Optional Rule: Classic Recovery
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Summary |
How it works
No matter the rest, you recover slowly, based on your constitution instead of hit dice and other factors.
Instead of spending 1 HD per Swift Rest, you recover just 1 HP.
Instead of spending as many Hit Dice as you'd like, you recover 1 + your CON every Short Rest.
Instead of recovering or spending Hit Dice, you recover an amount equal to your character level + your CON after finishing a Long Rest.
Additionally, you cannot move during any of these Rests, meaning the health-based benefits of a Swift Rest are harder to gain in active situations that require movement, such as exploring a Dungeon.
Finally, you do not automatically recover from conditions after finishing a Long Rest, including Exhaustion. You must pass a Fortitude save vs a DC equal to 21 - your character level. If you gain a success, you remove 1 stack of the condition (or the condition entirely). If you Critically Succeed, you remove the entire condition.
Impact
This kind of HP and Condition recover harkens back to when different rulesets were less forgiving, but the game was less personal with characters (i.e. your characters were expected to die often and be rerolled). Although this was definitely not the case for every classic game, nor did it make the games that much harder due to entirely different expectations, the way health is treated in CHASE and other modern TTRPGs is a bit different.
This optional rule allows for a return to form, while keeping other rules intact to help maintain the riskier play. Abilities and Actions like Cure Wounds and the Heal Action| ◈◈◈ are just as important, if not moreso due to becoming a resource.
Finally, when paired with other rules, like Prolonged Resting, Recovery in this form can have a narrative emphasis on prevention. Or survival.