Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2010 21:37:17 GMT -6
I have always found it curious that all characters, regardless of level, heal at the same rate given the definition of hit points as more indicative of fighting ability than of actual physical damage.
It doesn't seem to make sense that a 1st-level fighting-man with, we'll say 6 hit points, and a 3rd-level fighting man with 10 hit points, heal at different rates. According to 'Healing Wounds' on page 35 of The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures a hit point is recovered every other day.
Why not allow characters to recover a number of hit points based on their level? A 2nd-level character would then recover two hit points every other day and so on. This effectively scales healing to the level of the character in a way that emphasizes less the physical aspects of hit points and more so the experience aspect of hit points.
Perhaps this isn't a new idea, but I am curious what others think about this.
|
|
|
Post by coffee on Feb 24, 2010 0:34:28 GMT -6
I think it has some serious implications on the game, but I support those implications. Level would also modify the Cure Light Wounds spell, which would only be right.
My proposal for such would be this: Cure Light Wounds would do 1d4, multiplied by level of the recipient. So a third level fighter receiving a CLW would get, say, 2 x 3 = 6 points back. A 10th level fighter would receive 20 points back.
(Clearly, this would benefit Magic-users more than Fighting Men, but hey, it's a first draft.)
I'm not sure if you would ever need Cure Critical Wounds. Maybe CLW = 1d2, CSW = 1d3, and CCW = 1d4 -- multiplied by recipient level.
That's the only change I could see.
(This is all in addition to the healing rate you describe above.)
In short, I agree with you. I'm pro-healing and pro-keeping the characters alive.
And hey, you have an exalt for bringing this up!
|
|
|
Post by Finarvyn on Feb 24, 2010 10:13:06 GMT -6
Some good points. The entire "hit point abstraction" thing is sort of strange because it's tough to define what a hit point really means. A characrter with 30 HP can't just stand there and take 5 arrows at point-blank range without even defending against them, yet that's sort of what is implied by hit point totals. Any character should be killed by a single stroke if he chooses not to stop that stroke.
I think that healing is a lot like this, and equally hard to quantify. Sometimes I've assumed that a character as both body points and fatigue points. The body points equal 1/2 of the character's CON score and heal at a point per day. The fatigue points equal HP minus body points and heal up with a few hours rest. Initial hits come off of the fatigue number until those are gone, and then they come off of the body. Critical hits (natural 20) could be taken from body directly without having to use up fatigue first. It certainly changes the dynamic of the game, but it's a fun change sometimes.
Anyone else have any clever solutions?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2010 13:06:39 GMT -6
In my game any one without fighting skills has no hit points. And cannot defend against attacks. They live or die at my (the DM) wim. I actually like the idea of limited healing as it can give characters with lots of hit points pause before going into battle yet again. I especially like the idea of a cleric turing to the rest of the party (after casting CLW on at critically wounded character) and saying "I can do no more for him. He is beyond my help."
|
|
|
Post by aldarron on Feb 24, 2010 14:09:30 GMT -6
I think that healing is a lot like this, and equally hard to quantify. Sometimes I've assumed that a character as both body points and fatigue points. The body points equal 1/2 of the character's CON score and heal at a point per day. The fatigue points equal HP minus body points and heal up with a few hours rest. Initial hits come off of the fatigue number until those are gone, and then they come off of the body. Critical hits (natural 20) could be taken from body directly without having to use up fatigue first. It certainly changes the dynamic of the game, but it's a fun change sometimes. Anyone else have any clever solutions? Hey, that's a pretty good idea Marv. I sometime would split HP into Base hp and Experience HP, with Base HP being whatever a character had at first level and if the character was caught in a trap or with a knife to the throat or some perilous situation then only base HP would apply. But I'm thinking I like your idea better. The confusing nature of HP stems from the compromise nature of the rules between Gygax and Arneson. Arneson came up with the idea of HP so characters wouldn't die instantly vis a vis Chainmail. But Arnesons idea was to have a fixed number for each type of creature that represented thier size and toughness - in other words ability to take physical damage. HP only changed with things like age/infirmities or when a character became a Hero or Superhero (doubling HP each time). Arnesons PC's had a number of protections against getting hit or taking damage. For whatever reasons Gygax decided to make it easier for PC's to be hit and damaged and made HP's random, abstracted and potentially much higher for PC's, but in doing so never really addressed the problem of healing or recovering HP or how a high level character could possibly laugh off being crushed by a boulder. On the other hand it is just a game mechanic....
|
|
|
Post by The Fiendish Dr. Samsara on Feb 24, 2010 20:06:36 GMT -6
In my games, I say that half of all damage sustained in a combat is healed when the PC gets to catch his breath. Since higher-level PC's have more HP's and since they also tend to lose more in fighting tougher foes, the effect is that they heal more. To balance all this out, I have very little healing magic.
|
|
|
Post by irdaranger on Mar 9, 2010 15:40:54 GMT -6
Anyone else have any clever solutions? I don't know if it's clever, but this is what I do: I've de-abstracted HP a bit, and made their recovery easier. You recover 1/2 your HP total every full night's rest (this is rare in dungeons, since there's often a night-watch shift) and you can also "bind wounds" at the end of combat to recover 1d4+level HP (to a max of however many you lost during that combat). These rules sort of address the OP's point. At 0 HP you don't die or go into negative HP, you start losing CON. CON is the "real" physical damage, while HP is more about stamina, luck, fatigue, bruising, and "scratch" wounds. CON heals at the 1 pt per 2 days rest rate. At 0 CON you're dead. (In case anyone's wondering, I have stats rolled in order to prevent folks from always putting their best stat in CON).
|
|
|
Post by coffee on Mar 9, 2010 16:18:46 GMT -6
That sounds like a very good system. Have an exalt for that!
|
|
capheind
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Posts: 236
|
Post by capheind on Mar 11, 2010 11:01:15 GMT -6
I kinda like the carcosa system, not only does it allow for immediate healing of any wound not equal to the entirety of one of your HD, but it also gives a vibe for how the character is going to wax and wane over an adventure, even if it is semi-randomly. I'm still not sure how you'd deduct HP from that for traps, falls etc.
|
|
|
Post by Mordorandor on Oct 25, 2022 18:57:37 GMT -6
I have always found it curious that all characters, regardless of level, heal at the same rate given the definition of hit points as more indicative of fighting ability than of actual physical damage. It doesn't seem to make sense that a 1st-level fighting-man with, we'll say 6 hit points, and a 3rd-level fighting man with 10 hit points, heal at different rates. According to 'Healing Wounds' on page 35 of The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures a hit point is recovered every other day. Why not allow characters to recover a number of hit points based on their level? A 2nd-level character would then recover two hit points every other day and so on. This effectively scales healing to the level of the character in a way that emphasizes less the physical aspects of hit points and more so the experience aspect of hit points. Perhaps this isn't a new idea, but I am curious what others think about this. I imagine because, like torches or any other such piece of the game, HP are part of a mini-game of resource management, even after the session is over. Part of that game play is players deciding just how long they'll choose to sit out healing, missing game weeks, and thus precious adventuring time, before they want to get back into the dungeon, before some other party of ruffians plunder the place. Let's see ... "On the first day of complete rest no hit points will be re-gained, but every other day thereafter one hit point will be regained until the character is completely healed." This allows us to play through a game week to alleviate 3 HP a week. A 4th-level fighting man with 4 HD can accrue on average 14 HP before being killed. (Imagine ... a HERO! ... with 14 HP.) If that Hero comes back from the dungeons, having accrued 9 HP, it would take him 3 game weeks for him to be completely refreshed. That would be three adventure sessions missed, if anyone was keen on going without him.
|
|