FASA Games, Inc.

In the nebulous future, I'll be running an ED campaign with a fairly large table and with a fairly diverse group of players when it comes to rule interpretation. In preparation for that, I'm starting to summarize, codify, and [in some cases] simplify various peieces of information. Much of that is removing what I see as ambiguity in certain places. Some of that is adding in my own specific desires for my ED universe, regardless of how it may or may not conflict with Rules As Written (RAW). As this material draws together, I thought it might be helpful for others, either to pull as-is or to us as a ground work for their own table's clarifications.

This entry is on Healing (excluding poisons and disease).

On particular problem I have with ED RAW is the whole "Recovery test" thing. I'm surprised it remains mostly untouched even in ED4. Creatures have a number of "Recovery tests" they can perform each day. These aren't tests, even though they use the word "test," and are really just "potential" tests, a scare resource pool. These can be used to perform a "Recovery test," which is an actual test. And there are various things that provide bonuses to the "test." However, they can also be used to power various things (Talents most frequently). These aren't "Recovery tests" in the "test" aspect, just using the limited pool of "potential" "Recovery tests" a creature receives. However, since it uses these "potential" tests, there's ambiguity as to whether "Recovery test" bonuses should apply, even though they aren't "Recovery tests" in the "test" sense. Mainly, I'm looking at you, Fireblood.

While I'm not big on inserting new verbiage, I did in this case in order to help clarify things for new players, which is mainly where these primers are aimed. Experienced players should be able to read this and still keep track of things, despite the new verbiage.

Anyways, I'd be interested to hear any input you may have, especially if you think I've missed something somewhere. If you have a different interpretation, you're also welcome to post that as well, just please keep in mind that I may acknowledge it while disagreeing with it, meaning this ruleset won't be incorporating it. That's fine, this is my take on the system, you are welcome to use it, adapt it, or ignore it as you see fit; I'm just hoping it may be useful.

In an attempt to make this information more widely useful, I've marked what I think are changes from RAW in red text. Where my intent or reasoning may not be clear, I've also added a footnote.

*** Recovery Points ***

Recovery Points (RP) are a limited pool of special points that creatures can use to fortify themselves and to heal damage. The number of RP a creature has is determined by race, attributes, and (in the case of Adepts) Discipline. The main uses for RP are healing via Recovery Tests (RT) and powering certain Talents, spells, and abilities. RP are scarce, with most Adepts only receiving 2-4, and they do not replenish easily.

(Experienced players: RP replaces the "potential" Recovery test pool determined as part of a character's Health Ratings)

--- Replenishing Recovery Points ---

1) A creature is restored to max RP after a full night's rest. Any unspent RP from the previous day are lost. Any unspent RP above their maximum are lost.

2) The Fire Heal Talent can be used to gain additional RP. A creature can exceed their max RP through this Talent. See Player's Guide, pg 147 for more information.

3) The Circle 5 Nethermancer spell Aspect of the Cruel Physician can be used to gain additional RP. A creature can exceed their max RP through this Talent. See Player's Guide, pg 331 for more information.

--- Non-Healing Recovery Point Use ---

The following is a list of common Talents and abilities provided by the Player's Guide that use RP without providing healing.

1) Additional Patterncraft tests per day. See Player's Guide, pg 161 for more information.

2) Restoring damaged Spell Matrices. See Player's Guide, pg 260 for more information.

3) Earth Skin Talent. See Player's Guide, pg 140 for more information.

5) Wood Skin Talent. See Player's Guide, pg 181 for more information.

*** Healing Damage ***

There are four categories of damage: Strain, Stun Damage, Normal Damage, and Blood Damage. A creature must be at zero Strain, Normal Damage, and Stun Damage before Blood Damage can be healed; Strain, Stun Damage, and Normal Damage can be healed in any order. Blood Damage can only be healed once the source of the damage is removed or nullified (e.g., Blood Damage caused by the insertion of a Blood Charm cannot be healed until the Blood Charm is physically removed from the creature or it is spent and the magical effect cancelled).

--- Recovery Tests ---

RTs are the primary way for healing damage. The following rules apply to when a RT can be used; these rules always apply unless special circumstance or spell/ability says others.

1) A RT uses a RP. A creature without a RP cannot perform a RT.

2) Creaturea must wait at least one hour after combat or other strenuous activity before performing a RT.

3) Creaturea must wait at least one hour between RT.

4) The creature must spend one minute without engaging in physical activity or taking damage to roll a RT.

The base step for a RT is the creature's Toughness step. Some spells, items, Talents, and abilities provide bonuses to this step. The result of the step, less the creature's count of untreated wounds, determines the number of damage healed. For example, a creature with 3 wounds rolls a 16 on a Step 13 RT; the creature would heal 13 damage (16 - 3).

~~~ Improving Recovery Tests ~~~

A number of options are available for improving RT effectiveness. In general, these provide a bonus to the step of the next RT. The following is a list of common improvement options provided by the Player's Guide.

1) Potions (a type of Healing Aid): Both Booster Potions and Healing Potions provide a +8 bonus to the next RT taken within 24 hours. Only one potion can be applied per RT (so, if a creature drinks a Booster Potion and a Healing Potion, or two Booster Potions, the next RT receives only a single +8 bonus from one potion, and the second potion remains in the creature's system for the next RT). See Player's Guide, pg 423 for more information.

2) Physician Skill: Provides +RANK bonus to the next RT taken. See Player's Guide, pg 198 for more information.

3) Heat Food (Circle 1 Elementalist spell): Provides bonus to next RT taken. See Player's Guide, pg 273 for more information.

4) Air Mattress (Circle 2 Elementalist spell): Provides bonus to special Morning RT (described below), as well as other benefits. See Player's Guide, pg 275 for more information.

5) Friendly Darkness (Circle 6 Nethermancer spell): Can provide bonus to RT taken while spell is in effect. See Player's Guide, pg 335 for more information.

6) Dwarf Mining Rations: Provides +1 bonus to first RT of the following day when these are the ONLY food source used for a whole day. See Player's Guide, pg 335 for more information.

7) Bone Charm: Blood Charm that provides +1 bonus to all RT. See Player's Guide, pg 416 for more information.

8) Healing Kit: Provides +1 bonus to next RT taken. See Player's Guide, pg 425 for more information.

9) Karma: Some Disciplines provides the Karma ability "The adept may spend a Karma Point on Recovery tests."

~~~ Special Recovery Test: Morning ~~~

After a full night's rest, a creatures with any amount of damage AUTOMATICALLY and IMMEDIATELY makes a RT upon waking (unless they somehow did not recovery RP or are otherwise at zero RP). Creatures cannot choose not to perform this RT nor to defer this RT until later. This RT can still benefit from improvements performed before the creature went to sleep.

[OPTIONAL RULE] When a creature would perform its special Morning RT, all Strain damage and/or all Stun damage is immediately healed. This healing does not require a RT, nor does it use a RP. If the creature is left with no damage after this affect occurs, it does not make the special Morning RT.

~~~ Special Recovery Test: Regaining Consciousness ~~~

After one minute (10 turns) or more of unconsciousness, a creature can choose to make a RT in an attempt to regain consciousness. The creature must have a RP available (as normal). If the results of the RT lower the damage below the creature's Unconciousness rating, the creature immediately regains consciousness and may act on the following turn. This RT can still benefit from improvements performed before the creature lost consciousness or from improvements administered while the creature is unconscious (unconscious creatures can be administered potions). If the creature fails to regain consciousness, the creature must wait at least one hour before its next RT (as normal).

~~~ Special Recovery Test: Waking Unconscious Creatures ~~~

Before an unconscious creature meet the time requirement to perform the special Regaining Consciousness RT, another creature may spend a Standard Action shaking the creature in an attempt to roust them. The unconscious creature may then perform the special Regaining Consciousness RT on their next turn as though the full time requirement is met.

~~~ Special Recovert Test: Stun Damage ~~~

If a creature has taken Stun Damage since their last RT, the creature can opt to use their next RT as a special Stun Damage RT. This RT receives a bonus equal to the creature's Willpower Step. This bonus is on top of any other bonuses for that RT. However, the results of this test can only be used to heal Stun Damage; if more damage would be healed beyond what the creature has in Stun Damage, no additional Strain, Normal Damage, or Blood Damage is healed. See Player's Guide, pg 384 for more information.

--- Mid-Combat Healing ---

As described previously, RT cannot be performed during combat under normal circumstances. Alternate means are required to heal during combat or to bypass the RT condition preventing use during combat. The following is a list of common mid-combat healing options provided by the Player's Guide. Untreated wounds reduce the final result of an RT test (as normal).

1) Fireblood Talent: Use an RP to provide healing but does not perform a RT. As a result, options listed in the "Improving Recovery Tests" above do not apply. Talent clarification: (a) can only be used when an enemy is present in the combat (i.e., cannot be activated in mock-combat with allies where there is clear intent not to truly injure the opponent). See Player's Guide, pg 146 for more information.

2) Blood Share: Transfers damage between creatures without using RT or RP. See Player's Guide, pg 132 for more information.

3) Elemental Spear [Water] (Circle 4 Elementalist spell): Allows target to perform RT with spell-provided bonuses. Except for Karma, options listed in the "Improving Recovery Tests" above do not apply (1). Spell clarification: (a) ignore the Effect information at the beginning of the generic spell description; (b) additional extra thread option specific to Water element is "+2 RT bonus"; (c) additional extra success option specific to Water element is "+2 RT bonus"; (d) external effects that add a bonus to spell Effect apply. See Player's Guide, pg 281 for more information. Also, see Mataxes post for official clarification on this spell described here (http://www.fasagames.com/forum/viewtopi ... 9&start=10).

4) Grove Renewal (Circle 5 Elementalist spell): Uses a RP to provide healing over time but does not perform a RT. Elementalist can provide the RP rather than the target. Spell clarification: (a) an RP is required for each target, provided by either that target or the Elementalist. See Player's Guide, pg 282 for more information.

5) Vital Springs (Circle 8 Elementalist spell): Allows target to perform RT with spell-provided bonuses. Except for Karma, options listed in the "Improving Recovery Tests" above do not apply (1). Elementalist can provide the RP rather than the target. Spell clarification: (a) an RP is required for each target, provided by either that target or the Elementalist. See Player's Guide, pg 293 for more information.

6) Recovery (Circle 6 Nethermancer spell): Allows target to perform RT with spell-provided bonuses. Except for Karma, options listed in the "Improving Recovery Tests" above do not apply (1). See Player's Guide, pg 335 for more information.

SPECIAL NOTE: Healing Potion cannot be used mid-combat for its special RT effect (2). A Healing Potion consumed during battle provides its standard bonus to the next RT, but it does immediately heal a wound.

--- Out of Combat Non-Rested Healing ---

Some Talents, spells, items, and abilities exist that enable healing without meeting the time constraints before and between RT described in the "Recovery Tests" section. The following is a list of common healing options provided by the Player's Guide that bypass these time constraints. Untreated wounds reduce the final result of an RT test (as normal).

1) Except for Fireblood, all options described in the "Mid-Combat Healing" section above can be used for this purpose.

2) Healing Potion: A creature can consume a Healing Potion outside of combat and opt to receive an immediate Step 8 RT rather than receive a +8 bonus to their next RT (2). This Step 8 RT does not use a RP. However, this is a flat Step 8 RT: it does not follow the regular Step calculation for a RT (which is Toughness Step + bonus), and it cannot be further improved by any means other than Karma (via the Karma ability "The adept may spend a Karma Point on Recovery tests").

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(1) These spells only say that healing aids can't be used. This explicitly only refers to potions in this case. I felt that the spirit should extend to all bonuses except Karma, which kind of outranks everything.

(2) RAW Healing Potions are super weird. Feels better to me to just allow that Step 8 RT as a general option rather than this odd edge condition. As for the combat thing, I just dislike the idea of downing potions mid-combat, doesn't feel right.

*** Wound Recovery ***

--- Treating Wounds ---

Each untreated wounds substracts one from the results of a RT. Multiple options exist to remove this penalty by treating the wound (sometimes depending on the nature of the wound). Treatment lasts for the remainder of the day. The following is a list of wound treatment options provided by the Player's Guide.

1) Physicial skill: Rather than providing a healing bonus, the Physician skill can be used to treat a wound. See Player's Guide, pg 198 for more information.

2) Cold Purify Talent: See Player's Guide, pg 135 for more information.

[OPTIONAL RULE] The effects of wound treatment to remove RT penalty is permanent for that wound (rather than one day).

[OPTIONAL RULE] Wound treatment also removes the Action penalty for that would. USE WITH CAUTION.

[OPTIONAL RULE] The effects of wound treatment to remove Action penalty is permanent for that wound (rather than one day). USE WITH EXTREME CAUTION.

--- Healing Normal Wounds ---

Removing wounds is a slow or expensive process. The following is a list of normal wound healing options provided by the Player's Guide.

1) special Morning RT: If a creature is damage-free when they would perform their special Morning RT, but they have one or more normal wounds, the creature automatically spends on RP and heals one normal wound. This cannot be avoided or delayed. A creature with no RP at this time does not heal a wound Per this effect and cannot use this effect later that day when they might receive an RP.

2) Garlen Stone: Allows a creature to use a RP to heal a wound for the cost of 2 Strain. Many limitations apply. See Player's Guide, pg 417 for more information.

3) Healing Potion: Regardless of when the potion is consumed or for what purpose, the potion automatically and immediately heals one normal wound. See Player's Guide, pg 423 for more information.

4) Salve of Closure: Heals one normal wound. See Player's Guide, pg 423 for more information.

--- Healing Blood Wounds ---

Consult with GM.

*** Death ***

A creature that receives damage at or beyond their Death rating has died. Death in Earthdawn tends to be permanent, and the means for recovering from lethal damage are few and low in strength. Once a creature has died, standard means for healing damage as described in the "Healing Damage" no longer function. Instead, some Talents, items, spells, and abilities can [attempt to] prevent the lethal damage, while others [attempt to] revive a dead creature.

--- Preventing Death ---

The following is a list of effects provided by the Player's Guide that trigger when a creature receives total damage at or above their Death rating. These effects attempt to heal the creature to below their Death rating, and they are used immediately (i.e., cannot be used at any time other than when the creature receives the lethal damage). Untreated wounds reduce the final result of an RT test (as normal).

1) Life Check Talent: Allows Adept to heal damage until they are below their Death rating. Use is optional, each test uses a RP, and Talent can be used any number of times until the creature is out of RP. Because this is not a RT, no effects that benefit RT apply, including the Karma ability "The adept may spend a Karma Point on Recovery tests." See Player's Guide, pg 156 for more information.

2) Death Cheat: A Blood Charm that heals damage when a creature's damage reaches or exceeds their Death rating. Only triggers once. If the creature has a RP available, they make a RT with a +6 bonus; otherwise, the creature makes a Step 6 RT (i.e., not Toughness Step +6). Effects that would normally provide additional bonuses to RT cannot be used other than the Karma ability "The adept may spend a Karma Point on Recovery tests" or abilities specifically applying to preventing death (3). See Player's Guide, pg 417 for more information.

--- Reviving Dead Creatures ---

A dead creature can be revived within a number of hours equal to their Toughness step. Within that time, attempts can be made to heal the creature to below its Death rating. If this heaing is not accomplished within the timeframe, little (if anything) can be done to resurrect the creature. The following is a list of effects provided by the Player's Guide that can revive a creature. Untreated wounds reduce the final result of an RT test (as normal).

1) Last Chance (Circle 4 Nethermancer spell): Grants a RT with bonus. Must be cast within one minute of receiving lethal damage. If the creature has a RP available, they make a RT with a bonus equal to the spell effect; otherwise, the creature makes a RT with step equal to the spell effect (i.e., not Toughness Step with spell effect bonus). Effects that would normally provide additional bonuses to RT cannot be used other than the Karma ability "The adept may spend a Karma Point on Recovery tests" or abilities specifically applying to reviving from death (3). See Player's Guide, pg 330 for more information.

2) Last Change Salve: Allows all remaining RP to be used for RTs. If creature has no RP, one RP is provided specifically to perform a RT. No bonus is provided for any of the RTs. Effects that would normally provide additional bonuses to RT cannot be used other than the Karma ability "The adept may spend a Karma Point on Recovery tests" or abilities specifically applying to Reviving from death (3). See Player's Guide, pg 423 for more information.

--- Resurrecting Dead Creatures ---

Extremely potent magic may exist to resurrect dead creatures, but these are only rumors.

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(3) This is just a logical extension for me. If a healing spell or a Healing Potion can't be used to heal lethal damage, then things that are designed to provide bonuses for those also should not work.

/* Reserved for commentary */

Seems a pretty good summary.

My only question is why you refer to "creatures" throughout, rather than "characters".

I went back and forth on that, which is why there's some weird copy-pasta hiding in there.

In the end, I figured it was better to abstract it out since I don't specifically talk about Animal Companions. There is, I think, maybe one specific thing lurking in the Player's Guide that deals with healing or damage to them, but otherwise, I assume that everything that applies to the characters would apply to a creature. As a specific example: if a Beastmaster is traveling with her Animal Companion and an Elementalist Adept companion, I don't see why all the various healing things - spells, Physician skill, Healing Kit - wouldn't apply to the Animal Companion, too. Logic gets a little dicey: not sure if a Beastmaster can really hold back an Animal Companion from using a Recovery Test until all bonuses are applied, but if they game the system a bit so that they're stacking bonuses for the first available test OR leaving the last effect to be the thing that initiates the test, I don't see why it couldn't work. Summoned spirits could also fall into this category - they are allies, so spells could target them, although the Summoner wouldn't have any control as to whether a Manifest Elemental would actually USE said healing spell.

I also anticipate certain creature templates using their Recovery Points in ways that are carbon-copies of Talents, or in other interesting ways. This keeps the language unified.

One note that I'm definitely up for debate: whether RT bonuses should apply to death prevention/reviving RT.

The Player's Guide is pretty clear on one point: once a creature is dying, regular healing effects (spells, etc) can't be used to bring them back.

I have taken this to mean that the associated bonuses for those tests also would not apply. That's why all the entries for the "Death" section exclude any of the options previously described (potions, physician skill, etc). So, if some prescient Adept had the foresight to down a Booster Potion before wading into combat and went from "I'm okay" straight on to "*croak* I deaded," then they might as well have not bothered: the Booster Potion WOULD HAVE helped them if they went unconscious, so it would've been great in that case, but since they went straight through that to death, it no longer applies.

The downside is that a weak character with all their Recovery tests (using the published parlance) could still easily remain dead unless they only BARELY went over their Death rating. In this context, we're talking something like a Toughness Step 5, probably at least one wound if not two since they likely went down fighting, resulting in an average of 3 damage healed per Recovery test.

Definitely interested in hearing people's thoughts on this.

I understand the drive behind separating out the different kinds of damage, but it doesn't appeal to me. I've done away with stun damage altogether. Instead, Attacking to Stun has a damage cap - it will not take a character past Unconsciousness + 1. Otherwise it's just like damage.