Healing in Combat

Healing is an important skill for players to learn, especially in subterranean dungeon crawls where it’s harder to find a quiet spot to take a long rest. Here are some common methods and tips to make it easier to Game Master healing:

Long Rest

If the entire party agrees to settle down and rest — sleep, meditate, or perform maintenance on their weapons and armor — the characters will become rested after 8 hours. This is 8 hours of in-game time. No time needs to pass for actual humans at the table. The party simply announces that they intend their characters to rest. And that’s it. The Game Master declares that 8 hours have passed; the party regains all Hit Points, refreshes all spell casting, and recovers all uses of magical abilities.

Spells

In combat with monsters, the options for healing narrow. Healing spells and abilities are a great way to help party members in trouble. Each one works slightly differently; see the individual spell description.

Healing Potions and Berries

Healing potions, berries, tinctures, or mushrooms are all designed for easy use in the middle of sticky combat situations. A prepared adventurer can ingest a healing berry as a bonus action. This means they can quickly use their offhand to activate the berry, reserving their movement and full normal action to attack or cast a spell.