Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Cleric Healing and Healing Potions curiosity

Mister Negative · 03-24-2018, 11:42 AM

I'm really curious about the rationale behind limiting Healing spells (once per spell per caster per subject without penalty), particularly given the lack of restrictions on Healing potions.

I get that this acts to promote resource management, and discourage a particular mindset in fights (offense over defense, just heal up later), but it still seems really odd to me.

It reduces the role of the Cleric in healing, while greatly expanding the importance of potions in the same role. It seems to strip out some of the niche protection of the Cleric, in a way that people would obviously object to if say, charged wand use was prioritized over Wizards.

It still allows massive damage/healing cycles, just through the use of potions rather than a Cleric. After a huge fight (or during), people just bust out the potions, rather than waiting patiently for the Cleric.

It just seems like a restriction that doesn't particularly do anything to meet the flavor of old-school dungeon crawling. Wizards were ALSO limited in spells per day, and that's not a feature of DFRPG. Healing potions were present in old-school dungeon delves, but not emphasized to the point they are in DFRPG.

Has anyone tinkered with it? I'm thinking about 'reintroducing' ritual magic to DFPRG, where the Healing Spells are limited to one 'normal' casting per spell per caster per subject, but allowed to be cast an unlimited number of times as a ritual spell (10x normal casting time). So healing is readily available after a fight, provided you have the time and FP (and time to recover FP).

Either that, or maybe go back to specific injury tracking and only allow each injury to receive ONE healing spell (and a Stop Bleeding first) and specifying that Great Heal is a whole body, all injuries thing. So if you get a nasty cut on your arm, you can get a Minor Healing, OR a Major Healing, but not one of each, or two of one. I don't like the extra book-keeping that involves, even though I think it captures the situation best.

IDK, I just think the current restrictions are a bit onerous for no real benefit. You know you can't rely on the Cleric for much healing per delve, but you can buy craploads of potions, so you just move 'per fight healing' from the Cleric to the potion supply.

03-24-2018, 11:42 AM	#1
Mister Negative Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Most definitely alone	Cleric Healing and Healing Potions curiosity I'm really curious about the rationale behind limiting Healing spells (once per spell per caster per subject without penalty), particularly given the lack of restrictions on Healing potions. I get that this acts to promote resource management, and discourage a particular mindset in fights (offense over defense, just heal up later), but it still seems really odd to me. It reduces the role of the Cleric in healing, while greatly expanding the importance of potions in the same role. It seems to strip out some of the niche protection of the Cleric, in a way that people would obviously object to if say, charged wand use was prioritized over Wizards. It still allows massive damage/healing cycles, just through the use of potions rather than a Cleric. After a huge fight (or during), people just bust out the potions, rather than waiting patiently for the Cleric. It just seems like a restriction that doesn't particularly do anything to meet the flavor of old-school dungeon crawling. Wizards were ALSO limited in spells per day, and that's not a feature of DFRPG. Healing potions were present in old-school dungeon delves, but not emphasized to the point they are in DFRPG. Has anyone tinkered with it? I'm thinking about 'reintroducing' ritual magic to DFPRG, where the Healing Spells are limited to one 'normal' casting per spell per caster per subject, but allowed to be cast an unlimited number of times as a ritual spell (10x normal casting time). So healing is readily available after a fight, provided you have the time and FP (and time to recover FP). Either that, or maybe go back to specific injury tracking and only allow each injury to receive ONE healing spell (and a Stop Bleeding first) and specifying that Great Heal is a whole body, all injuries thing. So if you get a nasty cut on your arm, you can get a Minor Healing, OR a Major Healing, but not one of each, or two of one. I don't like the extra book-keeping that involves, even though I think it captures the situation best. IDK, I just think the current restrictions are a bit onerous for no real benefit. You know you can't rely on the Cleric for much healing per delve, but you can buy craploads of potions, so you just move 'per fight healing' from the Cleric to the potion supply. __________________ Build a man a fire and he's warm for the night. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.