Regeneration question

[Zoomfarg]

Hey folks, quick question.
I wanted to make a character that was not just unkillable, but undamageable. I thought I could do this by giving him Extreme Regeneration, +10 hp/sec, and enhance it with reduced time, which would make it instantaneous. However, my friend pointed something out: What if something did more than 10 + enough damage to kill him? Would he die? How would you folks create undamageable?

[Ts_]

Re: Regeneration / Unkillability
Yep, 10 + enough to kill him damage in one attack would kill him. There really isn't that much around this except to add more stuff that makes him tougher and regens faster. (I also doubt that reduced time on Regen is allowed. Instead, take more levels of Regen and continue the progression somehow.)

The typical invulnerability is achieved through tons of Damage Reduction (DR) and Damage Resistance:Injury Tolerance (also "DR" ...). Powers (?) has a modifier that makes sure that no damage gets through, as the default DR:IT always lets 1 damage through.

But overall, absolute invulnerability is almost impossible with Gurps.

Re: Undamagable
There's a perk somewhere (in Supers?) that hides all damage from onlookers. Even though you are hurt and might eventually die, you always look like new.

This, coupled with lots of unkillability and regeneration, would create a PC that never looks damaged (unless he dies, which shouldn't happen to often). It's not exactly what you asked for, but it's very cheap and easy to do.

Regards
Ts

[vierasmarius]

Originally Posted by Zoomfarg

Hey folks, quick question.
I wanted to make a character that was not just unkillable, but undamageable. I thought I could do this by giving him Extreme Regeneration, +10 hp/sec, and enhance it with reduced time, which would make it instantaneous. However, my friend pointed something out: What if something did more than 10 + enough damage to kill him? Would he die? How would you folks create undamageable?

This question does come up periodically. Giving him Unkillable 2 will mean that he can never drop below -10xHP, though once he hits that point he will be incapacitated until he returns to a positive HP total. If he's got fast enough Regen to heal 10xHP per second (more on that in a second), this means that (barring a continuous, intense damage source) he will recover 1 second later, which isn't necessarily a bad thing; even Superman gets knocked down occassionally.

Achieving a regen rate of 10xHP per second is doable, but it stretches RAW a bit. As you point out, using Reduced Time is the way to go. However, you can't just add 1 level of RT to drop it from 1 second to instantaneous; the way I've seen it done is to allow Reduced Time to make the healing "interval" smaller than 1 second. For example, RT 1 halves the time required, meaning Extreme Regen heals 20 HP per second (10 per 0.5 seconds), RT 2 makes it 40 HP per second, etc. Reduced Time 3.3 (+66%) gives x10 healing rate. Since healing rate already scales with HP total, this gives effectively 10xHP per second.

[Anthony]

Reduced time just means you can turn the power on and off instantly, not that you heal infinite damage per second.

[zuldan]

how about adding supernatural durability?

[the_matrix_walker]

The RAW way to increase Regeneration Rate from the established levels is with Very Rapid Healing (which is only 10 points if you already have Regeneration, as rapid healing is included with Regeneration of any level). But in the RAW that is only usable to double you rate, as it's not leveled.

I allow VRH in levels with Regeneration for this reason. At 10 points per level, you can just consider it HP 10 (Only for the purposes of healing, -50%)

The Reduced Time angle is interesting, but I don't like the precedent.

[vierasmarius]

Originally Posted by zuldan

how about adding supernatural durability?

Supernatural Durability carries with it baggage from its Horror-genre roots: vulnerability to one specific source or a single massive attack. In fact, that last point makes it inappropriate for the situation the OP specified - being able to survive taking 10xHP in one go. The advantage of SupDur over Unkillable is that it provides near immunity to the secondary effects of damage: shock, stun, knockout, crippling. I've heard proposals to combine UK and SupDur to make a truly impervious character, but it feels sloppy for what it provides.

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

I allow VRH in levels with Regeneration for this reason. At 10 points per level, you can just consider it HP 10 (Only for the purposes of healing, -50%)

Not a bad idea. At 10 points per level, it would cost 90 cp to raise Extreme Regen to 10XHP per second. This compares pretty well with Reduced Time 3.3 (+66%) which costs 99 cp for the base 150 point advantage. They scale differently however, with VRH being more efficient at low levels, but RT quickly outpacing it at high levels.

[roguebfl]

Regeneration like all healing scales with HP. so 10/s becomes 20/s at 20-29HP 30/s at 30-39 HP etc

[Snaps]

I think you can do this by RAW:

Extreme Regeneration [150]
Extra Hit Points +100 (Only for determining healing rate, -80%) [40 points]

So a guy with 10 hit points would have 110 hit points for determining his healing rate. Every multiple of ten increases the rate, so 20 per second at 20 hit points, and 110 per second with the +100 hit points.

With the No Visible Damage perk from Supers, you'd appear almost undamageable. You'd recover from any attack the next round. Only a continuous source of over 110 damage could keep you down.

Another option might be Extreme Regeneration with Altered Time Rate (Only for determining healing rate, -80%) [20 per level]

This one might get tricky though since you could be knocked down, then regain consciousness several times in one second.

Really though, to be undamageable you just want lots of Injury Tolerance. It's the best way to tank for the price. For 450 you can divide damage by 1,000. Few things are going to bother you at that point.

[the_matrix_walker]

Originally Posted by Snaps

I think you can do this by RAW:

Extreme Regeneration [150]
Extra Hit Points +100 (Only for determining healing rate, -80%) [40 points]

I would never allow -80% for that limitation. Way too high.

I think Rapid Healing and Very Rapid Healing (Not to mention Regeneration itself) firmly establish far greater value.