Reutilizing Your Health
Reclaim the Wild is a game about, among other things, resource management! You have to manage your materials, your weapon durability, and even your character’s (and companions’) Health, Magic, and Stamina!
Health, of course, is your character’s most important resource, since without it they would be Helpless or even dead! If you’re using Master Mode rules, Health also determines when you suffer a nasty Injury.
While Health is what keeps your Hero upright and in the fight, there’s really only one way to use it right now: Burning it, by getting punched in the face. But what if we looked into using it in other ways?
First, let’s go through the implications of Burning, Binding, and Spending Health.
Burning Health
Health that is Burned is almost exactly the same as taking damage, except that it is done voluntarily and Defense cannot reduce the amount Burned. Unlike taking damage, however, you cannot voluntarily Burn Temporary Health.
Burned Health cannot be healed by Spells and Techniques. Instead, it is only healed through consuming Dishes, Elixirs, and through rest.
Binding Health
Health that is Bound is temporarily taken from the character’s pool of current health for the purposes of a benefit. When the character decides to Unbind the Health, then the Health will return to their current health.
If a Hero is reduced to less than 1 HP while having Bound Health, then Unbind that Health (in whatever order the player chooses, if there are multiple pools of Bound Health) and apply damage as appropriate. However, if the Health cannot be voluntarily Unbound, then the character will fall Helpless.
Spending Health
Health that is Spent is similar to taking damage, except that the Health returns after the end of a battle or scene. Do note that if you are attacked while Helpless, you will die, even if your Health has been Spent rather than Burned.
A character should have at least 1 Health remaining after Binding, Spending, or Burning Health for any purpose. Otherwise, they’ll collapse and become Helpless!
Of course, all this information on how Health can be Spent, Bound, and Burned is useless without anything to Spend, Bind, and Burn the Health on. In this article, two options are provided: arranged battles, and blood magic.
Duels and Other Arranged Battles
In Reclaim the Wild, non-serious battles may be costly in terms of resources, despite the lower stakes involved. Any Health that is lost due to damage usually won’t return without consuming a Dish or Elixir, taking a Long Rest, or Burning Magic using healing spells.
However, there might come a time when two characters may come to blows, be it to resolve a disagreement, uphold honor, test the other’s strength, or just for fun. If the cost for such a small-stakes battle is high, such as needing to spend time, money, or dishes recovering health, then perhaps the battle may not happen, at the cost of a good story.
The following rules can be used to reduce the cost of health recovery, by having characters Spend rather than Burn Health over the course of a battle.
First, consent should be obtained from all the players (and the GM) at the table. Just because rules for Hero-on-Hero battles exist, does not mean they should be forced onto an unwilling group. Everyone’s play style should be taken into consideration, so that no one is uncomfortable, resentful or bored. Some players would prefer that a Hero-to-Hero disagreement be resolved with words. Others would rather not stand around watching two people beat each other up. And a few may even have had poor experience with dueling in their real life.
If the participants of an arranged battle agree – either explicitly or implicitly – to not fight to death (or are ordered to, in the case of instinctive or limited intelligence combatants), then the Game Master may allow the participants to Spend Health whenever they take damage, rather than Burn.
Generally, NPCs may only agree to an arranged battle if they of a semi-friendly disposition toward the Hero, such as if they are fellows in the same society, or are part of a sports or combat tournament where non-lethal combat is the norm. Very rarely will the servants of a great evil agree to a duel; typically, honorable people do not serve great evils. Instinctive and limited intelligence combatants do not understand arranged battles, and will not follow their rules unless instructed otherwise. The GM has the right to not use these rules, and NPCs cannot be compelled to use them.
All damage is resolved the same way, applying Defense and Resistance as appropriate, and the amount is reduced from the character’s temporary and total health. Once reduced to 0 Health, the character cannot fight any longer, and is removed from the battle.
When the battle concludes, all participants can stand up, restored to the Health they had before the arranged Battle began. The Heroes will be dirty and scuffed, but little worse for the wear. If Master Mode is used, do not apply Injuries.
As an optional rule, the GM may decide that some combat wear remains. Perhaps all Health is restored, except for 1 Point. If Master Mode is used, then perhaps up to 1 Injury should be applied. This will prevent even the mightiest of heroes from dueling dozens of times without any rest.
If durability is a concern, sparring weapons could be used. Perhaps the participants could agree to not use their best armor and weaponry, or they can be provided a standardized set of gear if the arranged battle is through an organization. Level 0 weapons and armor could be crafted or bought.
Arranged Battle Usage Ideas
A Gerudo woman, having left home for the first time, is eager to prove herself to the people of Hyrule – perhaps not understanding the local culture. She stands up onto a bar’s table and issues an open challenge! Perhaps she’s just drunk, perhaps she offers a cash reward, or perhaps she is looking for someone stronger than her to help her with a problem!
A particularly famous singer in Inkopolis desires for her chosen side in this week’s Splatfest to be victorious. Though she has valuable information, she will refuse to part with it unless the group enters and wins a Splatfest battle. Victory in a Splatfest comes through territorial control, but interrupting the efforts of the enemy team is a very effective and common strategy!
The Picori Festival is held every year in Hyrule Town. As part of the festivities, a martial arts tournament is held, where the winner will get to touch the sacred Picori Blade that was once used to seal away evil!
Blood Magic
The concept of blood magic is very old, and has seen much use in video games. While not common within the Zelda games proper, the possibility of using blood magic (and techniques) in Reclaim the Wild may be appropriate in your version of Hyrule!
As such, here is a feat for use by players, or by monsters!
New Feat: Blood Tribute
9 Tokens
Learn Requirement: Quest Reward or GM Approval Only
Effect: You can now spend, bind, and burn Health for spells and techniques instead of Magic and Stamina. Spent Health returns at the end of an encounter or scene.
You cannot reduce your available Health below 1 in this manner. If you would be knocked out by damage, but have Health bound, unbind that Health and take damage as normal.
Blood Tribute may be more appropriate for the darker shade of heroism (or even villainy!), depending on the tone of the game, but even a self-sacrificial paragon may use their own blood to power their abilities!
Though the feat may provide more opportunities to use Techniques and Spells, Health is a precious resource, so Heroes will not become too much stronger by taking this feat, compared to anything else. Usually this will be because a character will have to invest into more Hearts than before, to have enough of a buffer to safely use their abilities.
Blood Magic Quest Hooks
A Zora princess gifted with a tough body, but poor stamina and magical powers has long struggled to find the means to best defend her people. In desperation, she turned to a sea-witch for aid, and learned Blood Magic. Though her home is now safe, the sea-witch demands her firstborn…
Minions of the Dark Lord in a region have become stronger than before, causing trouble for travelers. Rumors indicate that a colony of the vampiric Acheman may live in a cave somewhere in the mountains above. As they are known for their use of blood magic, adventurers will be needed to take them out!
Edit 24 November 2019 – Changed Burned Health to not be recoverable through Spells and Techniques.