Lifebrand
Lifebrand was first worn by a field surgeon who grew tired of watching soldiers die because help arrived seconds too late. She commissioned a smith and a hedge-witch to craft something that would let her see the truth of a wound before the victim could speak. The brooch passed through a dozen healers over three centuries, each one leaving a faint thumbprint of tarnish on its silver face from the desperate pressure of reaction-drawing moments.
Mechanics
Lifebrand reads the wounds of allies and converts the wearer's own vitality into surges of healing at critical moments.
Woundread
While wearing this brooch, you know the exact current hit point total of every creature within 30 feet of you that you can see. This awareness pierces disguises and illusions, revealing the true wounded state of any creature regardless of how it appears.
Vital Surge
When a creature you can see within 60 feet of you is reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can use your reaction to spend any number of your own hit dice. Roll the spent dice, adding your Constitution modifier once per die, and the creature regains hit points equal to the total rolled. That creature is then stabilized. You cannot use this ability if you have fewer than 2 hit dice remaining.
DM Notes
Woundread is a strong information ability that removes all uncertainty from triage decisions. In social or investigative scenes, it can reveal that a seemingly healthy NPC is actually badly hurt, which is a powerful tool, so consider whether that should have any narrative consequences. Vital Surge is the primary combat ability: the player spends their own hit dice, which are a limited long-rest resource, meaning aggressive use genuinely costs the wearer survivability over a full adventuring day. The 2-hit-dice floor prevents a player from burning themselves to 0 hit dice and collapsing. At 5th level a Cleric with d8s has roughly 5 dice available, so a single Vital Surge might restore 20-30 hit points to a downed ally, which is strong but costs something real. The reaction cost also means the wearer cannot use this and a defensive reaction on the same turn.
Generated with: Level 5 · Healing or support focused · Heroic · Rare