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Worlds of Design: Human vs. Superhuman
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<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 8270352" data-attributes="member: 6801845"><p>I think [USER=7026594]@Mannahnin[/USER] already said it, but part of the problem is you envisioning PCs coming out with broken legs and punctured lungs. While there are optional rules that support that in the DMG, I suspect very few people use them.</p><p></p><p>Most of the time, the imagery I fall back on is not super heroes, but action movie heroes. Protagonist gets shot? It's either a "mere flesh wound" in the shoulder or arm which in real life would take months or years of surgery and physical therapy to recuperate from. But action hero guy? Slap a bandage on there with the obligatory blood stain, wince a few times to remind the viewer that you were hurt, zero loss of functionality. In extreme cases put the arm in the sling only to rip the sling off and ignore the other people telling you that it has to heal. Because of course, you are the hero.</p><p></p><p>In a world with magic, I think that makes more sense. Magic doesn't have to include arcane spells or divine intervention; dragons fly and breath fire without casting a single spell. People (especially heroes) heal faster because they are healing magically without even realizing it. In my campaign world, it's been revealed that <em>all </em>people heal faster than we do without magic they just don't realize it because for them it is normal. Even then I still use the optional rest rules where a long rest is a week or more and would never describe injuries as broken legs or punctured lungs. It's small scrapes, bruising, exhaustion, aching muscles that have been pushed to their limits that leave you open to a fatal attack. After all, a higher level PC is more difficult to kill but it's not because their skin is thicker, or because there muscles are more dense and resistant to damage. It's because they've learned to take make blows that would have been deadly into near misses (at the cost of energy/stamina/strains) or glancing blows.</p><p></p><p>So my PCs (at least until very high levels) start as human, graduate to action heroes and slowly become more powerful. Whether they ever get to superhero level depends on what power level you're talking about since it varies widely depending on author and genre.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 8270352, member: 6801845"] I think [USER=7026594]@Mannahnin[/USER] already said it, but part of the problem is you envisioning PCs coming out with broken legs and punctured lungs. While there are optional rules that support that in the DMG, I suspect very few people use them. Most of the time, the imagery I fall back on is not super heroes, but action movie heroes. Protagonist gets shot? It's either a "mere flesh wound" in the shoulder or arm which in real life would take months or years of surgery and physical therapy to recuperate from. But action hero guy? Slap a bandage on there with the obligatory blood stain, wince a few times to remind the viewer that you were hurt, zero loss of functionality. In extreme cases put the arm in the sling only to rip the sling off and ignore the other people telling you that it has to heal. Because of course, you are the hero. In a world with magic, I think that makes more sense. Magic doesn't have to include arcane spells or divine intervention; dragons fly and breath fire without casting a single spell. People (especially heroes) heal faster because they are healing magically without even realizing it. In my campaign world, it's been revealed that [I]all [/I]people heal faster than we do without magic they just don't realize it because for them it is normal. Even then I still use the optional rest rules where a long rest is a week or more and would never describe injuries as broken legs or punctured lungs. It's small scrapes, bruising, exhaustion, aching muscles that have been pushed to their limits that leave you open to a fatal attack. After all, a higher level PC is more difficult to kill but it's not because their skin is thicker, or because there muscles are more dense and resistant to damage. It's because they've learned to take make blows that would have been deadly into near misses (at the cost of energy/stamina/strains) or glancing blows. So my PCs (at least until very high levels) start as human, graduate to action heroes and slowly become more powerful. Whether they ever get to superhero level depends on what power level you're talking about since it varies widely depending on author and genre. [/QUOTE]
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