tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post3963165754940453162..comments2024-03-28T15:32:19.036-04:00Comments on Dungeon Fantastic: GURPS Spell Option: Healing costs the healedPeter Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-131255960672177132015-02-08T10:50:40.663-05:002015-02-08T10:50:40.663-05:00I could see that. It's just that removing it r...I could see that. It's just that removing it removes a big brake on magical healing being "win the fight, no consequences after." I could give you logic for it being caster/spell/target based, but it's no more or less of a justification than any other. And if you don't like the idea of caster/spell/target combo based, you wouldn't accept the logic anyway. It's got to fit your world view. FWIW we used to limit the healing to spell/target - it wasn't per caster, but per target and spell.<br /><br />It's probably easier to make all healing one spell, and then find ways to limit that, if you want to keep healing from basically being totally free (or effectively free given a short amount of rest) using the underlying logic of the GURPS Magic system.Peter Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-77616275276030994762015-02-08T01:40:27.042-05:002015-02-08T01:40:27.042-05:00I understand why the -3 is there, I just think the...I understand why the -3 is there, I just think the way it's handled now just feels like exactly what it is (a penalty there to keep healing from being unlimited) and not like something that feels logical or natural, even in terms of magical logic, within the game world. If it were tied only to the subject (penalty based on how many HP have been healed that day or how many times magical healing has been received) or only to the caster (spell always takes a penalty for being cast more than once in a day) it would feel a lot more natural to me, but as it is now it's a penalty in a bizarrely arbitrary modifier (-3) attached to the specific combination of *this* caster using *this* spell on *this* subject.<br /><br />I would always combine something like this with forbidding high-skill energy reduction to bring spell prices down to zero, but then that's another houserule I would always use with magic anyway.<br /><br />Aside from that -3 for repeated castings Minor and Major Healing basically function exactly like the healing spells from the game that got me into RPGs, though in that game the equivalent of FPs only recovered from sleep and so they didn't need something like this. Looking for ways to remove or replace that -3 is almost like a mini-hobby for me within my GURPS experience, I guess.Ronintendohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13335678853838217038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-84795269301455358102015-01-31T08:34:14.578-05:002015-01-31T08:34:14.578-05:00The lack of the -3 would mean, basically, unlimite...The lack of the -3 would mean, basically, unlimited healing. One guy with Minor Healing-15 could heal 1 HP per second on a 15 or less, for free, with no upper limit. There would be literally no rest impact for healing.<br /><br />Combined with "both pay," you'd want at least Major Healing-15 to cut down on the FP cost to the healed, and then use Lend Energy to even out the FP costs by transferring from casters to the healed. You'd end up with basically very cheap healing, and people would either heal a little at a time ("I heal him 1 FP's worth, wait 10 minutes for his FP to come back, and repeat") or everything combined with a somewhat longer single rest.<br /><br />That -3 is really a critical balance to keep healing from being effectively unlimited.Peter Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-935367676149427572015-01-30T22:40:49.380-05:002015-01-30T22:40:49.380-05:00It's an interesting idea to use the "both...It's an interesting idea to use the "both pay" method instead of that stacking -3 penalty, though I don't know how that would run in the long term. Because the way it's written now that stacking -3 feels too gamey even for a gamist like myself.Ronintendohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13335678853838217038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-66062081531569033622015-01-29T13:54:14.168-05:002015-01-29T13:54:14.168-05:00Yeah. Instead of healing flattening the casters, i...Yeah. Instead of healing flattening the casters, it could flatten everyone - which means carrying a wound might be preferable to being tired if the latter costs more ability in the short term.Peter Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-84506599383029932172015-01-29T13:53:16.459-05:002015-01-29T13:53:16.459-05:00What makes it tricky for B/X is that in GURPS, spe...What makes it tricky for B/X is that in GURPS, spells are a way to convert FP into some kind of effect, which in this case is replenishing lost HP. In B/X, spell levels are used to memorize spells, which are then converted into an effect. So the spell already has its cost.<br /><br />What might work is if healing is de-coupled from spells, and instead becomes a "I give you some of my HP" effect usable by healers. Or take the wounds onto the healers and then let the healers heal themselves. Rolemaster had healers like this - they'd absorb your wounds and then heal themselves.Peter Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-8420484609240306312015-01-29T11:13:37.020-05:002015-01-29T11:13:37.020-05:00I like the feel of this, and it would be even cool...I like the feel of this, and it would be even cooler if you use The Last Gasp for extended FP recovery times. The price of using the target's FP to power his own healing is hours or even days of being down in FP, which incurs penalties to attribute rolls. <br /><br />Lesser, Greater, Uber healing might be a multiplier that translates FP into HP at different exchange rates, costing the caster more mana to provide the boost.Douglas Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04292678529266123501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-30199242244062940272015-01-29T11:13:34.893-05:002015-01-29T11:13:34.893-05:00I was toying around with something similar for my ...I was toying around with something similar for my B/XWoD I've been tinkering with. My current level of thought is that the hit points have to come from *somewhere*. (A sacrifice? The caster's own hp?) DMWieghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03682249561077936507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-26976397653685787222015-01-29T10:30:13.135-05:002015-01-29T10:30:13.135-05:00I could see that, but with Lend HT I already see l...I could see that, but with Lend HT I already see lots and lots of FP being fed into casters. Fit wouldn't matter, because the loss is supernatural, so that wouldn't speed up recovery.<br /><br />And you'd still want to enforce the -3 for multiple castings in a 24-hour period. That is the real, true brake on healing in my games anyway, not FP.Peter Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817710432110712270.post-79076172972682059232015-01-29T09:25:11.661-05:002015-01-29T09:25:11.661-05:00Hmm. I like the feel of this, though I'd have ...Hmm. I like the feel of this, though I'd have to think about how much faster it makes healing, since it spreads the FP expenditure out over everyone involved. Under many circumstances, the healer can heal up a lot of people at no cost to himself, and if the targets of the healing are, as frequently happens, front-line fighters, they'll have FP to burn and advantages like Fit to get them back quickly. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, of course, but it's different. <br /><br />Another alternative might be to split the cost (rounding up, probably), so the targets of the healing have to contribute, but there's still a brake on how many spells the healer can get off in a short period of time.<br />Iron Llamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08593249565706623705noreply@blogger.com