How to properly RP this injury?

[Branson Thorne]

So, due to an RP event few nights ago, found my character R'tah with an injury to his left shoulder as he was completely ran through with a sword.

 

It was awhile before he finally received proper healing but he was still on the edge of dying do to massive blood loss and a damaged lung. We know healing wouldn't replace his blood loss, but it would heal the wound. Luckily he was a blood match with a friend of a friend so that sorted itself out

 

My question is in regard to the actual wounded shoulder. So with healing magic, would his arm still be hurt and sore and nigh unusable as any typical injury, perhaps in a sling for several days/weeks, or would he be good to go already as if nothign happened?

 

My first time having to RP a serious injury so want to make sure it's done correctly!

 

If it matters to know, The woman who healed him used to be a combat medic, so I'm assuming her healing would be pretty powerful and not just some half ass patch job

 

Thanks for the help in advance!

[Aaron]

If it were me, I'd go for it's pretty sore since I don't know how powerful healing magic is and if it'd basically erase the wound. If you want to rp with it, I'd do the shoulder and upper arm wrapped on bandages and visible (cause bandages are cool are they not?)

 

If you want it to be a serious moment in his life without long term mobility problems, just turn it into a vicious looking scar across his shoulder or something after, that'd be a great story to tell.

 

Or be a boss and say that shit was nothing and healed up easy cause you're too much of a badass to be harmed by mere steel. (Not being sarcastic, just putting this out there if you play a cocky character)

[Caspar]

You could always take the medium approach. The arm is numb or sore and less effective than before, or perhaps feels "heavy." Probably bad enough to be a severe liability. In time it's probably going to recover with proper care, but perhaps leaves a scar? If they are a battlefield medic, I could see them focusing on restoring functionality asap. But efficacy of healing differs based on the writer. Personally I like to take into account how long the person has bern injured before receiving injury and the relative skill of the healer, as well as other factors such as receptiveness to the magical treatment.

[Nebbs]

Well I would let healing help and blend it witgh physio. That way you heal, get to complain and gave an old war wound.

 

Initially have it in a sling then start to use it again.

 

You may consider making the wound a trait later on where he is weak in that arm.

 

In future if he has s stabbed in the same location he can say, "oh no not again"

[Branson Thorne]

So it seems my original plan should work out then.

 

I had wanted to rp it being painful still, wrapped up in bandages, sore, unable to use it for awhile. Then slowly work into it again. I'd like to keep a permanent injury of it of some sort, perhaps over use of it causing it to ache or something.

 

My main concern is that I do not want to slap her RP in the face with the healing as he's still injured. If that makes sense.

 

In other words, I don't want to imply that her healing was weak etc.

[Nebbs]

There s always the, stabbed with a cursed blade and the shard stuck in his body turns him into a psycho Dark Knight muhahaha. 

 

No igore that.

[Branson Thorne]

There s always the, stabbed with a cursed blade and the shard stuck in his body turns him into a psycho Dark Knight muhahaha. 

 

No igore that.

 

I need to be an Au Ra Dotharl with jet black hair and glowing red eyes for that type of RP:P

[Arrelaine]

Well, if the healing didn't take any effect on scar tissue, there would likely be a lot. Scar tissue is very stiff, and thick, making it less flexible. So if you wanted to have mounds of scar tissue like that (and it would be all the way through, muscle gets scar tissue as well), he wouldn't have the full range of motion. He may never get the full use of his arm back, but he could get most of it.

 

Otherwise (and even if you do the massive amounts of scar tissue, I don't think this next part would change), I would treat it as you would IRL, but instead of months of healing it's got magical healing. Which means you still have new muscle/tendon/skin growth, which means everything is going to be weaker than it once was. It's not going to be as strong until he does some physical therapy with it. Due to the building of new muscle, it'd be sore, just as if you were trying to rebuild muscle irl. Every time you used it, it would be a little sore, and if you misused it and pulled it, it would be stiff and even more sore. The same for if any bones were broken in the process of being ran through. They'll also be weaker and easier to rebreak, as will the rest of the injury. It may always remain weaker and easier to injure again. He may also have arthritis from now, even if you just rip tendons, you can still get arthritis in joint areas. So I guess that is a matter of how close it was to the actual shoulder joint.

 

That's if you wanted to play it more realistically. We're in a fantasy setting after all.

[Aaron]

There s always the, stabbed with a cursed blade and the shard stuck in his body turns him into a psycho Dark Knight muhahaha. 

 

No igore that.

 

I need to be an Au Ra Dotharl with jet black hair and glowing red eyes for that type of RP:P

Pfft you just need to bleed for that.

[Marcy]

The answer really boils down to: what are you looking to get out of this injury, story-wise? Are you down to RP out a slow recovery and life-long trauma, or do you want that just-fixed band-aid? There's a lot of room to consider both physical and psychological consequences (something most people don't think about -- a person relying on their body to make a living IS going to be devastated and shocked by a potentially crippling injury).

 

Neither are actually "bad" or right, this is a high-magic fantasy setting. There are good suggestions for how to approach this already! Just remember that you aren't locked into one possibility, and RP is not "serious" writing, we need to offer wiggle room for future plots and not every injury needs to lead to massive character development or take your character out of commission.

 

Talk to the healer, too! Writing healers is often a thankless job, support your support class and communicate about how they imagine the injury developing and recovering.

[Dravus]

It depends on what you want, really. Role-players will often have completely different views in regards to issues such as injuries and the inevitable healing process. Some role-players will have their character shrug off any injury and embrace instantaneous healing as a convenient plot device.

 

Others will take the time to ensure that injuries are meaningful and leave a lasting impression - which, in my opinion, is the ideal route to go down if you're looking to embrace depth and character development.

 

My own character was recently injured and exploring the aftermath and healing process in his attempt to get back to normality has been rather fun. Even when a character's physical injuries are healed there's still the matter of the mental trauma to contend with as well. That generally lasts longer and may very well lead to them being a lot more cautious/fearful of fresh injuries - at least for a while.

[Marcy]

It depends on what you want, really. Role-players will often have completely different views in regards to issues such as injuries and the inevitable healing process. Some role-players will have their character shrug off any injury and embrace instantaneous healing as a convenient plot device.

 

Others will take the time to ensure that injuries are meaningful and leave a lasting impression - which, in my opinion, is the ideal route to go down if you're looking to embrace depth and character development.

 

It really depends on what's in store for the character and the characters they are RPing with, IMO. Some things are just not fun to drag out, and can become an annoying roadblock instead of an interesting story point. Sometimes an injury is unplanned and unmitigated -- I have and will write off injuries to my character that have been done without consent, or presented poorly.

 

This does not seem like the case here, OP is just looking for pointers. While we are at it, getting a punctured lung with or without magical healing and no antibiotics has a high risk of infection -- this is the real killer of medieval battlefields, many weapons were specifically designed to make nastier wounds that will be harder to heal and seal, and will therefore fester more quickly.

 

Triangles! The puncture from this would bleed out in minutes if not plugged, and pulling the flesh back together to mend will require something like peat moss to keep pressure. Not sanitary.

 

Playing out recovery RP can be a lot of fun, I write low-magic characters that are averse to most magical healing because I enjoy the medical/anatomical aspect of it combined with the setting's specific parameters. I'd say if you have someone willing to work through the injury with you, it's worth stretching for the potential RP, if not it's not a crime to skip it unless you have specific developments in mind.

[Caspar]

The answer really boils down to: what are you looking to get out of this injury, story-wise? Are you down to RP out a slow recovery and life-long trauma, or do you want that just-fixed band-aid? There's a lot of room to consider both physical and psychological consequences (something most people don't think about -- a person relying on their body to make a living IS going to be devastated and shocked by a potentially crippling injury.

 

Talk to the healer, too! Writing healers is often a thankless job, support your support class and communicate about how they imagine the injury developing and recovering.

This is a good point to consider too. I think in general talking to the healer about how effective they want their magic to be is a good idea. It's why I generally let them be successful even though my character doesn't respond well to magic healing; there are just consequences that don't necessarily have anything to do with their skill and I make sure they can adjust to them on the fly.

 

In my case, when my character was rendered helpless by severe injury, she never truly recovered and it still affects her judgment regularly.

[Branson Thorne]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Looks like I'll be able to run with my original ideas.

 

Thanks again!