Redidual damage - the shadows left after magical healing

[benjamin]

Here is my alpha for a Residual Damage rule.

This is part of my effort to get more time to pass in my campaign.

Also, it has always seemed strange to me that players can take massive life threatening wounds and keep coming back for more day after day with no need for a break. This rules represent the shadow that still remains after major wounds have been healed by magic.

These rules will force players to take a decent break every now and then.

What do people think? Just wanted to get a few ideas before I try it on my players on Saturday night!?!?!

Thanks in advance! I really appreciate the wisdom I get from this excellent community!

Benjamin

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Residual Damage Rules


As well as normal Hit Points which are at a maximum value when they are in full health, players now have a value called "Residual Damage" which is at 0 when players are in full health.

Whenever players are magically healed, they retain half of the healed amount as "Residual Damage". If a character is healed 9 Hit Points they will gain 9/2 = 4.5 = 4 (rounded down) points of Residual Damage. This represents the 'shadow' of the wounds and the shock to the body of the pounding suffered in combat.

If a character's current Residual Damage is greater than a character's current Hit Points then character becomes Fatigued (-2 STR and -2 DEX).

If a character's current Residual Damage is greater than a character's maximum Hit Points then the character becomes Exhausted (-6 STR, -6 DEX, No run or charge, Movement at half speed).

Normal rest out on the road (sleeping rough) will NOT reduce a character's Residual Damage.

24 hours rest (in bed) will reduce a character's Residual Damage by one quarter (rounded up). If a character with a Residual Damage of 18 rests for 24 hours, her Residual Damage will go down by 18/4 = 4.5 = 5 (rounded up).


Useful little table:
Days required to remove ALL Residual Damage

________Starting rd_________Days required
________1____________________1___________
________2____________________2___________
________3____________________3___________
________4-5__________________4___________
________6-7__________________5___________
________8-10_________________6___________
________11-14________________7___________
________15-19________________8___________
________20-26________________9___________
________27-35_______________10___________
________36-47_______________11___________
________48-63_______________12___________
________64-85_______________13___________
________86 or more__________14___________




Example of Residual Damage in action.


Bob is a 2nd level Barbarian with 20hp starting with 0rd (Residual Damage)

Bob battles a monster taking 9hp damage. He now has: 11hp and 0rd

Bob drinks a healing potion, healing 8hp. He gains 4rd (8/2). He now has: 19hp and 4rd.

Bob battles another monster taking 10hp damage. He now has: 9hp and 4rd.

He is healed by his cleric to the tune of 11hp, gaining 5rp (11/2 rounded up).

He now has: 20hp and 9rd.

He battles another monster taking 8hp damage. He now has: 12hp and 9rd.

He suffers more damage this time 7hp. He now has: 5hp and 9rd. Because his current Hit Points are below his Residual Damage, Bob becomes Fatigued (-2 STR and -2 DEX).

He is healed by his cleric to the tune of 8hp. He now has: 13hp and 13rd, so he is no longer Fatiged.

Bob takes a nights rest in a comfortable inn, gaining 4hp (2hp per level) and losing one quarter of his Residual Damage (13/4 = 3.25 = 4 rounded up). He now has: 15hp and 9rd.

The next day in a dramatic battle Bob loses 19hp, falling unconscious and almost dying. He now has: -4hp and 9rd.

He is healed by the party's cleric to full Hit Points. 24hp healing gains him 12rd. He now has: 20hp and 21rd. Bob's Residual Damage is now above his maximum possible Hit Points, so he becomes Exhausted.

Time for a proper break. Looking at the Residual Damage healing table the player knows Bob will need to rest for nine days. After nine days rest in his own bed, with the loving care of his mummy, Bob now has: 20hp and 0rd.



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[Mad Hamish]

I think it's a bad idea.
It's going to mean wilderness adventures become basically impossible
alpha strikes become much more important.
you get a shorter adventuring day so your wizards and sorcerers can throw out more spells per encounter while melee classes have less of their main resource (hit points) available per day.

It also means that there is much more downtime available for magic item creation, again boosting casters ahead of non-casters...

 

[benjamin]

All valid points Mad Hamish... can you think of any alternatives to create the same sort of feel?

My players aren't into crafting so putting day or week long breaks is not a problem...

 

[benjamin]

...or a way of modifying the existing idea to mitigate the problems you see it creating?

I don't think it need shorten the adventuring day... if the amount of residual damage you accrue in any given battle is not too much. The example shows that you need to take quite a LOT of damage before you need to stop and do something about it...

Maybe set the residual damage to a quarter rather than a half?

 

[Ramaster]

As for spellcasters, you could make them need to rest more than 8 hs in order to regain spells.

You could say that resting 8 hours replanishes, like 25% of spells slots, or something like that. That way, spellcasters also have to take long rest periods like fighter types

 

[benjamin]

Thinking of halving the speed the rd accrues... so you only pick up one quarter of the amount healed by magic...

Thinking of letting you get rid of a quater of residual damage with any undisturbed sleep, even on the road.

Thinking of letting you get rid of Half residual damage with a days bed rest.

Days full rest required to remove ALL Residual Damage (half rd gone each day)

________Starting rd_________Days required
________1____________________1___________
________2-3__________________2___________
________4-7__________________3___________
________8-17_________________4___________
________18-33________________5___________
________34-65________________6___________
________66 or more____________7___________





That would change the example to:

Example of Residual Damage in action.


Bob is a 2nd level Barbarian with 20hp starting with 0rd (Residual Damage)

Bob battles a monster taking 9hp damage. He now has: 11hp and 0rd

Bob drinks a healing potion, healing 8hp. He gains 2rd (8/4). He now has: 19hp and 2rd.

Bob battles another monster taking 10hp damage. He now has: 9hp and 2rd.

He is healed by his cleric to the tune of 11hp, gaining 3rp (11/4 rounded up).

He now has: 20hp and 5rd.

He battles another monster taking 8hp damage. He now has: 12hp and 5rd.

He suffers more damage this time 8hp. He now has: 4hp and 5rd. Because his current Hit Points are below his Residual Damage, Bob becomes Fatigued (-2 STR and -2 DEX).

He is healed by his cleric to the tune of 8hp. He now has: 12hp and 8rd, so he is no longer Fatiged.

Bob takes a nights rest in a safe spot, gaining 4hp (2hp per level) and losing one quarter of his Residual Damage (7/4 = 2 rounded up). He now has: 16hp and 6rd.

The next day in a dramatic battle Bob loses 20hp, falling unconscious and almost dying. He now has: -4hp and 6rd.

He is healed by the party's cleric to full Hit Points. 24hp healing gains him 6rd. He now has: 20hp and 12rd. This is become dangerous, as Bob will quickly become fatigued in battle the party decide to rest up for a while.

Time for a proper break. Looking at the Residual Damage healing table the player knows Bob will need to rest for four days. After four days rest in his own bed, with the loving care of his mummy, Bob now has: 20hp and 0rd.

 

[Lwaxy]

We do residual damage since the switch to 3.5. Bascially, the GM rolls for how many days the PC still needs to take it slowly and how it manifests. This does not go for minor wounds or light wounds but anything above. 1d20 is the max though, and they aren't invalid but for every day they aren't fine and overtax themselves they will need more rest.

The reason we do not have a fixed rule is because we do not want the player to know exactly when the PC will be fine again. More realistic that way.

 

[Lwaxy]

Time for a proper break. Looking at the Residual Damage healing table the player knows Bob will need to rest for four days. After four days rest in his own bed, with the loving care of his mummy, Bob now has: 20hp and 0rd.

I'd not insist on bed rest. Taking it easy, as in sleeping a lot and eat well and just relax should do it, too, that way the party can still do easy traveling.

 

[Anguish]

Here's a question... are you planning on having your bad guys have various realistic amounts of residual damage when you stat them out or is it just your PCs that get screwed?

I get what you're trying to do, and it's a reasonably elegant and original way of handling it. The problem is that it logically should apply to every creature. Any bad guys who haven't had the opportunity, inclination, or good sense to get some proper rest should be encountered with a pool of residual damage.

Yay. Balancing becomes that much more work for the DM. You never know if your PCs are going to be at full capability. They might be optimal while encountering bad guys who are badly battered. Ooops, cakewalk. Or they might be badly battered but feel the pressure to move on before a bad guy (who is well-rested) "gets away". Oooops, potential TPK.

Just some thoughts for you. Good luck.

 

[benjamin]

I'd not insist on bed rest. Taking it easy, as in sleeping a lot and eat well and just relax should do it, too, that way the party can still do easy traveling.

Yes. Good idea.

Maybe only travel half overland travel amount...

That has a nice feel to it.

"No struggling-up-Mount-Doom-carrying-your-friend for you today!"