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SpamandEggs
2013-03-09, 09:09 AM
In an over the edge campaign I soon plan to run, I'm going to give one of my players the ability to heal, like wolverine. They can also pass that healing onto other people by way of touch, like lay on hands. Technically, unless their entire body is incinerated, this player cannot be killed, but I'm not worried about that. This game's more about a story than anything that will require game balance (and what is that in OtE anyway?).

What I am worried about is the player being able to stop all NPC death around them. Based on the way the power works (it forces all cells to reach their optimal capacity, eventually the player will be able to age people into their primes by touch, but not past there) this player should logically be able to reverse old age, thereby defeating all death. I don't like this. Without changing the way the power works majorly, can anyone think of a reason why that healing should not work on those who are "too far gone", or the NPC's I just want to die sometimes?

Jay R
2013-03-09, 09:46 AM
The easiest way to do, though hardest to justify, is to have passing it on not work all the time, and it just works when the DM wants it to.

Other tools that might work:
1. It takes time, based on the time the injuries took. Reversing the results of a ten minute melee takes ten minutes; reversing forty years of aging takes forty years.

2. Passing it on means he doesn't have the power for awhile. He's not likely to give the power to an NPC if he's still in a potentially unsafe situation.

3. It doesn't de-age. If he touches a sick, injured 80-year-old, that person becomes a spry, healthy 80-year-old.

4. It's too close to a local legend about somebody who sold his soul, so the local NPCs refuse it.

5. De-aging is temporary. A person de-aged recovers their age (though not injuries or illnesses) within a few weeks.

6. For some reason it doesn't work on one sub-race, which includes all the local NPCs.

Hope one of these can help.

Moriwen
2013-03-09, 09:48 AM
In terms of real-world biology, it's pretty easy to justify: Wikipedia "Hayflick Limit." A cell can only divide so many times, so if what the character does is make every cell perfectly healthy, they still won't be able to keep dividing forever, so it won't prevent dying of old age.

Of course, you may want a more fantasy-ish explanation, in which case there's also lots of choices: c.f. Earthsea Saga "Heal the wound and cure the illness, but let the dying spirit go."

Bulhakov
2013-03-09, 09:55 AM
I'd suggest some sort of a limitation on the use of the healing power on others, e.g. one or more of the following:
– the healing power on others works about once per day (requires 8 hours of rest in between uses)
– make the healing power on others relatively time-consuming (need to lay on hands for an hour or more)
– healing anyone with extensive head trauma or dead for more than 5min will result in a physically healthy body, but the NPC will be unconscious for anywhere from several hours to several days, after which he/she will awake with significant amnesia (explain that the neurons and connections between them were restored, but not the electrical charges in the brain, so all short term memories were lost, and long term memories and skills will take a long time to recover).

Glimbur
2013-03-09, 10:07 AM
They have to touch the person, yes? And you can return them to prime age (mid 20's, perhaps). How many people are in your world? How hard is it for the PC's to visit every person once every thirty years or so (life span is shorter with this tech level). Add in all the extra people that will turn up when death is nearly stopped (accidents still happen) and the party will be very busy indeed if their goal is to stop death.

Or, of course, you could have Death show up and be the next BBEG. That's a solid move too.

Emmerask
2013-03-09, 10:39 AM
What I am worried about is the player being able to stop all NPC death around them. Based on the way the power works (it forces all cells to reach their optimal capacity, eventually the player will be able to age people into their primes by touch, but not past there) this player should logically be able to reverse old age, thereby defeating all death. I don't like this. Without changing the way the power works majorly, can anyone think of a reason why that healing should not work on those who are "too far gone", or the NPC's I just want to die sometimes?

Well only really those deaths that come from old age really, is this actually the majority of deaths? I donīt actually know.

Some stuff you should take into account,

What happens to cancer cells? (would the cancer progress faster due to the cells working at optimal capacity again?

What happens to cells overtaken by a virus? would the virus spread faster and even be live threatening after the touch?

What happens if the immune system suddenly goes to "overdrive" couldnīt this actually result in death?

And as the previous poster said visiting all people would be completely impossible in the real world it would come up as:

Lets say 5 minutes per person (avg including travel time) * 7,003,019,800 that would be 66 575.1139 years to visit everyone,
without the pc sleeping of course :smallwink:

falloutimperial
2013-03-09, 03:28 PM
"There shall be one who shall cheat death and heal the lame. This one so chosen by the gods shall be a brave and fierce warrior who shall change our history.

By the gods the Chosen shall have this powers, and in their webs and designs the Chosen shall be like a child before their might, and shall heal none."

-Reatukra Prophecy

Madeiner
2013-03-09, 04:21 PM
Remove all the nonsense about aging as it has implications that you do NOT want in your world, trust me.

Make it that the power only actually works when you have a strong mental link to the person receveing the effect, that is, the recipient must be a person that you travel with everyday or almost. That is, the other PCs.

Slipperychicken
2013-03-10, 10:42 AM
Two Three limitations:


Cannot reverse age. Only stave off aging in the PC. Aging damage is irreversible because of that limiter-thing in genes. Attempting to do this will destroy/override the limiters, effectively giving cancer to every one of the target's cells, in effect rendering him one giant tumor. No, this does not give him Deadpool powers, just gives him an extremely short (a week?), excruciatingly painful life. Brain tumors will quickly render the person extremely mentally-disturbed (i.e. naked-bath-salts-cannibal level disturbed), then vegetative, then dead within a day or two.

Cannot bring back the dead (i.e. person incinerated without the regeneration power active at the time). If this is attempted, the soul has already left the body and lifeless meat in the shape of the person will form, and risks the body's possession by malevolent and vengeful spirits (sometimes demons).
If you do somehow overcome Death using this power, the reaper will descend, harvest your soul early, and drag you straight down to hell. No save.

SowZ
2013-03-10, 02:13 PM
This is how I handle it in super games. Should your brain be destroyed, it will heal up. But there is no reason it would heal up with your memories. Your memories are gone. They are not locked away in the brain or even erased. The brain that contained them doesn't exist anymore. So an otherwise lethal gunshot wound to the head will effectively kill them. If they wish to continue play as that character, you have to do it with a fresh slate and no skills.

Same with NPCs. Healing someone who has suffered head trauma may actually cause more distress on both the individual and their family than allowing them to die.

Randel
2013-03-10, 05:11 PM
It could work like the Drop of Sunlight in the movie Tangled. Basically, it can heal wounds and temporarily reverse aging but the person rapidly starts reverting to their true age after a day or so.

Alternatly, keep in mind that every second they spend healing people is a second they aren't fighting the Big Bad. That, and if they use this to make money or gather followers, they start becoming famous. If they heal up a bunch of soldiers and nobles in an area, enemies of those people could come to assassinate or capture the guy healing them.

Unless this power is infectious, the whole "end of death" thing only lasts as long as the origional guy is still alive and the more he "abuses" this power the more likely someone with the power to do him in will get sent after him.

Say... a medusa assassin who disguises herself as a blind woman, gets close, removes her blindfold, looks him in the eye, and turns him into statue. Any other petrification effect should take him out as well.

The big bad could petrify him, use Shrink Object on the statue, and take him somewhere for safekeeping. They could even shatter the stone and return him to flesh just to ensure he's brought back with no weapons or armor. Keep him tied up in a dungeon and force him to heal all the bad guys minions.

SpamandEggs
2013-03-11, 08:36 AM
Lots of useful suggestions here. I think I'm going to go with the clean-slate brain trauma thing, given that this is closer to a super game than anything. As far as the aging thing goes, I think I'll remove the "restoring to mid-twenties" bit and amend it as "restoring to the best they can be at whatever age".

Thanks playground!