Limiting recover action

[u/Due_Instruction_4719]

Hello all!

We just got done with our grim portent and I'm loving the game system so far.

That being said for the Recover action I've ruled it so far (Only 2 sessions in) that you can only select 1 of the listed benefits and do not get to benefit from all of them. I did this because it seemed like the ability to get hit, get staggered, get hit again, run back, get hit again, go prone and then get hit again and finally be forced to be wounded made it quite fiddly for heavily armoured enemies or players to be endangered.

I also liked the idea that going prone and only being able to get recover from being staggered or prone leaves you in a spot where you either try to scramble to your feet and get away or maybe recover your stagger but leave yourself in a more vulnerable spot for the enemy bearing down on you.

The grim portent had plenty of fights so I feel this went well but I was wondering if anyone else has tried it this way or if anyone with more experience with the game can see why doing it this way would be a bad idea.

Thanks!

[u/Ditch_Hunter]

I played 4 games with 3 different groups and a common criticism I heard was the action economy. Many of the players had experience with Pathfinder and its 3 actions, and they felt TOWRP is missing something like this. Players felt too constrained by the choices of actions, in addition to Recover being this pretty powerful action that negates so many bad things (recover a wound, remove a condition, remove prone, etc)

So, adding restrictions to Recover could tune it down but in the case of my players, the action economy as a whole maybe needs a rework...

[u/BlockImpossible2896 → u/Ditch_Hunter]

Did your players use Fate to take extra actions? If you rule spending Fate similar to Mettle in Soulbound, that is, your players can spend Fate in every fight up to their Fate count, then they effectively have three actions: Action 1, Action 2, and Movement.
I like this because it simulates stamina in combat: after exerting yourself for a set amount of time, your character becomes exhausted unable to do extra actions. I would also suggest giving the poor, over-nerfed Elfs another point. (They pay a bit too much for their sins in WHFRP 4e).

Even RAW, as a Human you have 3 Fate. That means if you are willing to use all 3 Fate Points in a single combat, you can use Improvise to throw an enemy to the ground and then Attack with an extra dice to finish them off multiple times.

Also, you cannot recover from a wound mid-combat. You can recover from the effects, but the wound itself where you need to catch your breath only subsides completely when combat ends. Though, I agree it could be explained more clearly.

[u/BlockImpossible2896 → u/BlockImpossible2896]

Never mind, I am wrong on that last part. You even could treat a sliced-off body part mid-combat in a single action; sure, you still walk weird, but you do not take the +1 Dice anymore.
This seems broken to me, as a player could effectively never die in a 2 v 1 scenario. Any time a player suffers a wound, just recover either with the player or his party member, and you are back to 1 die on the Wound Table. Even if the enemy hits and inflicts a wound every round, the players can just recover and attack on their turn, completely trivializing any boss fight at all.

[u/Ori_Sacabaf → u/BlockImpossible2896]

To treat a wound, they need the right trapping and the only one indicated in the Player's Guide is gold status, which makes it impossible to get for most parties. I added cheaper ones, but they are still expensive and/or limited in uses and duration.
Moreover, I made some wounds impossible to treat in the middle of a combat without using some magical means or a potion. All in all, we use this standard:

- Catch your breath: no trapping needed, can be treated in combat.

• A night’s respite: trapping needed, can be treated in combat.
  
• Rest and Recovery: trapping needed, can be treated in combat.
  
• Surgery: magical or alchemical trapping needed to be treated in combat, at least silver trapping to be treated out of combat.

[u/Ditch_Hunter → u/BlockImpossible2896]

I seem to remember the player has to make a Recall test to treat a wound. In the event of a grievous wound, either I would make the test very difficult (requiring 2 or 3 successes) or just make it unfeasible.

[u/Ditch_Hunter → u/BlockImpossible2896]

Yes, there were a few instances where the players used Fate to make a 2nd action, but in general felt a bit constrained. I was pondering whether house ruling a 3 action point system like in Pathfinder but I am also hesitant to implement such a big new system into a new ruleset.