Why make food heal you?

[Archform]

Makes more sense to let it give you stat bonuses or something.
Why is an apple healing a burn wound?

[BW022]

Originally posted by lejes:

It shouldn't. But since DoS does that, they replicated it.

Because it is obviously much harder to not use something in DoS than it is to just keep what is in DOS and then rebalance all the 5e core rules, rest mechanics, healing, classes, spells, etc.

[Slap Happy Pappy]

To answer the original question: Because the game makers have never played DnD, and are winging it.

[Mosey]

Why not let food heal you?

It beats using all the short rests and then a long rest taking up game time instead of just quickly burning a stack of potato's.

And not every group should require a healer to avoid needlessly taking up player time just to heal up.

Also food that is worth anything is quite heavy, so it seems more suited to high STR fighters who take lots of damage.

That said, I'd love to see the medicine skill have a use. And food healing should perhaps be a bit more limited or prohibited from use in combat. The heavy food is almost too good compared to potions.

[BW022]

Originally posted by Mosey:

Why not let food heal you?

Lots of reasons...
1. It unbalanced classes. Healers are even less useful since anyone can now effectively infinitely heal outside of combat.
2. It unbalances spells and abilities. Out of combat healing spells is pointless. Spells such as goodberry or prayer of healing become utterly useless. Even cure wounds becomes far less useful.
3. It removes a core mechanic in 5e where players manage their resources -- including hit points. Do you rest or not. In BG3, there is no point as food gives you effectively unlimited healing.
4. It changes and negates most tactics in combat. Why worry about defensive spells, a good AC, etc, when you can get it back eating.
5. It makes no logical sense. Getting all your health back resting (presumably sleeping, eating over hours, mending wounds, etc.) is already pretty much a stretch, but getting all your hit points back in a minute eating seven potatoes.
6. It messes with the inventory system resulting in a lot of clutter, weight, need to return to town to sell junk off more often, etc.
7. It means that encounters aren't balanced by the rules but assume you are always able to heal up at insane rates.
8. It shows a lack of understanding of how the 5e rules are balanced and results in even more goofy rule changes and encounter issues... leading to even more unbalanced combats.

[General Nuclear]

Originally posted by Mosey:

Why not let food heal you?

It beats using all the short rests and then a long rest taking up game time instead of just quickly burning a stack of potato's.

And not every group should require a healer to avoid needlessly taking up player time just to heal up.

Also food that is worth anything is quite heavy, so it seems more suited to high STR fighters who take lots of damage.

That said, I'd love to see the medicine skill have a use.

It could have been as simple as making it a optional setting so that food healed.

[Coldhands]

Making food heal and be super common in the game undermines every class that has a healing ability.
Fighters get second wind from level one, but it’s a pointless ability when I can carry around a dozen apples that all do the same thing for the same action.
Plus, this is D&D, common food doesn’t heal.

[Aldain]

Hot take compromise:

Make eating food enhance the next time you're healed instead of healing you up-front.

[Slap Happy Pappy]

Originally posted by Aldain:

Hot take compromise:

Make eating food enhance the next time you're healed instead of healing you up-front.

Counter compromise: Food is consumed during short rests to maximize a hit die per snack regained.

These "small changes" are going to really snowball above level 5.

[War Maiden]

I'm just fine with food healing you. The food doesn't last forever, as the food seems to have a lifecycle. I noticed in particular that the red apples rot much faster than the other more 'preserved food' like cheese and dried meats. Plus, when you do eat a rotten food item, you get a negative sour stomach condition that seems to last a bit. Besides, food heals you IRL too, so its not a stretch to consider it doing the same ingame.

[Mars]

I actually really like how food works in BG3. It allows for players to leave Shadowheart behind (a valid decision because Shadowheart SUUUUUUCKS) and still feel like you will be able to heal yourself in battle or on the road without doing short/long rests over and over again.

[War Maiden]

Well, besides the whole 'food heals' issue, infusing a bit of reality into this is good. Healers/Clerics can only heal so much, plus they have to fight and buff and debuff, using their spells for a lot of things that have only a limited amount of slots available. In EA, we only get LVL4, so there aren't a lot of options for a healer in terms of pure spell sustainability. Yes, we have gear that augments this, but that's assuming you 1) know where to get it, 2) have someone whom can successfully steal it, or have the coin to purchase it. There are a lot of variables in those parameters.

Heal and Buff, or just Heal, there aren't a lot of spell slots so one has to be really picky on what they think they can get away with. So, the food healing thing, relieves them of some of the burden of having to over tax heals in light of other things that the team might need, like a resurrect or some other thing down the line.

[Coldhands]

^Infusing a bit of reality ... by making apples heal sword wounds.
Riiight.

There are already plenty of healing potions, and a zillion spell scrolls. Shadowheart isn't wanting for spell casting, and neither is anybody else, whether they're a casting class or not. And thanks to this magical food that's extremely cheap and plentiful, nobody is wanting for healing either. Or to do sick damage, thanks to the ability to cart around explosive barrels.
The end result being that it doesn't matter what classes you have in the party. Everyone can cast, everyone can heal, everyone can deal high damage.

[War Maiden]

Originally posted by Coldhands:

^Infusing a bit of reality ... by making apples heal sword wounds.
Riiight.

A 'bit' of reality, yes, not a gross amount.

The idea is, is that 'other' part about 'sword wounds' of the game is not addressed, otherwise we would have heal kits, bandages, antiseptic and a load of other things to treat the reality of the end result of being stabbed.

But, the game assumes that a 'heal' spell can restore broken bone, restitch tissue and organs without having any adverse effects from the original wound (like for instance a sword or dagger to the gut, you think all that toxic fun that spilled out of your bowel and inside of you just 'magically' never happened with that spell cast? Hardly.) so we go with the assumption that things like food and magic heal spells can do just that.

[Coldhands]

^The game doesn't assume Cure Wounds can replace lost hit points, the D&D ruleset says it can. 5e D&D actually HAS a healers kit item that can function as the game world's non-magical healing option. Food doesn't heal in D&D, and reversing physical damage immediately on eating a normal apple as an in-combat bonus action isn't realistic in any capacity, even for Dungeons & Dragons.

This mechanic does not follow the game's own ruleset, undermines the class mechanics, and hurts the overall gameplay balance and representation of 5e D&D. Food healing the player only exists in BG3 because it exists in DoS. It should be removed.

[War Maiden]

Originally posted by Coldhands:

This mechanic does not follow the game's own ruleset, undermines the class mechanics, and hurts the overall gameplay balance and representation of 5e D&D. Food healing the player only exists in BG3 because it exists in DoS.

There is nothing saying that everything in this game MUST be 5e. Larian is allowed to put their own stylized spin on this game that they are making. Personally, I think it's kinda strange that food wouldn't heal in D&D since it heals, nourishes and sustains IRL. The fact that they gave food a lifecycle, and an adverse condition upon eating spoiled food, only adds to their not wanting to make it something that lasts forever as a backup heal. Plus, its not like that food heals for double digits, its only a small amount.

I mean seriously, if I was a class that didn't have the ability to heal itself, and I was badly injured with nothing but beasts, angry goblins and hostile druids around i'd be damn glad that food could heal me if I had no other option, and no way to craft medicinals.