[RPG] Would allowing a Thief (with Fast Hands) to use the Healer feat’s tending action as a bonus action be balanced

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Related: usable objects with Fast Hands

The Healer feat states:

[…] As an action, you can spend one use of a healer’s kit to tend to a creature and restore 1d6 + 4 hit points to it, plus additional hit points equal to the creature’s maximum number of Hit Dice. The creature can’t regain hit points from this feat again until it finishes a short or long rest. (emphasis mine)

Fast Hands (Thief subset of Cunning Action) states:

Starting at 3rd level, you can use the bonus action granted by your Cunning Action to make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check, use your thieves' tools to disarm a trap or open a lock, or take the Use an Object action. (emphasis mine)

The Thief can already use the a healer's kit to stabilize a creature using Fast Hands, as well as the special healer version where they get 1 hp back.

Would it harm game balance to allow a Thief to use their Fast Hands ability with the special use of the object Healer's Kit granted by the Healer feat?

Best Answer

I don't believe allowing this would even be a house rule, the rules support it as-is.

The action enabled by the Healer feat is just a new use for an object and, therefore, is still technically the Use an Object action to execute, and would be usable with a bonus action by someone with Fast Hands as a result.

See also the description of the Use an Object action itself:

[...] When an object requires your action for its use, you take the Use an Object action. [...]

Essentially, any time a (nonmagical) object requires you to spend an action to use its effects, that action is automatically considered the Use an Object action, even if the object's rules do not explicitly call it out as such.

This is backed up by Jeremy Crawford, lead rules designer of D&D5e:

@mikemearls @JeremyECrawford Can a thief with the healer feat use healing kits as a bonus action? Can it drink potions as a bonus action?

[@edge2054, 10:08 AM - 24 Oct 2014]


@edge2054 @mikemearls Yes, a thief could use a healer's kit as a bonus action. But the DMG clarifies that magic item use is its own thing.

[@JeremyECrawford, 11:25 AM - 24 Oct 2014]