Magic healing and scars

[Cicciograna]

Just out of curiosity, in your campaigns does magical healing result in the formation of scars? Or is it so good that it restores the skin to its pristine condition?

[Sir Chuckles]

It's a matter of preference.

I usually don't talk about it, because I feel it would be silly to not have some scars, but on the other hand a Martial character would likely be a mass of scar tissue by 10th level.
I like to think that they form fast healing scars. You'll get your wicked three line troll claw scar, but it'll fade in a week.

[lytokk]

One of the rulings I've used is normal wounds don't cause a scar. Death and resurrection will always leave one, but if the player doesn't want a scar on his character, just a simple restoration spell will remove them. Its worked out well in my games.

[Arc_knight25]

Something I have never thought of really. But maybe for every time a PC gets crit the healing that they get leaves a scar from the crit. Of course the bigger the crit the bigger the scar.

So a great axe that crits is going to leave a really big scar. As for a dex based crit build, they will leave behind smaller scars from their precision strikes.

I like. I should write this down.

[Fouredged Sword]

I take into account how long the wound is left unhealed, and the method of healing. If you wait a day to heal, maybe the cleric runs out of spells before the end of the day, you scar up. Any spell that heals ability damage would likely also heal scaring.

I also like to leave it a matter of subconscious body image. If a person scars even after healing magic, it is because they are hurt bad enough that it left a mark on their self image. They will always remember that wound, so it never fully fades (unless they move past it, then it fades). From an IC perspective, its a matter of scholarly debate on why some wounds don't heal cleanly, but may fade over time. OOC, the player chooses the scars their character keeps.

[pwykersotz]

My rule of thumb for scarring -
If it is a wound that is healed by non-magical means, it leaves a normal scar.
If it is a wound that is healed by magical means, it leaves no scar.
If it is a magical wound healed by non-magical means, it leaves an odd scar.
If it is a magical wound healed by magical means, it leaves a normal scar.
If it is a cursed wound (vile damage or similar) and cannot be healed by normal means, when magic heals it it leaves a unique scar. (Think Harry Potter).

I hand these guidelines to the players, and then let them decide how scarred up they get. They make some interesting and flavorful choices about how they start looking over time. :smallsmile:

[Zanos]

Not something I usually make a big deal of. An interesting possible rule is that any attack that drops you below 0 hp leaves a scar if you get back up or upon resurrection.

[weckar]

I've always ruled that any single attack dealing more than 50% of total health will leave a scar, magical healing or otherwise.

[Cicciograna]

Quite interesting answers. I too, began thinking about a scar mechanic tied to criticals and/or resurrections, but never put it down.
For those of you that include scars, do they play a mechanical role in your games? For example, a scar could bestow a penality on social interactions in classy circles, whereas they could grant a bonus when dealing with a barbarian chieftain or some other military officer.

[Ravens_cry]

Well, as a rule, I'd say no. I don't like something so potentially changing my character like that. If I had to have it, I'd leave it as an option for the one doing the healing. Some casters might do their best to not leave scars, while one from, say, a culture that values them as proof of experience in battle or a harsh sansai who wants his students reminded of their every mistake would leave them and perhaps even enhance them. Fast healing effects, being an acceleration of natural healing, would be more likely to leave scars, while regeneration and positive energy effects would not unless desired by the caster.

[pwykersotz]

Quite interesting answers. I too, began thinking about a scar mechanic tied to criticals and/or resurrections, but never put it down.
For those of you that include scars, do they play a mechanical role in your games? For example, a scar could bestow a penality on social interactions in classy circles, whereas they could grant a bonus when dealing with a barbarian chieftain or some other military officer.

Player's option. There are plenty of old and respectable war generals, after all. A man with a massive scar across his face that smiles amiably and has a warm and friendly voice will be more of a curiosity. The same who growls and glares will be intimidating. I have one player who plays it up as intimidating (minor penalties/gains depending on who he's dealing with), one player who uses the scars as a way to reflect on past battles and nothing more, and several who just don't care enough to use the scarring guidelines.

[Septimus Faber]

Surely it's just the player's option? Generally, there's an assumption in our campaign that healed wounds don't scar (for simplicity's sake) but we have an unspoken rule that any really big wound will leave a blemish of some sort.

These are all just rules of thumb though, basically it's left to the players to decide what their character(s) look(s) like.

[Alikat]

Surely it's just the player's option? Generally, there's an assumption in our campaign that healed wounds don't scar (for simplicity's sake) but we have an unspoken rule that any really big wound will leave a blemish of some sort.

These are all just rules of thumb though, basically it's left to the players to decide what their character(s) look(s) like.

My group's DM burned off my dwarf barbarians beard once because he bit into a fake trapped magical coin that exploded in an incendiary reaction of some sort.

Worst scar of my DnD career so far. His pride was hurt so bad.

[da_chicken]

Generally speaking, no scarring unless the player wants it. The only times I've seen DM-enforced scarring is when an attack drops a player to negative or outright kills them.

[MrNobody]

I leave it to the caster.
If you burn with fire or acid someone's face (torturing, for example), you can heal him later either choosing to leave no sign of the torture either to leave a "remainder" of the operation.