Recover Endurance DURING a Journey?

[adamspecial]

Hello everyone!

I know this may have been asked a thousand times, and I searched the forums for an answer, but I still cannot wrap my head around it.

SO: if the companions make a journey from A to B that lasts for X days with neither encounters nor hazards... do they automatically recover endurance with the reduced healing rate of maximum 2 endurance per day if uninjured? Or the "on the road" healing applies only if the companions are actively resting (i.e., NOT journeying), even if not in a "safe place"?

My fellow barding guardian lost 20 endurance and was injured (and then treated) in their most recent expedition... Still, they all really really want to make this (actually very important) 10-days trip to Rosghobel. Does he recover 1 endurance per day so that when they arrive he's just 10 points under his maximum? Or do they have to spend a few days under the open sky just to make him get better and then depart?

[zedturtle]

There are two different values that we care (most) about during a Journey, and they are sometimes accidentally conflated.

Your Endurance, which might go down (due to combats or Hazards). During a Journey, an un-Wounded hero regains 2 Endurance for every night's rest. Some heroes might have special abilities that allow them to recover more Endurance.

Your Fatigue, which will probably go up (due to failed Travel tests or Hazards). During a Journey heroes do not normally reduce their Fatigue. If they do so, they are probably at a safe place and thus one Journey has ended and a new one will begin when they leave the safe place.

Does that make sense?

[adamspecial]

Fatigue was understood and well accepted by everyone.

Endurance recovery... Well it just seemed to me that the definition of "long rest" required the companions to not be in a journey. Then again, it's perfectly fine if the thing is just: "a companion recovers 0 (wounded), 1 (treated), or 2 (unwounded) endurance per day of travel during a journey".

Thank you a lot for the quick reply!

[bluejay]

Adam, I've played it that way. Admittedly it feels as though it's perhaps a little generous and almost counter-intuitive at times ("we have to slog on through the wasteland for another 2 weeks? Woohoo, I'll be back up to full health!") but given the lack of healing in other areas I think it's an acceptable approach.

[Indur Dawndeath]

Just remember to apply Endurance loss caused by hazards at the end of the journey, or at an encounter during the journey. Because otherwise the endurance will be quickly healed while travelling and the hazards inconsequential

Cheers

[adamspecial]

@bluejay well the more endurance they recover, the more enemies they can take out, and that's a point in favor for me! what I'm concerned about if anything is the added mathemathical complexity, and the fact that the LM now has a new, totally arbitrary authority: he decides when exactly they meet a hazard, if the eye comes up, so he must consider how much endurance the companions will actually have (i.e., the sooner the hazard kicks in, the lesser endurance the companions will have recovered).

@indur well some effects take place immediatly after the hazard is resolved and last just for the lenght of the journey... we'll decide how to handle things when we actually get there.

[Falenthal]

what I'm concerned about if anything is the added mathemathical complexity, and the fact that the LM now has a new, totally arbitrary authority: he decides when exactly they meet a hazard, if the eye comes up, so he must consider how much endurance the companions will actually have (i.e., the sooner the hazard kicks in, the lesser endurance the companions will have recovered).

Totally agree here with your concern. Also, when using this rule the LM needs to calculate pretty precisely the number of days travelled, because they're important now.
And the order in which take place the Hazards and the recoveries are not explained anywhere and might lead to rarities. I usually simply play the Hazard where I want (if I want the fellowship to find Neeker-breekers, then it happens in Midgewater Marshes, of course) and calculate the recovery before and after they place were it occured. But this leads to complexity and arbitrary decissions: do they encounter the Neeker-breekers on their first day at the Marshes, or on their last?

Also, it's a rule I usually forget: there're already enough things to keep in mind when Travelling (Fatigue tests, bonus dice from Preliminary rolls, Hazards, increasing the Eye, comparing Hunt threshold,...).

All in all, my last option has been not to allow Endurance recovery during Travels.

[adamspecial]

@Falenthal well, not recovering endurance between one destination and the other might lead to companions going back and forth from sanctuaries and cities and that's not really funny or adventurous! Should our group house rule things up, probably we would go with something that, instead of giving you a tiny bit of healing each day, gives you one big healing burst a single time.

[Scrollreader]

My players are good about reminding me "How much do I heal over this week?". Then again, they've run into an unexpected combat, or at least the opportunity for one, a couple times on the road now. It is a little clunky to manually figure days, when required, but I usually roll a die, unless I'm feeling like making thing more or less difficult. I agree with Adam that not letting them recover any on the road may be a bit harsh, particularly with at least two virtues (Elf Dreams and Tough In The Fibre) that are designed specifically to interact with it.

[Stormcrow]

Admittedly it feels as though it's perhaps a little generous and almost counter-intuitive at times ("we have to slog on through the wasteland for another 2 weeks? Woohoo, I'll be back up to full health!")

Your disconnect stems from thinking of Endurance as "health." It's not. You lose endurance by being battered and getting tired; being Wounded is a different state. "Endurance is the expression of a player-hero’s physical stamina and determination. It is reduced when a character is subjected to physical harm, stress and exhaustion." Recovering from these things mostly require just time, not a commitment to lie in place.