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5 months ago ::
Dec 17, 2012 - 3:24AM
#1
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Getting back into D&D with 4e. I quite like a lot of things about 4e, espeically from a DM perspective, but there are also things I don’t like, in particular I can’t rationalize healing surges to myself (or my players). It seems very video gameish to me.
Has anyone thought of an alternate name/explanation for healing surges that makes more world sense instead of just mechanically making sense as a balancing tool? I am OK for clerics to have it - i think that makes sense. But what is it exactly that is healing a fighter?
Its not a big deal and I can live with it but curious if any discussion or thought have arisen over the years about this.
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5 months ago ::
Dec 17, 2012 - 4:34AM
#2
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Date Joined:
Oct 28, 2010
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Healing surges are basically you getting your breath back after a fight. They're your reserves of endurance for the day. When you get a chance to sit down and take a breather, you can get back to fighting fitness.
They're intended to be more of an action-movie-type mechanic, than a videogamey one. Just think Die Hard - when John McClane is getting the heck knocked out of him in a fistfight, he's eating HP damage. When he finishes off the guy, and sits down and patches up his wounds, wraps bandages round his feet etc, he's spending healing surges. As he goes through the movie, and he gets progressively more battered and shredded, covered in blood and bruises, and his endurance goes down... That's his healing surges running out.
HP are a 'this-fight' resource. HS are a 'this-day' resource.
It helps if you think of HP as they're intended - mostly a reserve of luck, endurance, grit and toughness, rather than literally 'each HP is a wound' or whatever. You're not seriously wounded until you go below 0HP. You're not out of the fight entirely until you stabilise at below 0, or you hit -bloodied/3DSTs.
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5 months ago ::
Dec 17, 2012 - 5:01AM
#3
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Date Joined:
Oct 17, 2007
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Perhaps you could call them Recoveries, which is the 13th Age name for them, if that makes more sense to you and your party.
Regarding what they represent: they are a normalised absolute measure of the character health, independant of levels. So in this model HP are a measure of fatigue/endurance, which scales with levels, while HS gives you the status of how much the character can still take before having to call it a day.
As a houserule, to make things more gritty, we rule that characters who drops below 0 HP lose a HS for the rest of the adventure (as recovering it would require a very long rest and medical support).
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5 months ago ::
Dec 17, 2012 - 7:10AM
#4
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I like both ideas of losing a surge and the diehard model. Excellent, that's enougth rationalisation for me. Thanks.
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5 months ago ::
Dec 17, 2012 - 4:06PM
#5
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Date Joined:
May 17, 2009
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Well, it's a bit of a read, and you already seem satisfied, but I'm going to leave you this link anyway. It leads to a blog in which the answer is explored.
Seriously, though, you should check out the PbP Haven. You might also like Real Adventures, IF you're cool. | Knights of W.T.F.- Silver Spur Winner | |
4enclave, a place where 4e fans can talk 4e in peace.
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5 months ago ::
Dec 17, 2012 - 8:50PM
#6
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Date Joined:
Aug 30, 2007
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I prefer the name Heroic Reserves myself. I think it better fits what they represent.
Owner and Proprietor of the House of Trolls.
God of ownership and possession.
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5 months ago ::
Dec 17, 2012 - 9:20PM
#7
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Date Joined:
Jul 23, 2008
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I love healing surges- one of the aspects that I enjoy in 4th.
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5 months ago ::
Dec 18, 2012 - 1:10AM
#8
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Well, it's a bit of a read, and you already seem satisfied, but I'm going to leave you this link anyway. It leads to a blog in which the answer is explored.
Great read. D&D has always said hit-points were not lifeforce. Hit-points is an accumulation of luck, skill etc. In 1e we said that first level hit-points were the actual physical durability of the character (which is why they were so fragile and why if you got reduced that low you were in trouble and bleeding) and as you went up you got the skill that padded out your survivability. What was sticking in my simulationist mind was the wording "healing surge" and kept picturing healing bubbles around the character. Which is wrong and my fault. Fully satisfied with these answers.
Thanks all.
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5 months ago ::
Dec 19, 2012 - 9:12PM
#9
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Date Joined:
Sep 19, 2007
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I prefer the name Heroic Reserves myself. I think it better fits what they represent.
Indeed. Healing Surges aren't really video game based, their more like "plot power".
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5 months ago ::
Dec 20, 2012 - 9:28AM
#10
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Date Joined:
Jun 15, 2004
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Has anyone thought of an alternate name/explanation for healing surges that makes more world sense
Stamina, endurance, cardio... basically anything that minimizes fatigue. This concept implies that hits on trained/armored adventurers are at worst minor cuts/bruises... until they start getting too tired to avoid injury very well.
4e is pretty hard on simulationism though.
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