tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999500110309022298.post9135300409559028098..comments2024-02-27T07:06:23.481-06:00Comments on Tower of Zenopus: A Look at Healing in Different Game Systems and "What I Like"...Blacksteelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16289298640828309072noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999500110309022298.post-64420574084655646402011-02-04T20:50:13.966-06:002011-02-04T20:50:13.966-06:00I would say that in a mega-dungeon scenario small ...I would say that in a mega-dungeon scenario small groups of weak enemies are handy because they can interrupt those oh-so-essential 8-hour rest periods and suddenly have the party scrambling when their daily powers, healing surges, and hit points don't recharge. That will provoke a level of fear and loathing an order of magnitude above the typical hit-point damage the creatures might inflict. <br /><br />The resource management is still there it's just not restricted to the Cleric and how many heals he has left or how much damage he has taken. There are incentives to keep going (every second encounter gives the PC's an action point, but once they take an extended rest they begin again with 1 AP) but the gradual wearing away of surges during and between fights puts on an incentive to rest without actually putting them close to death. When the fighter says "I'm out of surges" , it's just as powerful as "That was my last Cure Light Wounds" from the Cleric.It is a little different, and it took me a while to grasp it, but it's not all that different in effect.<br /><br />My 4E ruined Phlan is a sort of horizontal megadungeon, so while it's not exactly the same it's at least in the same ballpark. I haven't posted up much detail because my players read the blog but the concepts aren't all that different. Running it alongside a Basic D&D game puts an interesting light on the differences and similarities between the two.Blacksteelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16289298640828309072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999500110309022298.post-3163686786539991572011-02-04T20:26:22.932-06:002011-02-04T20:26:22.932-06:00Not in my experience, though yours could certainly...Not in my experience, though yours could certainly differ.<br /><br />Though big boss fights and dragon breaths can be dangerous, so can little pests like hexers, boneshards, wights, flameblast skulls, heck, undead in general, big numbers of little creatures, small numbers of hard hitting creatures (damn great axe crits...), all can be lethal threats to adventurers.<br /><br />Or at least my time spent inspecting the cobblestones and flooring of various dungeons and towns seems to indicate so.<br /><br />The thing about having 12 or 13 healing surges per day that heal a quarter of your hit points per use is... They don't do you one lick of good if there isn't someone around to enable you to use them, the typical healer getting to enable 1 of his 4 or 5 or 6 allies to use 1 surge 2 maybe 3 times per battle does not even begin to match up to any random creature's ability to deal a quarter or more of your hit points per hit per round per creature.<br /><br />For me at least the ability to start a fresh new day with a fresh reset of my abilities (including my ability to counteract the momentum of a heavy bladed object with my face) means I get a new day of adventure instead of a new day of laying in bed discussing family history with Lieutenant Dan. ^_^Jeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04819107856276140817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999500110309022298.post-1898746441206750222011-02-04T14:47:52.793-06:002011-02-04T14:47:52.793-06:00Hm, I would say that I lean in the other direction...Hm, I would say that I lean in the other direction for sure--not for the sake of realism, but rather because systems where you get full heal so easily cut down on the resource-management aspect of the game that makes megadungeons, for instance, so handy.<br /><br />In a megadungeon situation, even small groups of weak enemies can be dangerous because they sap some of the party's limited resources.<br /><br />Having a quick full-heal option (along with healing surges and the like) means that the game becomes biased toward big boss-fights and lethal blows--you cite dragon breath, cliff falls, and oozes as dangerous, but you shouldn't have to go that extreme to find lethal threats to the adventurers!<br /><br />That's my take on it, anyway :)Taketoshihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17876641059472816784noreply@blogger.com