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Old 02-20-2015, 01:51 PM   #11
Dwarf99
 
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Default Re: DF: Spell healing limits.

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Originally Posted by Kromm View Post
However, if your encounters are frequent and/or deadly enough, then GURPS' default limits are too stingy and its default risks are too severe. By all means set larger limits! It might be simplest to say, "Once you've been healed your full HP by magic, whether by one caster or many, one spell or several, future Healing spells are at a cumulative -N," where N need not be 3.
Mine are frequent and deadly enough that the FP costs of Healing alone are sufficient. Power Items and Energy Reserves aren't especially common, and nobody has particularly rapid FP regeneration. They've also found out that taking 10 minutes per FP to regain tends to bring monsters around. So for me, N=0. I can see why others might use another number though.
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Old 02-20-2015, 02:08 PM   #12
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Default Re: DF: Spell healing limits.

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They've also found out that taking 10 minutes per FP to regain tends to bring monsters around.
And therein is the difference. "Canonical" GURPS Dungeon Fantasy suggests wandering monster rolls once per hour in a dungeon and once per day outdoors, plus one extra attempt per long or noisy action (making camp, bashing a door, etc.). Thus, "sitting quietly for an hour" is normally pretty safe, and that gives even ordinary delvers 6 FP, while those with Recover Energy can count on 12 FP or even 30 FP.
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Old 02-20-2015, 03:02 PM   #13
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Default Re: DF: Spell healing limits.

There's also the "know a spell well enough and they cost no FP" issue as well. A level fairly easy to achieve in DF.

This is part of why I based it on HT, as well as the Rapid/Very Rapid healing advantages, they have even more ways to both spend CPs and differentiate Ed, Marge, and Joe the Barbarian.
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Old 02-20-2015, 06:22 PM   #14
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Default Re: DF: Spell healing limits.

You can waive a whole lot of restrictions if you don't reduce energy cost for skill on healing spells. After deliberating lots, that's how I fixed it for my upcoming (i.e. Sunday) DF campaign, to prevent the D&D "all done for the day" effect from creeping up. Freed from that restriction, I was able to make healing a lot more convenient.

My rules:
Minor Healing restores HP/10, HP/5 and HP/3 for 1-3 FP. You can do it as often as you'd like, but the ratio is kinda bad.

Major Healing restores HP/2 for 4 FP, and an additional HP/2 per additional FP. However, the spell is cast at -1 per HP/2 of current damage; (so you can't easily heal someone from very low HP, whether in small or big chunks). You can cast it multiple times per day.

Great Healing is unchanged, although I may allow multiple times per day.

Other rule changes I use make this unnecessary for my game, but under G4e I'd add a combat healing spell that can have its cost reduced, but only gives temp HP lasting a minute or so. Keeps your friends up in combat, but useless between fights.
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Old 02-21-2015, 10:35 AM   #15
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Default Re: DF: Spell healing limits.

In my DFsque campaign when we still used the Gurps magic system we had two ways to counter the repeat penalty:
The caster could buy a hard magic technique/spell that only lowers casting penalties for that spell, including the repeat penalty for heals. This allowed for the caster to cast maybe 1-3 more healing spells on each target. This was popular.
People could buy physical perk "easier to heal" where each perk reduced all repeat incoming healing penalties by 1. (minor, heal, major heal, advantage based)
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Old 02-23-2015, 01:46 PM   #16
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Default Re: DF: Spell healing limits.

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And therein is the difference. "Canonical" GURPS Dungeon Fantasy suggests wandering monster rolls once per hour in a dungeon and once per day outdoors, plus one extra attempt per long or noisy action
Yep. I could totally see it for canonical DF, but I never really bought into standard magic anyway, and I found that the -3 was hurting my adventurers even on hourly rolls too much. So that's why I waived it.

That does beg a question though: Is that the actual reason for someone having the Noisy disadvantage?
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Old 02-24-2015, 07:49 AM   #17
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Default Re: DF: Spell healing limits.

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I use Powers and have absolutely no restrictions on healing whatsoever.
The Healing advantage has an analogous repeat-usage limit.

As for the OP, the ability to cast the same healing spell twice per target, in each penalty interval (no penalty, -3 penalty, -6 penalty...), or three times, or more, and/or do the same ith the Healing advantage, could well be an ability costing points that some of the characters in the world have.

For the Healing advantage, it's probably quite simple. One way is just to take Healing twice, once as an Alternate Ability of itself. Then you can use first one then the other, each time at no penalty. After that you can use each of them once at -3 penalty. Or you can take it thrice, once at full cost, twice as the AA 1/5 cost. That's the most expensive way of doing it. Some GMs may accept cheaper solutions, or might prefer solutions that cost a bit less or a bit more in exchange for simplicity (basically, an Enhancement on Healing).

Magery-based spells are a bit trickier.

A levelled Rules Exemption Perk seems too cheap to me, unless it's on a per-Spell-basis, and must be taken on the simplest of the Spells in the chain first, and can't have more levels for the more advanced spells than for the most basic one. If implemented that way, it might work well.

One could also have a magic item with a similar effect, cumulative with Perk levels the character has. Either done with Enchanting (yuk!) or as a stack of Perks with Gadget Limitation.
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Old 02-24-2015, 12:17 PM   #18
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Default Re: DF: Spell healing limits.

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The Healing advantage has an analogous repeat-usage limit.
Afflict Regeneration does not, though it's not cheap.
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Magery-based spells are a bit trickier.

A levelled Rules Exemption Perk seems too cheap to me, unless it's on a per-Spell-basis
I'd probably call it a 'repeated casting' technique, actually. A lot of techniques are problematic for spells, but this one is likely okay.
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Old 02-24-2015, 01:50 PM   #19
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Default Re: DF: Spell healing limits.

I have quite opposite problem. Healing is too powerfull for my games. I had to tune it down. Minor healing could be cast 3x a day, major 2x a day, and Greater healing once per day but it heals only 20 HP, not full HP.

Of course my games aren't typical dungeon fantasy. But one other benefit of this change to spells is that healers are less army-wide effective.

On the other hand I've relaxed built in limitation that healer has hard time healing himself. But I am not sure how this will turn out.
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Old 02-24-2015, 07:01 PM   #20
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Default Re: DF: Spell healing limits.

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I have quite opposite problem. Healing is too powerfull for my games. I had to tune it down. Minor healing could be cast 3x a day, major 2x a day, and Greater healing once per day but it heals only 20 HP, not full HP.
That's 25 points of healing without GH per day, as the Minor and Major are by default unaffected by Magery/PI levels in their maximum efficiency. Now, if you do allow them to scale with PI the same way Missile spells do, then they get noticably more powerful and the allotment you've provided will allow for 42 HP/day at PI 6.

Your players really should not think about Great Healing if it only provides 1 HP/energy. At least not outside a truly desperate situation. Those 20 energy could provide a fairly large offensive/defensive buff to multiple characters instead.
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Of course my games aren't typical dungeon fantasy. But one other benefit of this change to spells is that healers are less army-wide effective.
The amount of energy you need to spend should usually do the trick of keeping the healer in check. Unless all that character uses energy for is healing, (s)he has 20+ skill in both Minor and Major, or you allow a lot of time for recovery. Also, if the party includes any SM +1 characters remember that those cost double to heal since the three healing spells are all Regular spells (of course, if they have 20+ HP they'll recieve double benefit from healing as well).

Then again, if the party contains multiple healers, try to consider whether this is due to those players' personal preferences or the way your campaigns usually run.
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On the other hand I've relaxed built in limitation that healer has hard time healing himself. But I am not sure how this will turn out.
I personally view the self-healing penality as a misguided attempt at combatting an imbalance that does not exist (or at least is minescule compared to the other stuff Magic allows). Or to stop the always loved "He totally should have healed me and not himself. I'm more important to the team because reasons!"

Still, with your limited castings/day that last one could prove to be a very real concern without multiple healers in a party.
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