<BW> Into the Wilds

[pseudoidiot]

Good way to earn that Aura of Martyrdom trait that was mentioned last session
(I'm sad there hasn't been more responses on the BW boards about my idea for this artifact. maybe i'm crazy, but I think earning Grief tests by easing others suffering through taking on that suffering is pretty awesome).

[Tim]

you never know what those BW guys will latch onto. Sometimes I post what I think is awesome stuff and get nothing. Other times I get multi-page threats about stuff I thought was kind of lame.

I'm not sure that you need to explicitly tie grief tests to using an artifact like that. Someone falling and breaking their leg isn't worthy of a grief check regardless. Someone being stabbed by their son? that's a grief check. Taking on another's wounds...I guess that could be worthy of a grief test, but....it's healing...it's making things better. Do you think personal simple physical pain would really cause grief (in the BW sense?).

Tim

[pseudoidiot]

Do you think personal simple physical pain would really cause grief (in the BW sense?).

No, but I think being able to experience someone else's painful memories (and the like) would do the trick. That's why I thought it'd be cool if I could somehow easy others' sorrows. "Oh, you lived through a horrific event and it still gives you nightmares? Let me help." (use artifact & "live" through said event. Take Grief test, and target is no longer haunted by their past*

[sjarvis]

You know what I think would make for a kick-ass healing artifact with some serious consequences? When you use the staff to heal a wound, the healer TAKES the wound he's healing. The healee is fully repaired. It would certainly make for some tough choices and would be an artha machine.

That's some REALLY hard choices! Maybe you could mitigate it somehow: the user/healer takes a wound equal to half of the victim's wound. I realize that would probably really drop the danger. Or possibly, you have to spend Artha to activate the staff. I dunno.



Steven

[Pikabuki]

I think the Grief tests are a good idea for healing psychological damage. It's a fun way to mechanically represent something that otherwise would just be roleplay or not addressed at all. I know that in most games I've been in, mental trauma has been ignored. Lame.

Uhm, seems that getting all the wounds, all the time, is too harsh. Maybe do it where you have to make a moderately difficult check, and if you fail, the guy is healed but you take it on? I'm kinda thinking back to a Deadlands demo we ran through, and clerics had to make a check in order to heal or take on the wounds. It was suspenseful, which I think is more exciting than outright guaranteed self-sacrifice. In fact, I think it was make the check or not only does the heal not work, but you take it on.

Emily

[Tim]

This is going to be the most emo magic item ever.

I'm not going to back down from the artifact transferring all the trauma (whatever the trauma) BUT, what if it were able to transfer the damage to a third party -or- the wielder. Would that not make for even tougher choices? I can imaging some pretty screwed up situations there. If you go around imparting massive wounds to other beings that's going to require some hefty Grief tests. If you transfer the wound to an 'innocent' that's an even nastier Grief test, and you'll probably be bucking for a seriously screwed up trait like Aura of Malevelance, or something.

And sure, this would work for psychological traits as well. Perhaps in that case you could use a lament to try and counteract the effects of "Cries like Morissey."

To my mind the ability to take a wound from someone and completely heal them in BW is extremely powerful. It's its own reward, and any complications that result will just further the story.

I am, of course, willing to listen to other options, especially if they're accompanied by a stat block for the item.

Tim

[Tim]

Oh, this item is not a staff. It's an eternally bleeding spear (who was that legionnaire...Longitudiness, or something?). It freaks people way the hell out. It's a BFD.

Yeah, if you wound someone with it you BOTH take the wound. And it's very good at hurting people. Maybe even does grey damage.

[pseudoidiot]

That's kind of straying a long ways away from what I was thinking of initially. I don't want to hurt people, just heal them (not that I have a problem defending myself, or killing Orcs, of course). But, on the other hand, it's cool to have misconceptions about this awesome item you're questing after, only to find out more about it's true nature when you get your hands on it.

Oh, and Erolith wouldn't direct the damage at another person. Except an Orc. So, I'd be walking around hurt. A lot.

[Tim]

Well, yeah. That's the thing. It's the temptation of great power. I think it at least does what you originally wanted, but there's all of this other stuff that you can use. Or not.

Or I can tone it down.

[pseudoidiot]

Well, it's not really an immediate concern. I expect to earn it after a fair amount of effort.

Really, all that's important is if it can heal people. Being able to "cure" people of sorrows, somehow, and earn Grief tests would also be cool. Anything else is just there to tempt me

And tempting Erolith will be fun, I think. So far I envision him as a pretty upright guy, as evidenced by his strong feelings about helping the baron in the face of Lia's and Pallyn's opposition.

[Tim]

And tempting Erolith will be fun, I think. So far I envision him as a pretty upright guy, as evidenced by his strong feelings about helping the baron in the face of Lia's and Pallyn's opposition.

That's what I was thinking. Time to put his mettle to the test.

Tim

[Frappe]

That's kind of straying a long ways away from what I was thinking of initially. I don't want to hurt people, just heal them (not that I have a problem defending myself, or killing Orcs, of course). But, on the other hand, it's cool to have misconceptions about this awesome item you're questing after, only to find out more about it's true nature when you get your hands on it.
Oh, and Erolith wouldn't direct the damage at another person. Except an Orc. So, I'd be walking around hurt. A lot.

Interest theory... A suffering battery! There's a finite amount of pain in this world. It can be transferred or supposedly dissipated through time or healing (where it will randomly strike someone else- someone on another continent gets a sword through the gut...).