Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9206282" data-attributes="member: 6790260">False. Healing surges forced every character to care about how many encounters they participated in each day. It's part of why using surges as a cost for failure outside of combat was such a powerful tool in the 4e DM's arsenal. Losing just two surges could be devastating to a character's ability to participate in combat. Even beefy characters (Defenders, the beefier types of Striker, certain Leaders) would feel that.Surges were the driving force ensuring strategic/logistic pressure, and they were extremely effective for that purpose. A party with no Daily powers will gladly sally forth into danger. A party with all of their Daily powers and no surges will flee from danger. Because the players are quite well aware of the peril they put themselves in when they go into combat with no surges left.This, for example, is why that one ritual that let you swap surges between party members (Comrades' Succor) was so desirable. Desirable even though someone in the party had to lose a surge to use it! It meant that you could funnel surges from well-protected squishies (e.g. back-line Wizards, high-AC speedsters like Storm Sorcerers or Avengers, Rogues that have been stealthy enough to avoid being hit) to front-line fighters regularly taking a beating. Unfortunately, a lot of DMs either completely ignored surges as a tool for shaping player behavior, or used them only in a really rudimentary way (in part because many actively avoided the skill challenge rules, where surges can shine even more brightly.) Between them, consumables, and actual Daily powers--which, again, allowing flexibility in their use outside of combat was clearly by the rules, people just...didn't do it--there's plenty in 4e that makes you care how many encounters you have each day. It just featured both well-supported tactical resources and well-supported strategic ones.</blockquote>

Verification