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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Healing and combat tension between 4e and Next
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<blockquote data-quote="Kinak" data-source="post: 6027288" data-attributes="member: 6694112"><p>I like tension in my fights (who doesn't?) but I don't know if D&D's healing style really provides for that.</p><p></p><p>Without combat healing, you are basically just watching your HP tick down to doomsday. This can create tension in a good fight.</p><p></p><p>With restricted combat healing (limited by surges or encounter/daily powers), you're just watching your healing tick down instead. This can also create tension in a good fight, but the burden is still on the fight and mechanics.</p><p></p><p>Personally, I think combat healing is a godsend for tactical games. It provides a unique role for characters to fill. For a looser game, I don't think it really adds much.</p><p></p><p>For tension, the more important part is having fights that escalate as they go. The most simple example is 4e's bonuses when bloodied, but I think the 13th Age escalation die and certain Iron Heroes token pools are better examples.</p><p></p><p>But if you bake escalation into the classes, the enemies, and/or the combat system itself, that tension will emerge naturally. Hit Points don't need to move back and forth over the line if the stakes grow higher with each passing round.</p><p></p><p>Cheers!</p><p>Kinak</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kinak, post: 6027288, member: 6694112"] I like tension in my fights (who doesn't?) but I don't know if D&D's healing style really provides for that. Without combat healing, you are basically just watching your HP tick down to doomsday. This can create tension in a good fight. With restricted combat healing (limited by surges or encounter/daily powers), you're just watching your healing tick down instead. This can also create tension in a good fight, but the burden is still on the fight and mechanics. Personally, I think combat healing is a godsend for tactical games. It provides a unique role for characters to fill. For a looser game, I don't think it really adds much. For tension, the more important part is having fights that escalate as they go. The most simple example is 4e's bonuses when bloodied, but I think the 13th Age escalation die and certain Iron Heroes token pools are better examples. But if you bake escalation into the classes, the enemies, and/or the combat system itself, that tension will emerge naturally. Hit Points don't need to move back and forth over the line if the stakes grow higher with each passing round. Cheers! Kinak [/QUOTE]
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Healing and combat tension between 4e and Next
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