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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 6292423" data-attributes="member: 37579">The narrative you describe is unrelated to "healing surges" and could be replicated with any healing in combat, be it proportional or not, static or random. And I replied that I agreed that in-combat healing was valid, but was independent from healing surges. But healing surges, as currently presented, prevent attrition so there is only the one form of dramatic pacing rather than two. There can only be drama in individual encounters and what happened in prior encounters is largely irrelevant so long as the PCs survived. If an encounter can be a narrative (which you claim above) then the series of connected events that is exploring a dungeon and looting its treasure is also a narrative. It'd be easy to treat D&D like a combat simulator, a dungeon delve, where you move from one combat to the next. But that's not the case. If you do just want to move from one combat to the next, then the game ceases to be D&D and you're playing a miniature combat game. But I didn't say 4e is a tactical skirmish game and/or board game. It certainly leans more in that direction than other games, but it still has a couple mechanics that keep it in RPG territory. Like skill challenges and social skills.I was saying that, in its design, it leans more to Gamist logic and requires much, much more willing suspension of disbelief.And I highlighted an interesting bit of text there. Interesting as the flavour text in 4th Edition has no impact at all, which is a pro and a con to the edition.If you're not telling a story in D&D you're just playing a miniature combat game. Even games like "Clue" have an implied narrative. It doesn't have to be a story, but it has to be present. I've never argued about healing surges before. Hitpoints, yes, but not healing surges themselves. So I'm sorry if it's tiresome and irritating to you. But no one is making you participate. If you have all your surges, but 0hp, you are DYINGING. It doesn't matter how much reserve health you have. It's potential health. Theoretical. The only health that actually matters is the hp.  Surges *may* be used to represent overall fitness and general health but in practice they're there to heal people to full before each encounter independent of CLW wands. I disagree. If surges were removed and replaced with, say dice, or a set number of hp (5/level) individual encounters would play almost identically. You'd still need to use those powers in combat, keeping use in check through action economy. And you'd still have to rest when low in Daily powers, consumables, magic item powers, and the like. The positive aspect is the "necessary" part. But they undeniably have a problematic influence on the game given the continual thread wars and arguments over the nature of hp, which have been going on since, well, 1st edition. Hence the "evil" part. Hp work really well, but cause fights and require suspension of disbelief. Necessary evil.</blockquote>

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