Healing Kits

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wvincenti
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Healing Kits

Post by wvincenti »

Hi folks,
Its been quite awhile so can someone please remind me what the Healing Kits do in ALFA? After experimenting in game I can tell they don't work on wounds or diseases.

-Bill
  • Currently NWN1 ALFA: Ryld Ky'bler
    Currently NWN2: Gwindor Faelivrin, still not actually dead!

    Formerly: Timyin Tim, Glorfindel Inglorion and Beleg Thalionestel amongst others.
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Brokenbone
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Re: Healing Kits

Post by Brokenbone »

All they do is add a +2 to a DC 15 heal check to assist someone downed into the negatives. I think the ones you'll see in game are in fact, 10 charge "masterwork" healing kits. Basically, like the free first aid kit you get on creating a new character, which does the same check except at +0.

Regrettably, the function we had in NWN1, which was "somewhat" patterned on PnP use of the heal skill to provide at least bonus saves to shake off diseases or poisons (although instead providing INSTANT extra saves, and you could try, try, try again, something a little overpowered compared to PnP), we haven't got anything of that sort. Same goes with NWN1 use of the heal skill (via kit) to provide a resting bonus to restore 2hp / level (again, "somewhat" like being in the care of a healer per PnP, although achieved with one click as opposed to having a PC nursing you for 8 hours or more), we don't got that either.

While I'd personally kind of like a little something resembling our NWN1 functionality here, to have the kits be useful for "a little more than stabilizing", it's made Heal a mostly useless skill, thrown into the RP only category, except with the cases of people being knocked to negatives. Still, if someone is knocked to negatives, DC15 is a tough check to make when seconds count, and often a potion that any idiot can use is the smarter / safer bet assuming you actually wish to rescue an ally, as opposed to drag feet and make some ineffectual (and free, non 50gp) heal checks and maybe the guy dies instead and you get the loots.

EDIT: while I mentioned it above, I'll mention it again, the "past implementation" was a little overpowered in terms of the try, try again business with diseases/poisons, though at least the resting bonus thing you could only do ONCE, and if you failed, tough luck for the patient, just getting standard 1hp/lvl rest even if 10 other better qualified healers try.
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wvincenti
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Re: Healing Kits

Post by wvincenti »

Thanks!!

-Bill
  • Currently NWN1 ALFA: Ryld Ky'bler
    Currently NWN2: Gwindor Faelivrin, still not actually dead!

    Formerly: Timyin Tim, Glorfindel Inglorion and Beleg Thalionestel amongst others.
Zelknolf
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Re: Healing Kits

Post by Zelknolf »

Brokenbone wrote: Still, if someone is knocked to negatives, DC15 is a tough check to make when seconds count, and often a potion that any idiot can use is the smarter / safer bet assuming you actually wish to rescue an ally
*looks at DC*
*looks at heal bonus*
*looks at DC*
... maybe a tough check for you losers. :3



Though of note that the ability to flawlessly stabilize a character without potentially putting them back into fighting condition is pretty valuable (and a CLW can bring any variety of dying individual back to "moving about" state)-- at least if your character takes prisoners-- but that's primarily used on NPCs, in my experience.
t-ice
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Re: Healing Kits

Post by t-ice »

Having a "out of combat healing" -kit available for those with good heal skill to use on others might be nice. So that PCs with the heal skill could heal others with the kit, but using it would be too time-consuming for combat. Takes the likes of 1 hour ICly, 1 minute IGly. A mechanic like that might help with wound recovery RP. (Which I think is always nice, as opposed to PCs knocked down to seconds from death getting a "it's just a flesh wound!", and gulping down a potion and seconds later is good as new) And on DM sessions the "stops for extended amount of time to recover" should be taken to account, so the party needs to ICly decide whether they have the time...

Of course the use would need to be restricted, either by making "healing supplies" consumable (effectively a slowpoke potion, cheaper than the normal - assuming you got the skill), or by restricting the use per day. (Or perhaps both, lke 10gp a pop of lesser vigor, assuming you pass heal check DC15, max 3 per day)
Zelknolf
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Re: Healing Kits

Post by Zelknolf »

We would have some difficulty substantiating that kind of effect in canon. The unfortunate truth is that, for the sufficiently-wealthy in Forgotten Realms, recovering from life-threatening injury is exactly that kind of cheese.

The means to handle long-term care is certainly on the list of stuff we'd like to do of course; fixing poison and disease hinge on us getting better systems for poison and disease, respectively (the stuff OE gives us leaves much to be desired), and using the heal skill to increase hit point recovery while resting would probably get hit as collateral to that.
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Re: Healing Kits

Post by Stormbring3r »

Am I mistaken or did we have Healer kits in NWN1 that when used you got 2 hp's per level when you rested instead of 1 hp per level..

I may be mistaken..
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Zelknolf
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Re: Healing Kits

Post by Zelknolf »

We did; you could also heal poison or disease (but not the ability damage they deal) with a heal check and a charge off of a heal kit. The mechanic just didn't make the jump to ALFA2, where the focus was less on cool features and more on sound infrastructure and the intelligent use of data.

ALFA1 was pretty rough in its core, after all, and people working tech around that transition wanted most of all to not repeat the mistakes of ALFA1.
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gonz.0
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Re: Healing Kits

Post by gonz.0 »

While I understand not making healing kits as powerful as a healing potion's magic, my concern is poison and disease. Many times, early treatment of exposure to both is critical to recovery.

Is there any chance to implement anything for poison and disease even without recovery of hit points happening?
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