Level Up (A5E) Sins of the Scorpion Age: Deities, Gods, and Religion

[GuyBoy]

For three days, with his water reduced to just sips, Seteshkar had tracked the sidewinder tracks in the sands. They had begun, as if from thin air, in the lee of the great dune, where Seteshkar had found the sad remains of his friend Ashep’nor.
Sidewinding, a serpent, a need to avenge, a hunting, a reckoning.
Rounding a crumbling dune, the sibilant tracks descended towards a group of ruined adobe buildings by a dry wadi. Descended....and changed....the serpentine markings ceased and were replaced by thin, but recognisably humanoid, footprints marking a passage towards the ruins.
Seteshkar hefted his khopesh. Serpent or man or man-serpent? No matter, blood must be shed.

 

[Steampunkette]

I'm currently writing about Nnamic architecture and came back to this thread to specifically call out the "Beehive Mud Huts" of Il'sha-ah from Guyboy's post when I came across the Sarga discussion, again...

Should Magical Healing be less overt by and large?

In Sword and Sorcery stories it's often a big shock when magic is used to heal someone, not a common effect at all, but something... big. Important.

Should Cure Wounds and Healing Word be recontextualized into Bolstering effects or otherwise improving someone's fortitude without actually mending their injuries and wounds... and then spells like Heal, Prayer of Healing, Regeneration, and effects like Lay On Hands be actual -healing- magic?

That could be interesting... but it might also be too much Refluffing. Particularly for players who want to play the "Healer" Archetypal role of RPGs.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Should Cure Wounds and Healing Word be recontextualized into Bolstering effects or otherwise improving someone's fortitude without actually mending their injuries and wounds... and then spells like Heal, Prayer of Healing, Regeneration, and effects like Lay On Hands be actual -healing- magic?

I would probably remove Healing Word but let the Cure Wounds line in there, with a consumed component of your choice (holy incense, mystic leaf, waters of X, etc).

 

[GuyBoy]

The architectural bit was a rip-off of a REH technique, that I use a fair bit, to convey the presence of another, usually more ancient culture, in an adventure. Hence Teerka noticing the beehive huts, albeit from local stones. I am honoured that you are using it.

Moving to healing, I like the S&S vibe of healing being more plant/actual medicine based, because it makes wounds, infections and the like more threatening. That said, 5e is built with magical healing as a given, so it’s tough to re-tool.
I’d suggest use of sarga plants, healing muds, special fountains etc, with magical healing being very rare, but I’d probably do it by a recommendation in the book that it’s covered in session 0 as part of the role play immersion of the setting. That way, groups that don’t want to give up their “healing on tap” don’t have to, but groups that want a bit more buy-in to the setting and atmosphere can do so.

Personally, I’d rather look for sarga flowers when my character is scratched by a bantaur, or seek out the famous healer, Shazaress, in the souk of Musarra.

 

[Steampunkette]

Oh, that's not what I mean, @vincegetorix @GuyBoy.

I mean still having the spell provide 1d8+Wis healing, or 1d4+Wis Healing, and just -calling- it something different with the narrative understanding that it's not healing wounds, specifically, but abstract healthing.

You get stabbed, you're stabbed 'til a healer fixes it with sutures and ungeunts or a powerful Heal or Regenerate spell or some Herald lays on hands...

But someone can still cast "Bolster Ally" and give you back 1d8+Wis Hit Points so you can keep fighting even though you're still bleeding.

 

[GuyBoy]

Mea Culpa, misunderstood.
I get your point now and really like the solution you propose. The bolster is a shortish term fix to keep you going. Longer term you need a healer to sort. Maybe a long rest helps a bit if you have to travel to the healer?

 

[Faolyn]

I think nerfing healing spells is less important than changing how many hp you get at the end of a long rest. With healing spells, you're trading a resource for healing, so that's OK.

For my Ravenloft game, I go with one of the grittier options: you don't get back hp after a long rest; you have to spend Hit Dice. But I'm a big softie so I continue with the 8-hour long rests.

 

[Steampunkette]

I think nerfing healing spells is less important than changing how many hp you get at the end of a long rest. With healing spells, you're trading a resource for healing, so that's OK.

For my Ravenloft game, I go with one of the grittier options: you don't get back hp after a long rest; you have to spend Hit Dice. But I'm a big softie so I continue with the 8-hour long rests.

Again, Cure Wounds still provides 1d8+Wis healing magic... It's just narratively different. I'm not talking about nerfing the spell, just changing it's concept from "Close Wounds" to "Adrenaline Rush" or "Encouraging Words".

 

[Faolyn]

Again, Cure Wounds still provides 1d8+Wis healing magic... It's just narratively different. I'm not talking about nerfing the spell, just changing it's concept from "Close Wounds" to "Adrenaline Rush" or "Encouraging Words".

Then here I'd think you'd be better served by not going over every individual spell but having a section on how spells (perhaps grouped) are changed for the setting. Think of the way Curse of Strahd suggests that spells are altered for Ravenloft.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

IIRC, Dragon Age had a line of healing spells that is more about slowish health regeneration, I'll try to find the names.

AH! Found it!

Cure Wounds -> Rejuvenate
Healing Word -> Invigorate

Could go a bit darker, with something like ''Leech the Pain'' or ''Mystic Vigor''.

Went back to check the terms used by Pillars of Eternity. I modified them a bit and here's what I have.

• Oaken Vigor
• Burst of Summer's Life
• Nature's Balm
• Restore the Sacred Breath
• Dispel Agony
• Pain Block
• Infuse the Vital Essence

all of those restore health in some ways, but do not heal the actual wound