Ok, let's look at a health or hit point system that is sort of like a damage track.  Each category (for the sake of this discussion) has 5 levels, with each level being a certain amount of damage.  The names of the categories aren't really the point, just levels of damage for penalties or whatever.

So, after several extended battles, our intrepid adventurer has amassed enough wounds to reach Mortal 2, meaning three levels remain, at however many points of damage that represents.  The character sheet would look something like:

X X X X X  Light
X X X X X  Moderate
X X X X X  Heavy
X X X X X  Serious
X X O O O  Mortal

Healing from Mortal up would remove the heavier penalties first, simulating the most grievious wounds heal first, while the converse would simulate the lighter wounds are easier to heal.  Upon reflection, perhaps natural healing would start at light and go down, while magical healing would start at mortal and go up.

So, the question is, which would be generally more acceptable, healing from the Mortal level upwards, or from the Light level down?

If it's one single damage pool, I would say heal from the Mortal Wounds up, the character goes from barely moving to getting around with pain, to being able to do light exertion etc until finally healed.  The pool represents the total health of the character.

If you keep damage by wound, then you would heal all the wounds on their own schedule and the character would basically heal from light up.  The minor cuts and bruises will be gone long before the major gunshot wound for example.  Aces & Eights does something like this.

A game without magical healing or super technology can be really gritty if you worry about how long it takes to recover from real wounds.

I think mortal up, because mortal wounds become light wounds as they heal, and light wounds vanish.

Quote from: StormBringer;373666Ok, let's look at a health or hit point system that is sort of like a damage track.  Each category (for the sake of this discussion) has 5 levels, with each level being a certain amount of damage.  The names of the categories aren't really the point, just levels of damage for penalties or whatever.

So, after several extended battles, our intrepid adventurer has amassed enough wounds to reach Mortal 2, meaning three levels remain, at however many points of damage that represents.  The character sheet would look something like:

X X X X X  Light
X X X X X  Moderate
X X X X X  Heavy
X X X X X  Serious
X X O O O  Mortal

Healing from Mortal up would remove the heavier penalties first, simulating the most grievious wounds heal first, while the converse would simulate the lighter wounds are easier to heal.  Upon reflection, perhaps natural healing would start at light and go down, while magical healing would start at mortal and go up.

So, the question is, which would be generally more acceptable, healing from the Mortal level upwards, or from the Light level down?

I think you have the natural part right.  I'd create different spells to do either, have 'natural' magic that speeds up the normal style, but maybe a necromantic healing would go the opposite direction.

Quote from: CRKrueger;373698If it's one single damage pool, I would say heal from the Mortal Wounds up, the character goes from barely moving to getting around with pain, to being able to do light exertion etc until finally healed.  The pool represents the total health of the character.

If you keep damage by wound, then you would heal all the wounds on their own schedule and the character would basically heal from light up.  The minor cuts and bruises will be gone long before the major gunshot wound for example.  Aces & Eights does something like this.

That is where I have the difficulty.  It's kind of a hybrid.  The total damage points are there to allow a range of damage from weapons or magic; ie, a fireball does d6/level, and a long sword does d10 or whatever.  So, it is almost a damage track/death spiral overlaid on more or less standard hit points.

Good points, though.  It matches up with my thinking in regards to each 'system' separately, so I just need to find a way to integrate them.  

Quote from: Cranewings;373809A game without magical healing or super technology can be really gritty if you worry about how long it takes to recover from real wounds.

I think mortal up, because mortal wounds become light wounds as they heal, and light wounds vanish.

That is also a good point in regards to 'natural healing', which is one of the ideas I was trying to address.  Of course, the kidney laceration doesn't just wait to heal until the cracked ribs or the cuts and bruises are done healing.  Figuring out the exact penalties at each level would probably be an important step to designing how the healing goes.

Quote from: LordVreeg;373813I think you have the natural part right.  I'd create different spells to do either, have 'natural' magic that speeds up the normal style, but maybe a necromantic healing would go the opposite direction.

Great idea, I was just looking at general mechanics.  Considering Cranewing's point above, the penalties would be abstract, so it wouldn't really be that the sucking chest wound wasn't healing, just that the penalties from it stick around for longer.  Unless the penalties are cumulative, it would be difficult to assign a static number to any one level and have a workable system in the manner I am proposing.  So, no penalty for light, perhaps a -1 for moderate, another -1 for heavy, -2 for serious, and -4 for mortal.  Add up the levels, and as a level is healed, remove that penalty.  That would make it a bit more agnostic as to which direction healing moves.

Normal healing going from Light up and magical going from Mortal down sounds good to me. Normal healing will remove penalties faster, but magic is better for the "Not Dying" factor and quick boost.

Penalties for injury aren't something I'm actually that big of a fan of. People are different from one another in that regard. Some people can still draw their sword and swing it once after their head comes lose while other people start to sob and suffocate in an anxiety attack when they get an abrasion.

Really small injuries can mess some people up. Like in MMA sparing, a lot of people crumple when they get kicked in the shin once, and these are big strong dudes. Other people walk around or even fight after being shot.

I guess my point is that it is too complicated to put a point value on. The interplay between adrenalin, motivation, health, and willpower plus the relative sensitivity of each person's nervous system means people will respond totally differently from one to another.

A lot of people that play role playing games like to imagine that their characters are the best of the best. If anyone can push through the pain, they can.

If you have penalties for injuries, I think you should allow a roll to ignore them, and characters with enough "stuff" should have them reduced anyway.

Quote from: Cranewings;373910If you have penalties for injuries, I think you should allow a roll to ignore them, and characters with enough "stuff" should have them reduced anyway.

I was considering a modification of the penalties based on ability scores, or not apply them directly to combat tasks.  Fatigue, for example, or certain effects like stunning.