Recharging encounter powers?

[Gothmog]

My group loves 4e, but a couple players said it kinda bothered them that their encounter powers had no chance of recharging. After all, many monsters have powers that recharge, and they are about as potent as a character's encounter powers. Also, I prefer to run a few tough fights rather than 4-5 smaller ones during a given adventuring day.

So we started a side-campaign from 1st level exploring 2 additions to the rules about how powers are used.

1) Any character can expend two healing surges to gain one encounter power use back. This can be done multiple times per combat if desired. We explain this as drawing on innner resolve and adrenaline to power martial maneuvers, and channeling magical or divine power through the caster's body for arcane or divine power. In any case, the effort leaves the character tired, sore, and somewhat drained.

2) The guy playing the wizard also mentioned that spells don't seem to do enough damage in comparison to older editions. Our solution was to allow a character to burn healing surges to increase damage of any power. All Heroic level characters can burn 1 healing surge this way on a single attack (for +1W), Paragon can burn two (for +2W), and Epic three healing surges (+3W). Wizards can burn twice this number of surges per attack, and gain higher damage (+2W, +4W, or +6W). However, if the attack misses, the healing surges are still burned away, so its a chancey propasition for most casters.

We've played to 3rd level using these rules, and so far they seem to work. Since we prefer fewer encounters per day, we had found most PCs ended the day with 2-6 unusued healing surges. Using these rules, the PCs have to be a little more careful with their surges, and there is a chance that the character might exert himself too much/strain or damage muscles/channel too much energy and not be able to heal any for the next day (no more healing surges left). We haven't found that burning surges for extra encounter powers really affects combat balance much, but burning surges for extra damage can be very dramatic and fun. I don't know how it will play at higher levels yet, but so far its made the wizard lover happy, and given all the PCs an extra way to manage resources that they seem to enjoy.

What do you guys think? Thoughts/suggestions?

 

[Alex319]

1) Any character can expend two healing surges to gain one encounter power use back. This can be done multiple times per combat if desired. We explain this as drawing on innner resolve and adrenaline to power martial maneuvers, and channeling magical or divine power through the caster's body for arcane or divine power. In any case, the effort leaves the character tired, sore, and somewhat drained.

I assume that doing this is a free action, right? (Although you still have to spend the action to use the encounter power as normal.)

2) The guy playing the wizard also mentioned that spells don't seem to do enough damage in comparison to older editions. Our solution was to allow a character to burn healing surges to increase damage of any power. All Heroic level characters can burn 1 healing surge this way on a single attack (for +1W), Paragon can burn two (for +2W), and Epic three healing surges (+3W). Wizards can burn twice this number of surges per attack, and gain higher damage (+2W, +4W, or +6W). However, if the attack misses, the healing surges are still burned away, so its a chancey propasition for most casters.

What does X[W] mean for powers that aren't weapon powers?

Also, when you apply this to a power, does it increase the damage for all targets of a power or just one of them? What about effects like Flaming Sphere and Wall of Fire that produce effects that can do damage multiple times over several rounds? If it works under these circumstances it could get very powerful very fast. (If I were a 5th level fighter playing in your campaign, I would definitely use this with Rain of Steel...)

 

[EvilVegan]

I'm doing a similar thing.

Once per encounter, as a standard action you may spend a single healing surge to regain an encounter power.

There is also a feat that makes it a minor action.