05-30-2018, 02:31 PM | #61 |
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2018
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Re: HEAL spell?
Yes Dave, but there is a another grouping of our friends who feel otherwise, and equally just as strongly as we do; like: Ty, Rick, and Kirk. That is why this topic of adding a healing spell to TFT is so *unbelievably* heavy. If SJ does in point-of-fact add Healing Spell(s) by any definition into the re-edit, one group or the other is most likely going to end-up feeling that the new magic shoes pinch their toes. And that's not good for TFT, regardless of who ends up on the happy-side.
Remember that post SJ made on March 3, 2018, on The Fantasy Trip News, about being: Trapped between two mirrors? How apropos', no? JK Last edited by Jim Kane; 05-30-2018 at 05:47 PM. Reason: Reduction of Capitalization to Addressee's Name & Clarity |
05-30-2018, 03:05 PM | #62 | |||
Join Date: May 2015
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Re: HEAL spell?
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What I love about TFT is that almost all of its mechanics are about how the situation works. So you get a game about what's involved in going out adventuring and figuring out how to deal with situations including what tactics work and dealing with unpredictable consequences, and injuries are a big part of that. Healing spells tend to remove serious lasting injury from the game. The degree depends on how the spells work (or can be made to work with help from Aid and rest etc), but beyond a certain point, you start to lose the experience of people having to deal with being seriously wounded and needing to recover. And, you lose some of the weight of making choices to avoid that consequence, and to prepare for it and work around it. I like my adventures to be full of considerations and practical problems to face and overcome and natural consequences. I don't much care for too many magical solutions to those unless they introduce other interesting considerations. For example, magic Light items tend to remove lighting problems from the game. In other magic systems, there are items that produce infinite food an/or safe water out of thin air, removing supplies from the game. In some there are magics that remove encumbrance and logistics from the game (e.g. bag o' holding). In many there's so much easy healing and revival that non-TPK consequences of combat are more or less removed from the game. So if a healing spell is added, I'd want it to at least have some risks and trade-offs that are interesting and limits that keep it from mostly removing serious lasting wounds as a part of play. I'd also like to avoid adding new resulting tactics that could get annoying. Having the limit try to be the ST cost, invites getting around that with the Aid spell and having multiple low-skill assistants and other odd tactics. And smart NPCs would logically have their own schemes for healing their best people up, etc., which complexity ordinarily I like, but I don't much like the flavor of feeling like any fighting team is foolish if they don't have a healing wizard and a bunch of resting IQ 9 servants with Aid... I wouldn't mind playing that for a bit, but it seems a bit gamey and like it would get annoying to track and deal with. Quote:
This came up in an earlier thread here. The people I played with tended to quickly notice the weirdness of the Physicker wording, and we all agreed it made no sense at all for it to be limited per combat. So we played it as a limit per wound, which did make sense, was very easy to do, and also generally made physicker healing stronger and only the people who took major wounds would have lasting serious injuries. It did mean it took longer to heal up a whole group with a bunch of minor injuries, but that was an interesting short-term effect. Quote:
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05-30-2018, 03:54 PM | #63 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Carrboro, NC
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Re: HEAL spell?
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Thanks Skarg! Last edited by tomc; 05-30-2018 at 03:55 PM. Reason: edited to add "Thanks Skarg!" |
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05-30-2018, 05:11 PM | #64 | |
Join Date: May 2015
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Re: HEAL spell?
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Mainly though, our reasoning was about logic. It was intolerably nonsensical to us that if you had multiple small wounds, whether or not they could be treated individually for near-complete recovery was determined by whether "combat" had ended or not, or even by whether you got them healed between each hit or not. And as a side-effect that also made sense, you can be effectively healed of a number of minor wounds, but a major injury can't just be patched up and becomes a consequence you need to live with until you actually rest and heal it. |
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05-30-2018, 05:11 PM | #65 | |
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: New England
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Re: HEAL spell?
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05-30-2018, 06:38 PM | #66 |
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Idaho Falls
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Re: HEAL spell?
I might suggest a reduction in the caster's IQ - hear me out now, this is just off the top of my head
A caster can temporarily reduce their IQ to restore the Strength of an ally. This means the caster will be limited in the spells they would normally be able to cast, but still not risk an unexpected death from suffering a reduction in their own strength. The reduced IQ recovers quickly (more quickly than strength) and can help the party get out of a dangerous situation and back to safety. |
05-30-2018, 06:54 PM | #67 | |
Join Date: Feb 2018
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Re: HEAL spell?
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If we make difficult situations that the players put themselves in for some reason easy to survive, that kills the need for brainstorming, ingenuity, inventiveness, well-developed characters and adventure teams, and good tactical play. IMO, TFT is SJ's work of genius when he was young. Not many people get a work of genius, and very few get more than one. The fact that he presented his contemplation of even adding "just" one healing spell tells me he knows he needs to tread carefully to avoid ruining his work. Einstein spent a large part of his life trying to improve on his early relativistic insights and fundamentally failed at a unified field theory. Sometimes it is good to tidy up the edges and leave well enough alone. :) |
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05-31-2018, 12:52 AM | #68 | |
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Tyler, Texas
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Re: HEAL spell?
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05-31-2018, 03:18 AM | #69 | |
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: London Uk, but originally from Scotland
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Re: HEAL spell?
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05-31-2018, 04:42 AM | #70 | ||
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Re: HEAL spell?
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Maybe my phrase was a poor choice. I just meant that the party could keep fighting without pauses between battles. I adapted it from one someone else used, I thought to describe that concept. Quote:
Fundamentally the cleric job isn't usually a lot of fun. For that reason I'd discourage trying to make it essential. Make healing an easy ability that anyone can pick up as an incidental hobby. If there is a healer then let them do other things most of the time, and be almost as good at them as they could have been if they hadn't bought healer. Or just have a magic waterfall nearby that's all healing potion. |
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