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General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
The Healing Paradox
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<blockquote data-quote="Crazy Jerome" data-source="post: 5946345" data-attributes="member: 54877"><p>The reason this is such a tough issue is that there is no such thing as a "pretend death spiral." <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p> </p><p>If you accept the D&D conceit that the characters are (or on their way to becoming) these heroes that shrug off all kinds of damage every adventure, pick themselves up, and keep going--then you can't have a real death spiral. You can wear them out eventually, but "eventually" implies time to do so. Limited resources (gold, healing, etc.) are tools to make time matter in different ways.</p><p> </p><p>Thus the "operational play" of early D&D which has explicitly accepted that D&D conceit--and thus gone to a great deal of trouble to make time matter.</p><p> </p><p>OTOH, if you decide you want to wear them down without needing that time, but so that they can still keep going while hampered, then they have to be hampered in some way that is not tied to time. This implies an <strong>actual</strong> death spiral mechanic of some kind. You can't really get there with illusionism, unless you have a group that is the type to enjoy a scare from a ghost story -- e..g through atmosphere alone.</p><p> </p><p>If operational play doesn't appeal, I'd look for other ways, tools, resources, etc. to make time matter, in a manner that does appeal. Alternately, you can accept that a death spiral is required, abandon a key D&D conceit, and thus therefore your change will be an option for a different style of play (with all that implies). On the plus side, Next is probably the first edition of D&D with the structure to support such an option without breaking the game for those who do like that conceit.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Crazy Jerome, post: 5946345, member: 54877"] The reason this is such a tough issue is that there is no such thing as a "pretend death spiral." ;) If you accept the D&D conceit that the characters are (or on their way to becoming) these heroes that shrug off all kinds of damage every adventure, pick themselves up, and keep going--then you can't have a real death spiral. You can wear them out eventually, but "eventually" implies time to do so. Limited resources (gold, healing, etc.) are tools to make time matter in different ways. Thus the "operational play" of early D&D which has explicitly accepted that D&D conceit--and thus gone to a great deal of trouble to make time matter. OTOH, if you decide you want to wear them down without needing that time, but so that they can still keep going while hampered, then they have to be hampered in some way that is not tied to time. This implies an [B]actual[/B] death spiral mechanic of some kind. You can't really get there with illusionism, unless you have a group that is the type to enjoy a scare from a ghost story -- e..g through atmosphere alone. If operational play doesn't appeal, I'd look for other ways, tools, resources, etc. to make time matter, in a manner that does appeal. Alternately, you can accept that a death spiral is required, abandon a key D&D conceit, and thus therefore your change will be an option for a different style of play (with all that implies). On the plus side, Next is probably the first edition of D&D with the structure to support such an option without breaking the game for those who do like that conceit. [/QUOTE]
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