Gaming Staple: Cure Wounds Spells & a Rant About Rest & Recovery

As sleep is to mage, cure light wounds is to cleric.  A cleric in almost every system is the medic.  The guy who can help the party go further into the dungeon without having to leave to recuperate.  Here's the small break down of what Cure Light Wound does in other systems.

• In standard AD&D it will cure 1d8 points of damage.
• In Swords & Wizardry Complete it will cure 1d6 points of damage.
• In Labyrinth Lord it will cure 1d6+1 points of damage or can be used to cure paralysis.  

In D&D Next they don't have a Cure Light Wounds spell rather a Cure Wounds spell that is scalable, therefore can be cast at a higher level when the mage has high spell slots available.  There is no need for extra names/spells such as Cure Serious Wounds, Cure Critical Wounds, or Cure Mildly Annoying Rashes.  They are all covered in a single spell. 

The standard healing of a 1st level Cure Wounds spell is 1d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier.  If the spell is cast with a higher level spell slot than the number of d8s rolled will reflect that.  Example, if Cure Wounds is cast using a 4th level slot, the player would receive 4d8 hit points healed +the spellcasting modifier.

I like the simplicity of it.  No need to remember all those spells.  This is an increase in healing ability over the other systems.    In D&D Next you get your next healing bump at 3rd level when a 2nd level spell slot opens up.  And 5th level to access a 3HD healing spell.

• In standard AD&D your cleric needed to reach 7th level before getting the next level of healing spell.  And 9th level for a 3HD healing spell.
• Swords & Wizardry Complete  is the same, you need to reach 7th level before getting a 2HD healing spell.  And there is no 2HD cure spell for LL.  
• Labyrinth Lord is the same as S&W complete.

As you can see in D&D Next, the cleric has more ability to heal, faster and better.  This is why the whole spending hit dice during a short rest irks me.  And how a long rest recovers all lost hit points.  I am not a fan of this.  In this version you have access to more healing than any other version of the game.  And the need to add additional auto healing options just waters down the danger of the game. 

This is where the philosophy of your home-ruled game comes into play.  This mechanic demonstrates that the builders of the system are afraid to have character die in game (I'll get into the saving throw mechanic of death in another time).  To me, the fun of the game is the struggle of surviving a dangerous place, managing resources and hoping the next room has the treasure you're looking for.  A short rest allow a player to spend their hit dice like a healing spell.  So everyone in the party can recover from their wound by chilling out and grabbing a slice of pizza.  An ogre just slices half of you off.  No worries, I got a bag of Doritios and some Mountain Dew, I'll be fine. 

This is just my philosophy on the rule.  I don't like it.  I think with the clerics new options and increased healing ability this mechanic seems redundant and harmful to the overall sense of danger to the game. 

Oh, and do not get me started on that second wind crap.