Regeneration vs the Environment

[DataPacRat]

I'm currently playing a character with Regeneration, 1 BODY per Turn. (Defined as medical nanites; she also has a few minor life-supports, such as eating and sleeping once a week.)

 

How much protection would that offer against relatively long-term environmental effects, such as dehydration and starvation?

 

FRED, page 295: Deydration does 1d6 normal damage every 6 hours - so, up to 6 STUN and 2 BODY per interval. Similarly, starvation does 1d6 per day, plus STR/DEX/CON loss (same rate as body). The BODY would be healed relatively instantly, but what about the Stun and attribute loss? If she were stuck on NoFoodOrWaterWorld, would she eventually end up at minus umpteen million STUN, STR, DEX, and CON, but full BODY?

[DataPacRat]

Re: Regeneration vs the Environment

 

... and, if it was a Regneration of 2 BODY/Turn, then when holding her breath (or otherwise drowning), she'd use up her END, then her STUN, but then heal BODY as quickly as she lost it, yes?

 

(Does anybody happen to know the typical damage suffered after being swallowed whole by a large animal? Suffocation and acid, maybe some amount of squeezing/crushing, right?)

[Tiree]

Re: Regeneration vs the Environment

 

I would try building a character concept as to what you see sometimes in the movies. You might want to build some additional life support based on evironmental factors.

 

Maybe linking the additional life support to the regeneration - ressurection. That way maybe the character will die normally (say a Nerve Agent), the character would recover through regeneration and die again. Unless the character had life support against Nerve Agent, at that point the Nerve Agent ceases to affect the character.

 

Is that what your kind of looking for?

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: Regeneration vs the Environment

 

I dunno, but when I built a regenerating character I bought all kinds of Life Support based on the idea that he regenerates the damage so fast it doesn't affect him.

[Dust Raven]

Re: Regeneration vs the Environment

 

I'm currently playing a character with Regeneration, 1 BODY per Turn. (Defined as medical nanites; she also has a few minor life-supports, such as eating and sleeping once a week.)

 

How much protection would that offer against relatively long-term environmental effects, such as dehydration and starvation?

 

 

... and, if it was a Regneration of 2 BODY/Turn, then when holding her breath (or otherwise drowning), she'd use up her END, then her STUN, but then heal BODY as quickly as she lost it, yes?

In both cases, the Regen simply recovers the BODY lost due to any affect that might cause him to lose it in the first place.

 

However, I'd say, based on SFX, that Regen would not and could not heal damage brought about by some enviornmental effects until the character is no longer affected by them. So you could starve to death, even with Regen, but once you get some food in you, you start healing normally and are fine (allowing such a character to go months without food without dying, though still suffering the normal ill effects because of lack of food).

 

As for being swallowed whole, I think there may be rules in the Bestiary, but I'll have to look to make sure.

[DataPacRat]

Re: Regeneration vs the Environment

 

However, I'd say, based on SFX, that Regen would not and could not heal damage brought about by some enviornmental effects until the character is no longer affected by them. So you could starve to death, even with Regen, but once you get some food in you, you start healing normally and are fine (allowing such a character to go months without food without dying, though still suffering the normal ill effects because of lack of food).

 

An alternate possibility: When the character gets caught in a situation where they've run out of STUN, and aren't going to be getting it back any time soon, the nanotech preserves the character's body by placing it in 'nanostasis' (term stolen from GURPS TransHuman Space), maintaining the BODY until conditions improve (or get bad enough that the damage exceeds the nanites' Regeneration score).

 

Yes/no, good/bad/ legal/illegal?

[Dust Raven]

Re: Regeneration vs the Environment

 

An alternate possibility: When the character gets caught in a situation where they've run out of STUN, and aren't going to be getting it back any time soon, the nanotech preserves the character's body by placing it in 'nanostasis' (term stolen from GURPS TransHuman Space), maintaining the BODY until conditions improve (or get bad enough that the damage exceeds the nanites' Regeneration score).

 

Yes/no, good/bad/ legal/illegal?

 

Yes/good/legal. I was just suggesting an alternative based on more of a rapid-healing SFX than nanotech.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Regeneration vs the Environment

 

I'd go on story for this one based other Powers and SFX of Regen. If the character is starving to death and doesn't have LS: Doesn't Need To Eat I would start to have Regen fail on them over time, so possibly it might take them longer to starve to death but eventually they do die of malnutrition and lack of food. Just because Regen heals the BODY of such a thing doesn't mean it will heal the effects of it (such as no energy, loss of bone mass and other such icky things).

 

Many characters with Regen will buy appropriate LS Powers however.

[DataPacRat]

Re: Regeneration vs the Environment

 

Just because Regen heals the BODY of such a thing doesn't mean it will heal the effects of it (such as no energy, loss of bone mass and other such icky things).

 

In the case of starvation, the other 'icky things' are described by the loss of STR, DEX, and CON (p296), and the notes on 'Negative Strength' etc at the beginning of the book (p23 or so); at -30 DEX and CON, he may take no physical actions or Actions which cost END, and once STUN gets down to -10 they're fully Knocked Out and completely unconscious, and cannot do anything except take Recoveries (at increasing intervals at lower STUNs).