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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 6292429" data-attributes="member: 37579">Which would play out identically with any other form of healing. Yes... and no. I would argue this is unrelated to healing surges and more to the design of encounters and monsters in 4e. In this edition, all fights are meant to have the risk of death. You could do that in other editions with fewer larger fights. But it works better in 4e. But it's a very different design than earlier editions where there were a number of fights that individually would pose no threat but would wear down a party. That style of attrition doesn't work as well in 4e as PCs just use encounter powers and thus expend almost no resources, and actually gain Action Points so you're more powerful after the numerous mook fights. 4e takes the two different types of narrative drama and reduces it to one more effective type of drama. Which is excellent if you like that type of drama where every fight is meant to be a dramatic set piece battle. Less so if you just want a long series of mook fights. In this, healing surges are irrelevant save as a means of reliably healing PCs to full independent of magic between each set piece battle. It makes the set pieces easier to reliably balance but, because healing is so accessible, hitpoint attrition cannot take place/.(i) long-term resource management is only somewhat a "traditional aspect of D&D". It's there, but not for all classes/characters. And PCs would still have to manage daily powers, magic item powers, consumables, and action points. Plus any feats or features usable on a per/day basis. Plus manage encounter powers during fights. Removing healing surges barely touches the resource management of 4e.(ii) True, but if surges were replaced with healing in the power, the effect in-play is identical. It doesn't matter at all if second wind requires a surge or is an encounter power that heals 5hp/level. People don't say "Imma gonna write and adventure and it's going to have 6 level+1 encounters." They write and adventure and then work in the encounters that make sense. The adventure, if written for 3e or 4e, likely wouldn't change that much in design. (Or shouldn't anyway. 4e really forced me to change how I wrote adventures.)You're right. It doesn't matter if the adventure included 2 fights that each really taxed the party and ended with them being spent or six fights that gradually wore down the party. The end result is the same, which makes healing surges artificial as they have no influence on how the party is at the start of the day or the end of the day. They only impact how healthy the party is at the start of each individual fight. No. The game itself is designed around encouraging one strong fight over two mook fights. Healing surges are just a part of that overall design. They exist for that reason and that reason alone. Anything else is just tangential or a side effect. Cool. Where does it say that? Where does it say the power is inspirational and uses the god's charisma?</blockquote>

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