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1 year ago ::
Jun 07, 2012 - 6:29AM
#1
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Date Joined:
May 22, 2003
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After a combat has ended (the last monster falls), do any of you permit characters to spend unused Healing Words in order to get a jump on their short rest?
I'm of the opinion that combat is a definite and specified period within the context of the game, and view the expenditure of left-over heals after combat has ended to be a rather gamist inclination that disrupts the intended function of classes that formally afford out-of-combat heals (ie Bards).
When combat ends, the combat encounter (as an explicit contest in the game) ends, barring the use of Encounter powers and related capabilities. -- Not to say that they can't be used "out of combat," but that a new period of resource measurement has begun.
Thoughts?
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1 year ago ::
Jun 07, 2012 - 8:33AM
#2
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Let 'em do it. It's a non-issue and still drains their surges.
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1 year ago ::
Jun 07, 2012 - 8:39AM
#3
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Date Joined:
Aug 11, 2006
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The 'encounter' includes the immediate aftermath of the fighting - any effects that the PCs wish to sustain (up to the 5-minute limit) or expend at that point are part of this.
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1 year ago ::
Jun 07, 2012 - 9:56AM
#4
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Date Joined:
Dec 18, 2003
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The problem will then become the players milking a few more turns of combat just to get the leader more time to use their healing powers.
And the question is: why should resources (i.e. surges and abilities) expended when there are active opponents be different than when those same resources are expended right after said opponents are defeated?
That's Someone, with a capital S.
"Cat's out of the bag on that one, isn't it? Who puts cats in bags, anyway? Cats hate bags." -Sheogorath, Oblivion
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1 year ago ::
Jun 07, 2012 - 5:52PM
#5
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Of course. Perfectly legal, smart play, and the devs have said that it's expected and intentional.
Another day, another three or four entries to my Ignore List.
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1 year ago ::
Jun 07, 2012 - 8:22PM
#6
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Date Joined:
Apr 29, 2006
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Of course. Perfectly legal, smart play, and the devs have said that it's expected and intentional.
Additionally, it's perfectly legal and valid, as per the developers, to take multiple short rests in a row in order recharge your leader healing powes and get the most of you healing surges.
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1 year ago ::
Jun 08, 2012 - 1:35AM
#7
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Date Joined:
May 19, 2011
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IIRC there's even a feat for the Cleric Healing Word meant for its use in a short rest. That maximizes all dice-rolled healing it does.
If time isn't an issue for the party there's no reason they can't take a 5 minute break, heal, then take another five minute break after an encounter to allow their heals to recharge.
I would ask, after combat, if somebody has something like ongoing 5, 10, etc damage, do you continue to make them roll saving throws against it?
Because if combat ends, just ends, and all effects from the combat ended, then it wouldn't be unfair in that case to deny the use of encounter powers for healing.
"When the last guy dies, combat is over, if you're dazed or bleeding out, that ends, but you can't use healing powers post combat."
If your party agrees it's fine I guess.
But like everybody above said, it's pretty common to continue to heal after a combat. Equate it to a real world situation where you would need just a little bit more time to catch your breath before pressing on.
Just reach a reasonable understanding with them. Obviously it'd be ridiculous for them to take a 20 minute break between fights to get as much healing with a healing power as they can. Besides, if they stall too much that's the perfect time for a wandering guard patrol to stumble across them.
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1 year ago ::
Jun 08, 2012 - 10:38AM
#8
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Date Joined:
Apr 29, 2006
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IIRC there's even a feat for the Cleric Healing Word meant for its use in a short rest. That maximizes all dice-rolled healing it does.
You're probably thinking of Restful Healing in the PH2. It works for all healing, not just Healing Word. So bards like it too.
Just reach a reasonable understanding with them. Obviously it'd be ridiculous for them to take a 20 minute break between fights to get as much healing with a healing power as they can. Besides, if they stall too much that's the perfect time for a wandering guard patrol to stumble across them.
And 20 minutes is really not a long time at all. That's about as long as a half-hour show without the commericials. You probably don't want to spend 20 minutes standing around in a fortified stronghold, but it's a pretty reasonable rest period if you're, for example, exploring a forest or some other relatively mundane wilderness. It all depends on the circumstances, of course.
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1 year ago ::
Jun 08, 2012 - 10:42AM
#9
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Date Joined:
Sep 20, 2010
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Actually, depending on the circumstances, it wouldn't be unreasonable to take an extended rest in a fortified stronghold. Sieges and battles often took several days. I'm referring, of course, to the violent part of a siege and not the waiting around and starving them out part. Front line soldiers, having fallen back, would need to take extended rests in order to relieve and reinforce their comrades at the front.
Sleeping with interns on Colonial 1
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1 year ago ::
Jun 08, 2012 - 10:49AM
#10
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Date Joined:
Jul 21, 2004
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It's not necessary for DMs to get hung up on the actual durations of rests. The game can handle characters getting the Healing Word bonuses for each of their surges. Nothing will break.
[N]o difference is less easily overcome than the difference of opinion about semi-abstract questions. - L. Tolstoy
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