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I can't any rulebook ever addressing this, mostly (I'm guessing) because of a lack of an in-game bonus or penalty, but I figured a few folks on this board have strong opinions on the subject.
So here it goes:
When does a wound result in a scar? Does the wound have to heal naturally, or do cure light, moderate, serious, critical spells leave scars as well?
Do any DMs out there have houserules about this for the sake of consistency in roleplay? After all, a vain character might worry about unsightly scars on the face or body, while other characters might see them as a sign of strength.
As a quick rule of thumb, I'd say wounds healed normally leave scars and those healed by magic don't.
Or: Let players take care of their scarring. It's a bother for a DM to track and hardly important enough to worry about.
For lack of better vernacular scars are caused by "healing badly." Jagged wounds, dirty cuts, minor or major infection, ect. A cleanly cut sterile wound that is properly bandaged and the skin in held together will be virtually scarless.
That being said I always considered the cure spells to be a way of drastically increasing the naturally healing process. As mentioned that can cause scars, but it's less likely since the timeframe where wounds can get dirty etc is reduced. Cure is not regenerate. Regenerate is regenerate. If a vain character is wounded he/she might pay extra for a regenerate spell every so often to get rid of any scars caused over time.
That always helped me mentally process how cure spells worked. A good heal check + cure spell(s) can help to reduce the scarring effect if it's a concern for a character.
We've played it for years that magical healing means no scars. Natural healing may result in scars the level of noticeability being left to the player. And some rare supernatural wounds leave scars regardless.
There's nothing at all in the rules, that's just the system that makes sense to us so that's what we use. Then again, I'm generally the one playing the high charisma vain character so I think I came up with that system. It works for me. :)
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Well, while I have no houserules on the benefits/penalties of scars, I can contribute my thoughts on the cure spell v. scars issues.
Everyone heals differently, at different rates, for different reasons. So why should magical healing be any different? If the players wants the scar, let him have it! Magical healing is only quicker after all.
EDIT: Triple ninja'd! I shouldn't watch movies while trying to make posts..
There was a 3PP that came out, 2 dozen discoveries or something like that that was all about scars and the bonuses and penalties they gave. You can probably search for it in the Paizo search bar.
Also, the PF version of Torn Asunder Critical Hits should be coming out shortly which may shed some light on this subject. If you or your gm are allowing 3PP I highly recommend checking these two out.
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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I always flavored scarring dependant on which god the healer worships. A cleric of Gorum who heals you is going to leave a scar as a symbol of your prowess in combat, something to be proud of. On the other hand, a cleric of Shelyn will restore the skin to it's most serene and beautiful state. I tend to go with the fact that most evil gods' clerics also leave scars when they heal, but not always.
It's not too hard to figure out which gods would and would not advocate scarring. For gods who really wouldn't care one way or the other, I'm inclined to lean towards no scars. Your mileage may vary.
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I always flavored scarring dependant on which god the healer worships. A cleric of Gorum who heals you is going to leave a scar as a symbol of your prowess in combat, something to be proud of. On the other hand, a cleric of Shelyn will restore the skin to it's most serene and beautiful state. I tend to go with the fact that most evil gods' clerics also leave scars when they heal, but not always.
It's not too hard to figure out which gods would and would not advocate scarring. For gods who really wouldn't care one way or the other, I'm inclined to lean towards no scars. Your mileage may vary.
Actually, that would make for fun roleplaying opportunies. Imagine a party with a vain, beauty obsessed character travelling with a cleric of Gorum. The cleric heals her, and she complains about the scarring, and the cleric suggests pointedly that she should be grateful to Gorum that she's no longer bleeding everywhere.
I like it.
Back in 3.0 I used to use a very primitive houserule: if you got knocked down to -6 or more in a single attack you had to make a Fortitude with DC=damage dealt or get a scar. What kind of scar was entirely player's discretion and it had no mechanical effect. If you failed the save you had to make another one (at the same DC) or suffer lasting effects (DM's discretion. I have used things like a broken arm (useless until healed magically), a limp or having your hair burned off (in the case of a fireball). You could lose a limb, but I would never do that to a PC.
It's almost all flavor and was supposed to represent a serious brush with death (and also give a mechanic behind NPCs that had lost limbs).