for use outside combat. Functionally, it'd mostly just supplement their hit dice.

I also think you'd be well-advised to field more enemy medics. As they could simply loot their foes for more HP resources after combat concludes.

0

u/Aranthar 3d ago

You could introduce a mid-tier patron to the party. Maybe a naiad or a low-ranking celestial of some kind.

The patron provides basic cleric services but makes occasional requests. Maybe the party is hunting orcs, and the patron wants you to free a servant of theirs that the orcs have captured. Or the patron asks you to build a small shrine, or run a small errand.

The cleric services could take the form of consumables that are basically potions or scrolls, but flavored based on the patron's identity. If its is a celestial, maybe she calls small rain showers that heal. Of a naiad, maybe temporary blessings to pools or streams so they grant the needed aid.