Does Lesser Restoration remove symptoms, or just the disease itself?

[HPisBS]

Say a character has a bad case of the flu. Would Lesser Restoration remove the fluid in their lungs, or just the underlying virus – the actual disease?


(Late-night worldbuilding thoughts reminded me of this old question I had, and I figured I should go ahead and post it before I forgot again.)

[Composer99]

As they're presented in the DMG and the contagion spell, diseases in 5e are essentially just symptoms, so in order for the spell to work, it'd have to cure symptoms. At least, that's how it seems to me.

[Unoriginal]

Say a character has a bad case of the flu. Would Lesser Restoration remove the fluid in their lungs, or just the underlying virus – the actual disease?


(Late-night worldbuilding thoughts reminded me of this old question I had, and I figured I should go ahead and post it before I forgot again.)

It does both. It removes the effects of the disease (unless the disease caused you damage somehow) plus the disease itself.

A sick person who get Lesser Restored will be both healthy and non-contagious.

[Segev]

A sick person who get Lesser Restored will be both healthy and non-contagious.

This is how I'd run it. It's magical healing.

Let's say your best friend is stricken with cancer and is on his death bed. You hear he's been visited by a miracle healer and is cured. Do you expect to see him still wheezing his possibly-last-breaths on the hospital bed when you go to see him, because none of the damage has been repaired? Or do you expect to see him standing on his feet, marveling at the restored health and the simple joy of being able to be filled with energy and not being in pain?