D20 Mechanic: Healing Surges

Here we discuss healing surges as used in d20.

Healing Surges

You have a number of healing surges equal to your Constitution modifier. If you would have fewer than 1, you have 1 healing surge.

Many powerful healing effects consume your healing surges. Whenever a healing effect would consume a healing surge, it will either specify how many hit points it restores (such as a medic's treat injury ability), or will heal 25% of your maximum hit points.

Some classes, such as the defender, can gain access to abilities that allow them to spend their healing surges on abilities. If you spend a surge in such a way, you do not gain hit points from its expenditure.

Additional Healing Surges

In addition to your base amount of healing surges, you gain additional healing surges equal to the size of your Hit Die for the class in which you have the most levels.

When you gain a level, if this amount would change, it does so immediately.

Second Wind

Once per encounter, you can expend a single healing surge on your own. Doing so is a move action, and heals you for an amount of hit points equal to 25% of your maximum hit points.

This ability "recharges" similarly to martial maneuvers; so long as you're out of combat for roughly a minute or so, you can catch your breath and wind down, regaining the the ability to use a second wind in the next encounter.

Outside of combat, you can spend as many healing surges as you like to regain hit points, provided you have at least 1 hit point remaining. Doing so requires at least 10 minutes of downtime, and each healing surge you spend in this manner requires one use of a healing kit (or repair kit, if you are a construct or similar creature that cannot heal naturally).