First post here, health question...

[Bushido]

Hi guys! Fisrt post here, glad to be with you. I've been playing D&D for the last 20 years, and a grow tired of high-fantasy/high-magic setting with lack of realism.

A few weeks ago, I bought d20 Conan and felt in love with it. This is the RGP I've been waiting all my life!

I'm planning to start DMing in october and I would like to know how it is to do combat and have no magical healing? How does it affect the flow gaming? How long combat last? Is it one combat then rest a day? How concretely is this handeled?

How about broken weapons or armor, does it happen often?

Thanks alot!!!

 

[VincentDarlage]

I'm planning to start DMing in october and I would like to know how it is to do combat and have no magical healing?

It works just fine and is a lot more fun and has a greater sense of importance and urgancy. Players have to ask themselves, is this fight going to be worth it? If they decide it is, they go for it.

How does it affect the flow (of) gaming?

Sped it up, actually.

How long combat last?

Until everyone is dead, wounded or run off. It doesn't generally last long because of reduced hit points and a lower threshold for massive damage.

Is it one combat then rest a day? How concretely is this handeled?

My players don't do this, generally. They go until the adventure is done. My adventures usually involve some sort of time element to add a sense of urgency. If players take too long, the girls get sacrificed, the demons get summoned, cities get sacked and the world suffers horribly, so they really don't bother with resting.

How about broken weapons or armor, does it happen often?

It happens sometimes but not all that often. Once every three or four sessions, I would guess.

 

[MightyCthulhu]

I try to space combats out so that players can heal up. When I run combats together, without time to rest I do so very purposefully. If the PCs are already hurt, I might use it to threaten them with an encounter which would otherwise be quite easy.

Lack of magical healing is something the players need to be acutely aware of. If they try to play "just like DnD, they may get in over their heads. I have not had this trouble. In our first session, I ran a scenario that wounded several players and left them lost in the wilderness without a safe place to rest. They learned their lesson quite quickly and were thrilled when they first met an NPC with healing skill. My PC's have not gone looking for trouble yet and I don't think they will. Trouble finds them soon enough.

 

[Sutek]

If you think of it this way, HP recovery is faster, but HP are also more easily removed and ignored (by virtue of the lower 20pt Massive Damage threshold). It more accurately represents the fatigue of comebat that HP loss was always intended to, IMO. Injuries are were usually killing blows, so HP loss in tiny increments really represents just getting flat worn out over the combat rather than true "damage".

I think you'll find that they don't miss healing but that they have to be much more careful about not dying instead.