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The Healing Paradox
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<blockquote data-quote="JamesonCourage" data-source="post: 5950330" data-attributes="member: 6668292"><p>I think a better question might be: based on the type of story you want to see the mechanics naturally support, which HP style best helps achieve that goal?</p><p></p><p>The answer, to me, is longer HP recovery. It provides the story option to press on even after many encounters (in the event that the players roll very well and do not take much HP damage or use many resources), as well as needing to rest after one encounter (and having days or more pass because of longer recovery time).</p><p></p><p>With that method, the recovery mechanics of the game have solid support for both extremes of the narrative paths: pushing through many encounters, or only getting through one. Long recovery gives me story options without me being heavy-handed about it, which is my preference as a more sandbox-y GM. For example, if the PCs rest because they're low on HP, and it takes a few days, then the princess might get executed (see pemerton's Star Wars comparison), or the ally who's been tracking them (with very valuable aid or information) might catch up.</p><p></p><p>Now, if I'm more heavy-handed, I can say that either of these happen, anyways. "You arrive too late, she's been executed" or "in the night, near daybreak, an ally appears." Both can still happen. But, it's in a style I don't like as much. I like saying "this world event will happen in 13 days", and seeing how the players handle that when travel takes 10 days, and being jumped might set them back even more. It helps with the tension, and it gives me a solid view of what's going on in the world: if they arrive on day 12, the event will happen the next day, and preparations are possibly well underway; depending on the event, though, arriving on day 10 may mean that they beat somebody there, and can set up an ambush, gain support, look for information, or whatever.</p><p></p><p>The mechanics of long HP recovery let the story unfold in more ways, in my opinion. Can all the same stories unfold? I don't know (I'm not sure if you can have a party be delayed by licking its wounds for days when you have complete overnight healing). Regardless of that, is there a big difference to the in-game pacing that will result of such a change? To this sandbox-GM, yes. There's a big difference. As always, play what you like <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JamesonCourage, post: 5950330, member: 6668292"] I think a better question might be: based on the type of story you want to see the mechanics naturally support, which HP style best helps achieve that goal? The answer, to me, is longer HP recovery. It provides the story option to press on even after many encounters (in the event that the players roll very well and do not take much HP damage or use many resources), as well as needing to rest after one encounter (and having days or more pass because of longer recovery time). With that method, the recovery mechanics of the game have solid support for both extremes of the narrative paths: pushing through many encounters, or only getting through one. Long recovery gives me story options without me being heavy-handed about it, which is my preference as a more sandbox-y GM. For example, if the PCs rest because they're low on HP, and it takes a few days, then the princess might get executed (see pemerton's Star Wars comparison), or the ally who's been tracking them (with very valuable aid or information) might catch up. Now, if I'm more heavy-handed, I can say that either of these happen, anyways. "You arrive too late, she's been executed" or "in the night, near daybreak, an ally appears." Both can still happen. But, it's in a style I don't like as much. I like saying "this world event will happen in 13 days", and seeing how the players handle that when travel takes 10 days, and being jumped might set them back even more. It helps with the tension, and it gives me a solid view of what's going on in the world: if they arrive on day 12, the event will happen the next day, and preparations are possibly well underway; depending on the event, though, arriving on day 10 may mean that they beat somebody there, and can set up an ambush, gain support, look for information, or whatever. The mechanics of long HP recovery let the story unfold in more ways, in my opinion. Can all the same stories unfold? I don't know (I'm not sure if you can have a party be delayed by licking its wounds for days when you have complete overnight healing). Regardless of that, is there a big difference to the in-game pacing that will result of such a change? To this sandbox-GM, yes. There's a big difference. As always, play what you like :) [/QUOTE]
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