Injured PCs and healing time

[The Suave]

How do you guys handle having a crew of injured PCs? Do you let them say "we lay low for a while" and skip ahead a few weeks? That seems an awful lot like letting them zip back to full health in between each fight scene (a la video games). I also don't want my two PCs (at 4 and 0 body) to die at the drop of a hat. One of the PCs has some good medicinal skills so that helps. I've handled this situation carefully but slowly, but for future reference:

 

How do you deal with injured PCs? How much do you speed up healing for things like first aid, medical care, ER visits, etc?

[Shadow Hawk]

Re: Injured PCs and healing time

 

All comments are based on 5th edition.

These are the rules I used.

 

First, you get Body equal to your recovery per month. I work on the assumption that this represents basic 'at home' care.

 

Light duty (no activity that costs endurance) plus a successful paramedic roll gives a 50% bonus to recovery for the purpose of healing body.

 

Hospital care doubles the recovery until the PC recovers to 1 body, then it goes to 'at home' level, no rolls needed. This assumes that the Hospital is a competent facility, of course. 3rd world or incompetent facilities may even give penalties.

 

First aid: a paramedic roll stops bleeding. ER care gives a d6 of body (stabilization), this takes 'a while', then goes to 'Hospital care'.

 

Take the recovery and divide by 30 to get the 'per day' recovery.

[Chimera 12]

Re: Injured PCs and healing time

 

I'd consider the Sixth Edition default healing rules (recover your REC in BODY per month, half that under poor conditions, up to twice that with good hospital care) appropriate for 'realistic' campaigns where combat is supposed to be actually dangerous and injuries have to be taken seriously precisely because they do tend to stick around for a while. Handling natural healing this way (and assuming no 'magic' healing exists or is easily available) means that somebody who gets significantly hurt today is still going to be down some BODY from their normal maximum if they then get into a fight next week...much like they would still not be in top condition again already in real life.

 

That said, these default rules may not work so well for genres where characters traditionally heal quickly between individual escapades -- pulp, superhero comics, D&D-style fantasy, and more than one TV serial where the hero is bedridden (though smiling) at the end of one episode but ready to jump into danger with both feet again as soon as the next one begins. For those, were I GMing, I'd use the advice from the toolkitting box on 6E2 130 and move the base healing rate up to REC in BODY per week rather than month...or, for really extreme cases, maybe even per day.

[dmjalund]

Re: Injured PCs and healing time

 

of course the time the heroes take to recover, the villains have to progress their plots, build up their forces, prepare for the heroes return, etc

[The Suave]

Re: Injured PCs and healing time

 

I'm running a pretty basic 5e Paranormal Dark Champions game. I just really didn't want to hit the reset button after every episode (as it were), but I also didn't want to shaft my players going into a new episode either. Thanks for the tips, any additional tendencies or standard operating procedures are welcome.

[Escafarc]

Re: Injured PCs and healing time

 

The only Dark Champs type game I've run was a Super Agent game. It had a very '60s/Nick Fury/James Bond type feel to it. Every adventure was treated like a movie or paperback, there was always downtime between each one. Unless the PC lost a eye or limb they started out fully healed.

[Wildcat]

Re: Injured PCs and healing time

 

I am running a GIJOE style Darkchampions game right now, and while I want the damage taken in the middle of a fight to ber taken seriously, I can't really have the PCs not up to tip top shape for the stuff I throw at them the next session. So if its a new mission, we're just assuming that they have visited the sickbay, and gotten fixed up. For in session Combats, thye have a very limited version of Nanites that heal them upon command, or if they drop below 0 and are unconcious. (its GIJOE so Hi-tech is avail to them) other than their Nanites (wich can only heal 2 body per use, 3 charges until they return to base) But what we use most it the 'Hollywood healing' rull from I believe 5th ed Dark Champions. in a nutshell it states any wound that can be reduced to 1 body will heal on its own overnight, or by next session (given atleast 8 hrs of time has past) so givin a really bad Fight lets Say Recoil takes 3 major hits. one for 4, 3 & 5 Body total of 12 Body Ouch - near death right? His Nanites heal him down to 2, 1 & 3 (6 body now). So then the Medic takes a stab at him. he makes his roll on the 2 body hit, reduces it to 1, the 1 he leaves alone then takes a stabe at the 3 body wound, makes his roll, and drops it to 2 body. Recoil takes a break (aprox a 12 plane flight to the next mission) and when he gets there he's only down 2 body, that big wound still giving him a bit of trouble, but not anythign like he had been at the end of last mission. So a mix of things and he's fine w/out really messign up things too bad, as far as realisim is concerned (of course Nanits are a BIG deal, but not unbalancing)

[Chimera 12]

Re: Injured PCs and healing time

 

I am running a GIJOE style Darkchampions game right now' date=' and while I want the damage taken in the middle of a fight to ber taken seriously, I can't really have the PCs not up to tip top shape for the stuff I throw at them the next session. So if its a new mission, we're just assuming that they have visited the sickbay, and gotten fixed up. For in session Combats, thye have a very limited version of Nanites that heal them upon command, or if they drop below 0 and are unconcious. (its GIJOE so Hi-tech is avail to them) other than their Nanites (wich can only heal 2 body per use, 3 charges until they return to base) But what we use most it the 'Hollywood healing' rull from I believe 5th ed Dark Champions. in a nutshell it states any wound that can be reduced to 1 body will heal on its own overnight, or by next session (given atleast 8 hrs of time has past) so givin a really bad Fight lets Say Recoil takes 3 major hits. one for 4, 3 & 5 Body total of 12 Body Ouch - near death right? His Nanites heal him down to 2, 1 & 3 (6 body now). So then the Medic takes a stab at him. he makes his roll on the 2 body hit, reduces it to 1, the 1 he leaves alone then takes a stabe at the 3 body wound, makes his roll, and drops it to 2 body. Recoil takes a break (aprox a 12 plane flight to the next mission) and when he gets there he's only down 2 body, that big wound still giving him a bit of trouble, but not anythign like he had been at the end of last mission. So a mix of things and he's fine w/out really messign up things too bad, as far as realisim is concerned (of course Nanits are a BIG deal, but not unbalancing)[/quote']

Hmmm...sounds like the optional healing rules on 6E2 122 (the "enhanced healing/Paramedics" and "minor wounds" ones), plus the setting-specific nanite element of course. You have to keep track of the individual wounds rather than just the running BODY total to use those rules, but in principle they can speed up healing within a scenario quite a bit, especially when used in combination...as long as the individual wounds suffered remain largely minor, that is. (They're better against being nickled and dimed to death than vs. truly devastating hits.) In your game, the nanites help cover that last angle; the book brings up the point that these rules also make defenses in general more effective since if they can reduce the incoming damage just enough the enhanced healing options can easily deal with what's left.

[Wildcat]

Re: Injured PCs and healing time

 

Hmmm...sounds like the optional healing rules on 6E2 122 (the "enhanced healing/Paramedics" and "minor wounds" ones).

Yeah knew it was in 6th some pleace too. Love the new books, just havn't read em all yet.,

In your game' date=' the nanites help cover that last angle; the book brings up the point that these rules also make defenses in general more effective since if they can reduce the incoming damage just [i']enough[/i] the enhanced healing options can easily deal with what's left.

Yeah it really has made the PCs pretty invincable, but its a very Cinamatic game. the Danger is real, but the Heroes are more than up for the chalenge. They have run into a few lengty messione where the NARS (Nanite Assited Recovery System) have run out (only 3 charges after all) and things got a bit diecy, but they made it through.

Does anyone else use this?