Blog: Resilient Heroes

[Savage Wombat]

My god, the eighties have come for my brain.

 

[B.T.]

Don't like surges. Don't like self-healing. Don't like encounter-based healing. In-combat healing should come from healing spells and potions. Out-of-combat healing should come from resting and the Heal skill.

 

[Lanefan]

I must disagree. As DM, I design the adventure, not the players. I need to know how many encounters they can handle before they have to take an extended rest. Without that knowledge, I may end up designing adventures that are cakewalk where the PC's don't feel taxed at all, or I may end up designing adventures that are impossible to finish under time pressure. Length of the adventuring day is a DM tool. I can even design adventures, where I know they will be strapped on resources, and build in consequences for taking extended rest. Any way I look at it, I need to know what length of adventuring day I can prepare for.

And what happens if the players don't stay on script? If they don't take an extended rest when you expect them to, or if they somehow manage to make things much easier or harder on themselves than your design anticipated? If they decide to take a left turn and go somewhere else that you haven't designed? If the players redesign the party on you by swapping out a bunch of characters just before setting out?

You may not like published adventure modules - gawds know there's enough bad ones out there - but they all at least have this going for them: they are party-neutral. The adventure is what it is, and the players/characters make of it what they will.

As soon as the players realize it's tailored to their particular party even down to their specific capabilities then versim... verismli... versi-whatever goes right out the window.

Lanefan