Ok, we know that wizards have a constitution that, while not decidedly human, outstrips mundane mortals. We know that that includes very long life, and the ability to eventually recover from (almost?) any wound. I condition the almost, because while DFRPG limits the 'healing factor' to non-extreme conditions, it seems fairly clear (at least to me) that Dresden's ongoing recovery from his burned hand is and example of recovering from an extreme wound that would be impossible for a human to recover from
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That aside, I've been wondering just how far wizard's constitution goes?
* Does it grant immunity, resistance, or rapid recovery from many common diseases? (Has Dresden or any other wizard been sick with any non-supernatural diseases?) This seems implied by the long life, as otherwise it seems likely that older wizards would tend to die from, for example, cancer.
* Given that evidence suggests it is genetic in nature, are wizards born with it? Or is it something that 'develops' due to extended exposure to magical energy?
* If they are born with it, does it impact the baby wizard's likelihood of suffering from genetic defects? Or due to their 'wizard genes' are wizards all born defect-free?
* As the flip side to the above, if they are not born with it, will their wizard's constitution allow them to 'recover' from genetic defects?
I was toying with a concept for a midget wizard (High Concept: World's GreatestSmallest Wizard! Trouble: Judge me by my size, do you?), and I wondered about this. Is it even possible to have a midget wizard (question 3)? Or (question 4) would the development of wizard's constitution bring with it an eventual reversal of his stunted growth?
Any thoughts?
There's no real reason that one gene (wizardness) should have to affect another (dwarfism). You wouldn't "recover" from it, rather, you'd just heal wounds back to your base state. If you play it that way, though, you could end up with wizards with crones disease, ms, or the like, where the disease is "injuring" them and the wizard's constitution is healing the injuries (but not the disease).
Alternatively, you can simply choose to view dwarfism as a heritable trait, like eye color. Dwarfism is usually considered a "condition", not a disease, (although there are other ailments common with it), so perhaps it works for a wizard concept when ms or crone's would not.
I honestly can't recall Dresden ever having a cold, or saying that he never had a cold. Probably, he simply gets a cold and gets better quicker, but the cold is as bad as anyone else's cold. While I kind of thought that the sickness in changes was a magical one, it's possible that it was nothing more than a really bad flu, designed to make the Council inoperable for a short time. Given the limitations on biomancy, this could have worked.
Dresden does recover from an extreme consequence (in his hand), and his wizard's constitution is allowing that... what it does not help with is recovery "with no other reason but time"... basically he has had also to nurse that hand back to health, and give it a reason to start recovering. Also, note how long it has taken, and that it is still with him. He seems to indicate in changes that it will never be pretty again, but it will regain functionality. Currently, it still bothers him.
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