Wounds

[theebie]

hi,

regarding to healing and beeing wounded.

this's how i play it out:

------
any hitpoints that regain without having to sleep:
no serious injury, just bruises, i treat them like nothing, my char is fine
------
does not look well, but needs sleep:
some injury, but probably nothing serious, i normally dont spar or hunt
for an ic day or two
------
is in poor health:
something bad has happened, its a big wound that needs time
i normally dont go out of town for a week or two, and i dont go sparring for at least 1 week (week=rl-day)
------
is at deaths door (but survived due to some miracle):
phew, thats some rare shit, the last time i've seen it happen was several
rl-months ago. i play it out as such serious multiple injuries that there's
a time of several weeks spent inside the garrison, basically in bed
(and i know that can be boring, pray that there are other pcs in the
garrison, too), and about three months (3 rl weeks) no training, no
leaving town.


how do you others treat wounds ?

regards ---theebie---

[bloodfromstone]

Generally, I keep things that I don't have to sleep off as very minor. A few cuts, grazes, bruises, whatever. Hurts, but as far as actualk workability, my PC is all right.

If I have to sleep it off, it's much more serious. I will always try to put some emoting into some basic first aid and RP the healing wound for a few IC days.

Anything worse than that (like the things that make me think I'm going to lose my PC), I will try to seek medical attention, or make a larger production out of fixing it myself. It will, generally, last for a few IC weeks.

Sometimes I will take a particularly nasty hit that doesn't drop me down to sleeping. These will get the same attention as something that has to be slept off. Like getting viciously stabbed on the neck might not make me have to sleep it off if that's the only hit landed in the fight, but I'll take extra care to play it out as something more serious.

[Cale_Knight]

That sounds about right for me, but with one personal exception.

I don't consider wounds with sparring weapons to be the same thing as comparable hitpoint loss from real fighting. So if I get totally beat up sparring and end up at the point where I have to sleep it off, I'll RP being really bruised up but still able to function rather than being incapacitated for several days.

[Yokunama]

That sounds about right for me, but with one personal exception.

I don't consider wounds with sparring weapons to be the same thing as comparable hitpoint loss from real fighting. So if I get totally beat up sparring and end up at the point where I have to sleep it off, I'll RP being really bruised up but still able to function rather than being incapacitated for several days.

If you are against someone who knows what they are doing, they can give you character a nasty bruise or cut.

[X-D]

Same as Cale_knight on the sparring damage, Hey, they are only light blunt weapons after all.

And also play a little diff for other races, well, just adjust times, for dwarves and muls.

[Cuusardo]

I pay attention to the combat, what sort of hits my PC is receiving, and how many hit points it loses in a single prompt.

Barely grazing, nicking: it's just a scratch.  Maybe a bunch of scratches and scrapes.  Minor bruises if it's a bludgeoning weapon.

Very hard, viciously: Nasty wounds that need bandaging, because they're probably  bleeding all over the place.  Or, a really bad contusion that requires attention.

Frightening damage: Serious trauma, or a broken bone.

I know this doesn't represent the full range of degrees of damage, but it's a pretty general guideline.  And of course, these won't be as serious if they're done with sparring wapons.  Sparring, however, can cause some serious injury if you lose too many hitpoints while it's going on.  Training can lead to awful bruises, concussions, etc.  If my PC's hit points go below half its max, my PC takes a break from combat for a while, depending on how serious the injuries were.

[LoD]

I tend to take both the frequency and force with which I was hit contribute to how I might treat my wounds.

Moderate (Live Weapons)
Does not look well (Sparring Weapons)

-Normal fighting fatigue, needs a short rest.
-You have some small cuts and wounds that will heal normally.
-Doesn't require bedrest.

Does not look well (Live Weapons)
Poor (Sparring Weapons)
Single blow that does more than 30% of your total health

-Winded and fatigued, probably can't fight again today.
-You have some relatively painful wounds that could use a day to heal.
-Might warrant a day of rest and inactivity to heal.

Poor (Live Weapons)
Terrible - Near Death (Sparring Weapons)
Single blow that does more than 50% of your total health

-Very tired and slow to move, can't fight again for 1-2 days
-You have some severe wounds that could use a few days - week to heal.
-1-2 days of bedrest, bandaging and/or attention would be appropriate.

Terrible - Near Death (Live Weapons)
Single blow that does more than 75% of your total health

-Nearly incapacitated by a severe injury (broken limb, gaping wound)
-You have a broken limb, aggrivated wound that requires a week's rest.
-Week's bedrest is a must, as is some medical attention (splint, bandage)

That would be my interrpretation of how I'd view the severity of wounds.  Some people have mentioned that light blunt weapons wouldn't do much, but I disagree.  There are definitely some fight-ending results you can easily achieve by using light blunt weapons.  Broken fingers, hands, wrists, legs, knees and any blunt shot to the head, throat, groin or other area is probably going to be something you have to address.

Watch the small fight in The Last Samurai or the even shorter fight in Twilight Samurai for a quick idea of how quickly someone can get knocked out or hurt by a light blunt weapon.  I agree that sparring weapons shouldn't necessarily be as incapacitating as live weapons, but they still factor into my wound scale if you allow yourself to be wounded to a certain degree.

-LoD

[Mental Case]

I play it that once I have full health again I am perfectly fine. So if I go to -1, then sleep back up to full 100% health. I just get up, say whoa, and continue on my merry way.

If you must know.

[LoD]

I play it that once I have full health again I am perfectly fine. So if I go to -1, then sleep back up to full 100% health. I just get up, say whoa, and continue on my merry way.

If you must know.

I have a feeling there are quite a few people that handle wounds this way, and I hope that these discussions will serve to dissuade the better portion of you from continuing.

The code is flexible and loose.  It does not tell you that you broke a wrist, lost a lot of blood, have a punctured lung, suffered a concussion or cracked your skull when someone just jammed a foot long blade into your body multiple times.  It does not tell you these things because the game gives you the freedom to portray your chracter in the way you see fit as long as it remains true to the gameworld.

While the code may not stop you from sleeping from -1 to full health, I would say that you are ignoring a very important aspect of the game and cheating yourself and others out of the opportunity to enjoy a balance of playability and realism.  If someone stabbed you to -1 with a foot long knife, realistically you would have some wounds that would require both alarge amount of sleep (days, weeks) and some treatment (bandaging to stop the blood loss, protect the wound from infection, etc...).

While they are not the same, and some playability issues will trump realism, try asking yourself the question, "If someone stabbed me in the stomach five times and I went to the hospital, would I be able to get up in a couple of hours as if nothing were wrong?"  If the answer is no, perhaps you should adjust your RP a bit.

No one is asking (or expecting) you to follow Earth cultures, remedies or timelines for healing, but I think most players do expect there to be some elements of realism to be played out to maintain the integrity of the world.

-LoD

[Maybe42or54]

I follow LoD. Unless I am feeling particular lazy (or busy) and I follow Theebie's ideas.

[EvilRoeSlade]

I play it that once I have full health again I am perfectly fine. So if I go to -1, then sleep back up to full 100% health. I just get up, say whoa, and continue on my merry way.

If you must know.

Thanks for the information.  Next time I'll ensure that you never recover.

Sheesh.

[Cegar]

It depends on what happens, what is going on IG, if its convenient to RP out extreme wounds, etc.

For example, if I fall off the shield wall in the middle of an RPT and go down to half health, I won't play out being unconcious for the rest of the RPT.

If someone backstabs me in a bar and brings me down to 10 health, you bet I'll RP being fucked up for a day or two. However, that tends to be pretty rare, so that's good. Because usually, playing someone who is bed-ridden gets pretty dang boring.

[bloodfromstone]

I don't consider wounds with sparring weapons to be the same thing as comparable hitpoint loss from real fighting.

Oh, right, I forgot about this. Been a bit since I played a sparrer. Sparring wounds, I don't treat the same. A particularly bad sparring wound could be a broken bone, but there are a lot of factors I like to take into account. For example, when that mul I was sparring downed me in two hits... Yeah, something broke. However, if a super military Wyvern LT knocks my PC out, yes, it hurts, but someone with that level of military and martial experience would be able to NOT do serious or permanent damage to an opponent.

[Tlaloc]

Actually, wounds from sparring weapons are "real wounds". They still hurt. You still break knuckles and get bruises. Cracked ribs, broken noses, and concussions are probably a very regular occurance, as are torn tendons, pulled muscles, pinched nerves and rotated discs. If you got knocked out by a sparring weapon, you still got your ass knocked out. Even if someone is getting beat on by a sparring weapon, I expect players (especially in my clans) to RP realistically around these wounds.

None of those wounds are life threatening, but speaking as someone who got his nose broken over the summer (in a sparring situation with "fake" weapons ironically enough), a wound from a sparring weapon (especially if its enough to knock you out, or require you to go "to the medic") is probably enough to keep you off your feet for a couple of IC days at the least, and maybe a few weeks.

Are they wide open gashes? No. But a hit from a sparring club is going to behave very similarly to a hit from a real club. A hit from a sparring sword is going to also behave in a similar (if slightly more sword-like) manner.

Also, try and remember this: as a general rule, Zalanthans are much meaner and harsher than your Real World equivalents. Just because you are in my military unit, doesn't mean I'm going to "go easy" or pull any punches. As an example of this, think about the movie Starship Troopers, and how their training regimen went. Are all militaries going to be that bad? No. Do they have a vested interest in keeping their men and women healthy? Yes, but they also have a vested interest in making sure they don't do stupid things, like getting knocked out in the middle of a  fight.

And ultimately, pain is a great motivator to learn a good defense. Tired of the bruises? Keep that shield up!

[bloodfromstone]

I definitely don't condone just shrugging off nasty sparring hits. Bruises, hair-line fractures, broken bones...That's all good. I think the primary thing people mean about sparring wounds is that, while it says, 'the obese man slashes you horrendously hard on your pinky', it's actually a hard, blunt hit, not something that is going to slash your finger off.

[HunterKiller]

The beauty of role-playing is that one can make a decision on how they're affected after a major trauma.  Those who get to poor condition, heal up and are ready for another battle are just looked upon as idiots (the players).  The smart ones will catch on.  The dumb ones will probably get themselves killed anyway.

Role-playing vulnerabilities (someone who can actually get and stay hurt, scared of magick, failing at an instrument, making mistakes, mis-calculating, etc.) is the key to good role-play, because it's through faults (and that character's decisions) that one can begin to glean character.

I personally treat wounds had during a battle of life and death with much more weight.  I don't require your approval or disapproval.

- HK