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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Herremann the Wise" data-source="post: 5721157" data-attributes="member: 11300">I would say both are influential. I would not wish to exclude either as a viable option.Usually I would frame a war council in terms of a skill challenge (as much as I don't want to go down the path of skill challenges and their merits and issues). I think that a wizard's intelligence (or any PCs intelligence for that matter) and perhaps even arcane knowledge could be of value in this setting among other skill possibilities- it depends upon circumstances obviously. As significant as a warlord's knowledge and influence? Perhaps not. As significant as the warlord's actions in combat? Nowhere near.The question then is this: can you isolate healing surges to such a point that they are divorced from the rules that govern their employment? From what you seem to be suggesting, your answer is yes while mine (and others) is no. A further quote highlights your thinking here:This is what I was getting at before between the loose style I was attributing to you (or at the very least the style you were using to make your point) and the tighter style of play (RAW for want of less course terminology) that my group generally follows. The rules specifically govern the employment of surges and the rest of the rules and expectations of 4e are built around this government. While you may suggest a method of playing around with that, changing the rules as written to fit the narrative is possible but generally not preferable for me (and it would seem others as well).Now if you extend healing time out as you suggest, this affects many of the assumptions that the 4e rules make about play. If I'm running a module built upon these expectations, then this houserule you suggest throws that slightly out of whack. As a fairly proficient DM, I can handle this but obviously the more I play around with the rules, the less secure is my use of "official" product and the more prep required to iron out the wrinkles.And so I think I see where the disagreement lies between you and I (if not others). It is not so much on the surge mechanic itself which in many respects I like and see promise in, but the rules surrounding it. We both agree that if these rules are changed to fit the narrative "traditionalists" are after, then surges can work very well. I would posit that the three changes I suggested upthread turn the 4e healing rules into something that I find clearly superior to 3e RAW.But really that is not what this thread is about. This thread is about the spectrum of damage descriptions available to both the 3e and 4e DM using the rules as presented and the narrative inconsistencies that those rules may produce and the resulting confidence this gives DMs to fully explore that spectrum. For myself, the results are conclusive with only the degree varying depending upon playstyle. This is obviously not to say that one set of rules is objectively superior to the other as this really comes down to personal preference as to which ruleset most easily supports (or can be adapted to) your playstyle.Best RegardsHerremann the Wise</blockquote>

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