Residual Damage - The shadow left after magical healing.
Ben - yes that's all just Ben
It has always seemed strange to me that players can take massive life
threatening wounds and keep coming back for more day after day with no
need for a break. I'm also keen to try and get more time to pass in my
campaign, for a number of plot related reasons.
These rules will theoretically force players to take a decent break
every now and then.
Have a read... and if you have any ideas, l'd love to hear them.
?
Ben
-------------------------------------------------------
Residual Damage Rules
As well as normal Hit Points which are at a maximum value when they
are in full health, characters now have a value called "Residual
Damage" which is at 0 when players are in full health.
Whenever players are magically healed, they gain half of the healed
amount as "Residual Damage". If a character is healed 9 Hit Points
they will gain 9/2 = 4.5 = 4 (rounded down) points of Residual Damage.
This represents the 'shadow' of the wounds and the shock to the body
of the pounding suffered in combat.
If a character's current Residual Damage is greater than a character's
current Hit Points then character becomes Fatigued (-2 STR and -2
DEX).
If a character's current Residual Damage is greater than a character's
maximum Hit Points then the character becomes Exhausted (-6 STR, -6
DEX, No run or charge, Movement at half speed).
Normal rest out on the road (sleeping rough) will NOT reduce a
character's Residual Damage.
24 hours rest (in bed) will reduce a character's Residual Damage by
one quarter (rounded up). If a character with a Residual Damage of 18
rests for 24 hours, her Residual Damage will go down by 18/4 = 4.5 = 5
(rounded up).
Days required to remove Residual Damage
________Starting rd_________Days required
________1____________________1___________
________2____________________2___________
________3____________________3___________
________4-5__________________4___________
________6-7__________________5___________
________8-10_________________6___________
________11-14________________7___________
________15-19________________8___________
________20-26________________9___________
________27-35_______________10___________
________36-47_______________11___________
________48-63_______________12___________
________64-85_______________13___________
________86 or more__________14___________
Example of Residual Damage in action.
Bob is a 2nd level Barbarian with 20hp starting with 0rd (Residual
Damage)
Bob battles a monster taking 9hp damage. He now has: 11hp and 0rd
Bob drinks a healing potion, healing 8hp. He gains 4rd (8/2). He now
has: 19hp and 4rd.
Bob battles another monster taking 10hp damage. He now has: 9hp and
4rd.
He is healed by his cleric to the tune of 11hp, gaining 5rp (11/2
rounded up). He now has: 20hp and 9rd.
He battles another monster taking 8hp damage. He now has: 12hp and
9rd.
He suffers more damage this time 7hp. He now has: 5hp and 9rd. Because
his current Hit Points are below his Residual Damage,
Bob becomes Fatigued (-2 STR and -2 DEX).
He is healed by his cleric to the tune of 8hp. He now has: 13hp and
13rd, so he is no longer Fatiged.
Bob takes a nights rest in a comfortable inn, gaining 4hp (2hp per
level) and losing one quarter of his Residual Damage (13/4 = 3.25 = 4
rounded up). He now has: 15hp and 9rd.
The next day in a dramatic battle Bob loses 19hp, falling unconscious
and almost dying. He now has: -4hp and 9rd.
He is healed by the party's cleric to full Hit Points. 24hp healing
gains him 12rd. He now has: 20hp and 21rd. Bob's Residual
Damage is now above his maximum possible Hit Points, so he becomes
Exhausted.
Time for a proper break. Looking at the Residual Damage healing table
the player knows Bob will need to rest for nine days. After nine days
rest in his own bed, with the loving care of his mummy, Bob now has:
20hp and 0rd.
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Hadsil
Heal your damage. Move on. The fun of the game is the adventure,
striving and eventually succeeding in accomplishing the goal, not
playing bookkeeper for every statistic.
Gerald Katz
Ben - yes that's all just Ben
But isn't that why we play 3.5; to play with our calculators? lol
So do you reckon I just say...
OK... after that battle, things are starting to get to you. Your
bodies feel stressed and stretched. Even though you've been magically
fixed up, you feel you just need a break.
BTW The players are cool with this kind of idea... So I thought I'd
give it a try. They are also interested in carrying a few scars... So
I think I'll do something like: Each time a PC takes half their hp in
a single shot, they gain a new individual scare. That way, they can
say to their Grandchildren... See this one, I got it holding the gates
at Brinol in 1266.
Ben
JOanna Rowland-Stuart
> The fun of the game is the adventure,
> striving and eventually succeeding in accomplishing the goal, not
> playing bookkeeper for every statistic.
Cheers
JOanna
Seebs
Agreed. Healing up has gotten progressively easier in every edition. Every
edition, I think "man, this has totally nerfed the game", and every edition,
it turns out to be more fun than I expected and not really to hurt my
willing suspension of disbelief. It's enough to have something reasonably
balanced and playable.
-s
--
Copyright 2009, all wrongs reversed. Peter Seebach / usenet...@seebs.net
http://www.seebs.net/log/ <-- lawsuits, religion, and funny pictures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Game_(Scientology) <-- get educated!
Baird Stafford
<31ab1eee-240a-4afd...@b36g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,
"Ben - yes that's all just Ben" <loo...@ozemail.com.au> wrote:
<snip>
> Have a read... and if you have any ideas, l'd love to hear them.
Looks like more paperwork, to me.
<snip>
Baird
--
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice
there is. -Yogi Berra
Keith Davies
>> It's a game. �It's not supposed to be "realistic". �Take your damage.
>> Heal your damage. �Move on. �The fun of the game is the adventure,
>> striving and eventually succeeding in accomplishing the goal, not
>> playing bookkeeper for every statistic.
>>
>> Gerald Katz
>
> But isn't that why we play 3.5; to play with our calculators? lol
>
> So do you reckon I just say...
>
> OK... after that battle, things are starting to get to you. Your
> bodies feel stressed and stretched. Even though you've been magically
> fixed up, you feel you just need a break.
>
> BTW The players are cool with this kind of idea... So I thought I'd
> give it a try. They are also interested in carrying a few scars... So
> I think I'll do something like: Each time a PC takes half their hp in
> a single shot, they gain a new individual scare. That way, they can
> say to their Grandchildren... See this one, I got it holding the gates
> at Brinol in 1266.
Half full, or half current?
Someone who gets beaten down regularly will be covered in marks.
Perhaps combine them -- half-full are the really impressive ones, the
others are just an indication of how much this guy's taken.
This means that you could have someone with two major scars (he's been
seriously injured a couple of times, but otherwise not too much),
someone with five major scars but hundreds of smaller ones (he's seen a
lot of fighting), and so on.
Keith
--
Keith Davies "Do you know what is in beer? The strength
keith....@kjdavies.org to bear the things you can't change, and
keith....@gmail.com wisdom to ignore them and fsck off for
http://www.kjdavies.org/ another beer." -- Owen, discussing work
Alcore
different in my game.
In my game, all damage healed by magical means is in the form of
temporary hit points. The players track their natural healing just as
they would if they were damaged, and it replaces the temporary hit
points over time.
For most purposes, there's no difference from normal hit points, and
the temporary hit points are lost first whenever new damage happens.
BUT:
Characters being held together with healing magic show magical "scars"
and marks that are visible to anyone who looks closely. The marks
fade as the body replaces the divine vigor they've been given with
natural vigor from healing.
It is, in principle, possible to dispell these temporary hit points.
(Though I've not done this to the players, and I've not presented the
idea to the players for them to think about. I don't think it's
ocurred to them.) I would treat a dispell as a damage causing spell
appropriate to it's level for these purposes rather than it's normal
mechanics. It would have to be specifically targeted for this
purpose.
The net result of all this is mainly thematic with very little impact
on balance or mechanics. Mostly it provides a lasting reminder of how
many band-aids the PCs are wearing. (This could be literal! A first
aid technique that grants hitpoints is much the same... Don't peel off
the band-aid or take off the brace on your arm until you've fully and
properly healed!)
Alcore
Hadsil
<loo...@ozemail.com.au> wrote:
> On Dec 21, 6:51 am, Hadsil <forum...@netzero.com> wrote:
>
> > It's a game. It's not supposed to be "realistic". Take your damage.
> > Heal your damage. Move on. The fun of the game is the adventure,
> > striving and eventually succeeding in accomplishing the goal, not
> > playing bookkeeper for every statistic.
>
> > Gerald Katz
>
> But isn't that why we play 3.5; to play with our calculators? lol
>
> So do you reckon I just say...
>
> OK... after that battle, things are starting to get to you. Your
> bodies feel stressed and stretched. Even though you've been magically
> fixed up, you feel you just need a break.
>
> BTW The players are cool with this kind of idea... So I thought I'd
> give it a try. They are also interested in carrying a few scars... So
> I think I'll do something like: Each time a PC takes half their hp in
> a single shot, they gain a new individual scare. That way, they can
> say to their Grandchildren... See this one, I got it holding the gates
> at Brinol in 1266.
>
> Ben
>
Just keep things the way they are. Let the players deal with the
issue of not being at full health after the battle. They've managed
to do just fine with that issue for years. It's not for the DM to
demand the players rest.
Gerald Katz