Can you resist Healing?

[bonafidenubbin]

If your character doesn't want to be healed, for whatever reason, can you resist Healing? (not the spell - the base Advantage).

I can't seem to find a clear ruling. If it were a Beneficial Affliction, sure; if it were an advantage applied with Affects Others, you have to be willing. But there's nothing explicit on Healing that I can see.

My gut would say yes, just logically - if you can resist most supernatural things, why not Healing? - but I'd love to know if there's a real answer.

[Celjabba]

I may be wrong, but I don't think there is a RAW answer.

Myself, I would rule it depend on the source of the ability, but in general, I would say no.

One exception would be if you have metabolic control.

Another one would be if the Healing was Divine in origin, and you had some power investiture or clerical investment.

That said, I don't think it would break anything to make it resistible by choice.

[bonafidenubbin]

Your intuitions seem to parallel mine, and I'm cheered to hear there's not some obvious RAW answer I'm overlooking!

I'll admit I was thinking of Healing with a magic-related power mod - coming from an ability where most things can essentially be resisted by willpower, it seemed to make sense to resist Healing.

But another party member has nanite-based 'structural' Healing, and that, I think, could not be resisted by a simple Will roll.

[Taneli]

Originally Posted by bonafidenubbin

<snip>
But another party member has nanite-based 'structural' Healing, and that, I think, could not be resisted by a simple Will roll.

Unless the target of the healing has some access codes and the equipment to control the same kind of nantes themselves?

[bonafidenubbin]

Hmm, yeah, sure. For this PC it isn't technically feasible for [complicated reasons]. But if it were, I'd personally allow it, though I don't know if it would be a Will roll at that point (probably IQ or some sort of hacking skill).

[whswhs]

If it's nanite-based, being Sealed will probably protect you . . .

[bonafidenubbin]

Right, yes, there are various reasons it might not work with the nanite guy, that's not important. I'm just wondering if you can roll to resist a bog-standard magic-flavored Healing Advantage when you're not willing.

[RyanW]

And if it requires touch/proximity, you can try to avoid being touched/in range.

[Ulzgoroth]

I'd go so far as to say that the RAW answer is no.

Not because the RAW says you can't, but because it in no way says that you can.

Resistance isn't a general rule for all effects unless otherwise specified. It's a specific rule for certain effects which is always stated where it applies. It's not stated with Healing, so it doesn't apply.


That said, if a GM wanted healing to be resistible they could obviously make it so. And I wouldn't think that that modification appreciably reduces the value of Healing considering how much of an edge case forcing unwanted healing on someone is...

[Pbuckley]

Originally Posted by bonafidenubbin

If your character doesn't want to be healed, for whatever reason, can you resist Healing? (not the spell - the base Advantage).

I can't seem to find a clear ruling. If it were a Beneficial Affliction, sure; if it were an advantage applied with Affects Others, you have to be willing. But there's nothing explicit on Healing that I can see.

My gut would say yes, just logically - if you can resist most supernatural things, why not Healing? - but I'd love to know if there's a real answer.

There is an Anti-Mage class in Dungeon fantasy which is capable of doing so. As far as anyone else, I would rule Holy and Psionic healing could be resisted by Will, (Psionic would be resisted by HT in a more hard Sci-Fi setting). But everything else either nothing, or HT.