Additional Effects of Magic

[Shishoka]

So, I was wondering if there was a manual regarding effects of spells after combat ends. After all, 3 points of fire damage probably causes a nasty burn.

[Flickerdart]

Does it? HP is an abstraction.

[Bronk]

I think that in general, any kind of damage that a character takes (not just spells) would be role played through use of the heal skill (or just having to rest, like, really well that night). Unless you just use magical healing, of course.

[NichG]

The question is a bit broad as stated. Different systems can and do handle this differently, and on top of that there's the set of things which aren't significant enough to warrant explicit mechanical recognition but still make sense for the consistency of the fiction. But even that depends on the genre that the game is trying to evoke.

E.g. in a grim and gritty medieval warfare game, wounds could get infected and even create long-term disabilities; permanent scars would be the least of someone's concerns. In an action hero game even if a character is swallowed up in a giant fireball, they might show up the next scene with some soot on them in artful patterns to show just how intense things were, but no actual visible scarring (unless of course the fireball is part of a villain origin story, in which case they'd get a special unique scar that makes them seem more villainous).

Also, the question of 'what does a certain game system do?' is separate from 'what would be the most interesting thing to do?'

[Darth Ultron]

So, I was wondering if there was a manual regarding effects of spells after combat ends. After all, 3 points of fire damage probably causes a nasty burn.

The vast majority of games skip this: wound rules normally just are not fun.

First of all, they are often a lot of record keeping. Ok, you have a ''2 point burn on your left hand'' and a ''5 point stab wound on your left shoulder'' and...

But second, and worst of all: it's such a toss up. Some systems have very light effects, like a -1 or something. It's not even enough to bother. Some systems have heavy effects, where a wound is a huge penalty. And some games mix and match, where wound x is nothing but wound y is a big deal. Each way it comes down to just ignore it, or cripple game play.

[dream]

Fire attacks normally set flammable materials ablaze. It's up to the DM/GM/group to handle any special aspects of damage, but most systems have rules for most forms of damage.

Is there any particular game system you need help with?