Upgrading Healing Potions

[Skarg]

Originally Posted by JLV

Perhaps the real difference among us on this issue revolves around player style. My player groups frequently, for some reason, seem to tend towards hyper-aggressive combat as a preferred solution (possibly because several of my players were SCA members, one went on to be a Green Beret, and several were either former Marines or Army Ranger types) -- which tends to put them on the (literally) bleeding edge of survival. To that end, I always sought solutions that increased their ability to heal more quickly than the base rules allowed.

Perhaps other groups are less inclined to solve their problems with a sword?

Yes, I think it is about player style and also play experience.

I've been lucky to have some very clever players, and also most of my players were cautious and responsible about keeping their characters alive by not attacking everything, and being willing to run away from foes they couldn't beat. (I may take partial credit for that from my GM style - I tend to give players as many warnings and hints as I can when their characters detect foes and danger and so on, and make it clear there are options other than combat to the death with everything.)

However, most of my players have also been pretty eager (often more than I'd like or expect) to fight things and initiate difficult combat. And my games (especially my original TFT games) tended to be very combat-focused and combat-heavy, with multiple battles per session.

How is that possible? Well, tactics, avoiding super-deadly situations, willingness to retreat, and numbers. Numbers as in, being sure you have enough people and at least one non-combatant physicker, so that you can handle most encounters and also not be stopped if a few people get seriously hurt.

And, this often only takes a few minutes of play time:
Bob: "I think we have too many wounded. Let's make camp and rest."
(Discussion of camp set up and who's resting, how many days, etc.)
GM rolls for encounters for a few days and deducts rations, lets any game situations advance (e.g. moving/resting injured opponents), etc.

Originally Posted by Anthony

... On the other hand, fights with a real chance of losing are pretty well limited to once per adventure, because even if you win you're so beat up you can't go onward.

A real chance or a high chance? You can have multiple battles with real chances of failure, if you manage to not fail. Battles with high chances of failure might be considered mistakes to engage in, unless you must or choose them for some chance of great reward, but the same thing applies.

As does the ability to resolve the non-combat events quickly, even if it means weeks of rest, travel and recruiting new comrades.

Originally Posted by Anthony

If healing is easy to obtain, those easy fights become boring trash fights that it's tempting to just elide over...

Yes, because they are so unlikely to have any real consequences at all. And that does tend to make players escalate what they're willing to take on, which eventually gets to a chance of consequences... which at that point is likely to be either death, or no one died and everyone was trivially healed.