Downtime activity: Recovering from a wound

I like slow recovery, but I don't like HP as anything other than the way they are used in ITO and systems inspired by it. Slow recovery forces moments of downtime, which opens up the possibility for players to invest in the myriad of activities that don't fit in the regular game-play loop of adventure games. See Ben L.'s blogposts on downtime or his little booklet Downtime in Zyan to get an idea of what I mean. 

So why not make recovery a downtime activity in its own right?

Recovering a wound:

Wounds roughly come in three varieties (see this post for more detail): 

• Scrapes and bruises
• Serious wounds
• Lethal injuries

When players don't have access to magical healing, they can spend downtime to recover from these.

Scrapes and bruises

• Don't require dedicated rest (so you can perform a different downtime activity while you recover from these) 
• Don't require supervision of someone skilled in healing
• Take 1 downtime turn to recover 

Serious wounds

• Require dedicated rest
• Cause lasting inconveniance if not supervised by someone skilled in healing. 
• Take 1 succesful downtime recovery action to heal. 

Lethal injuries

• Require dedicated rest
• Always cause lasting inconveniance
• Are deadly if not supervised by someone skilled in healing
• Take 1 succesful downtime recovery action to stabilize.
• Take 1 succesful downtime recovery action when stable to heal. 

Recovery action

For each serious wound and lethal injury roll 2d6 

Modify based on circumstances: -1 if a major factor negatively impacts recovery up to a maximum of -3 (think supply shortages, no access to clean water, etc.), +1 if a major factor aids it up to a maximum of +3 (like a hospital, pressence expert in your ailment, etc.). 

Consult table:

6-: No significant progress

7-9: Standard recovery

10+: Recovery + if wound was suffered in the dungeon gain an adaptation: alter character in some way to reflect the mark the Underworld has made on them (think immunity to regular flames as they bow to the one who mastered them, a venomous bite gained after surviving the toxic of a giant spider, etc.)

Lasting consequences

These are not the same as adaptations, but serious wounds that didn't get the care required (think broken bones that didn't heal right, eyes lost due to infection), or lethal injuries the PC survived (like the loss of a limb, the shattering of a spine). 

Their impact on gameplay should make sense. The shitty leg means you are the slowest among the group when running away, the missing eye means you don't have depth perception and a massive blindspot, missing limbs speak for themselves.