Recovery: Incapacity & Downtime

When an agent reaches 6+ Stress, they are out of action and cannot participate in missions. This guide explains how recovery works, when it triggers, and how the system resolves it.

Overview

Recovery is a mandatory downtime period when an agent becomes incapacitated. It represents physical injury, psychological breakdown, or both. The GM sets a duration in wall-clock days (real-time calendar days, not in-game rounds). When that period elapses, the agent recovers fully and returns to the team at 0 stress.

Agent hits 6 stress after a traumatic investigation. GM says: "You need 2 days of downtime to recover."

The GM advances the calendar 2 days. The recovering agent sits out missions. When day 3 arrives, the agent automatically recovers at 0 stress and rejoins the team.

When Recovery Starts

Recovery is triggered in these situations:

• Stress reaches 6+ — The agent is overwhelmed and incapacitated
• Story event — GM decides an agent is injured or traumatized (e.g., witnessing a death, taking supernatural harm)
• Mission complication — An outcome requires downtime to resolve (e.g., hospitalization, legal aftermath)

The GM announces recovery and specifies the duration: "2 days," "3 days," etc. This is recorded on the agent's sheet.

Duration

The GM decides recovery length based on narrative severity:

Severity	Duration	Example
Moderate stress / trauma	1-2 days	Failed high-stakes roll, disturbing discovery
Severe stress / injury	2-3 days	Stress 6, serious supernatural encounter, haunted
Critical / near-death	3-5 days	Extreme trauma, major injury, possession attempt

Duration is wall-clock time. It's measured in real calendar days between sessions, not in-game time or mission pacing. This keeps recovery simple and prevents in-game events (other missions, time skips) from interfering.

During Recovery

While recovering, the agent:

• Cannot roll skill or stress tests — The system prevents rolling while status is "recovering"
• Cannot perform missions — They're unavailable to the team
• Can roleplay downtime activities — Rest, therapy, physical therapy, investigation of personal mysteries
• Earns no resources or experience — Recovery is passive

Other agents can continue taking missions. The GM may describe what the recovering agent does during downtime (optional), but it has no mechanical effect.

How Recovery Resolves

Recovery uses wall-clock days, measured by the Foundry calendar setting:

1. GM records start date — e.g., Day 5, recovery started
2. GM specifies duration — e.g., 2 days
3. Recovery deadline — Day 5 + 2 days = Day 7
4. GM advances calendar — When moving to Day 7 or later
5. Automatic recovery — The agent recovers to 0 stress; recovery fields clear

The system auto-clears. When the calendar advances past the deadline, the agent's recovery state is automatically reset. No manual intervention needed.

Example Timeline

Day 5: Agent hits 6 stress. GM: "2 days recovery"
       → recoveryStartedAt: 5, daysOutOfAction: 2

Day 6: Agent is still recovering. Cannot roll. Status: "recovering"
       → Days remaining: 1

Day 7: Calendar advances (GM move time forward, scene transition, etc.)
       → System auto-clears recovery fields
       → Agent status: "active", stress: 0
       → Agent can rejoin missions

In Foundry

Checking Recovery Status

Open the agent's sheet. Check the Recovery section:

• Status: "active" — Agent is ready
• Status: "recovering" — Agent is out of action. Shows days remaining
• Status: "returned" — Recovery deadline reached; auto-clear happens when calendar advances

Starting Recovery

1. Open agent sheet
2. Set Days Out of Action to the duration (e.g., 2)
3. Click "Start Recovery" or the system records the current day automatically
4. Agent is now "recovering" and cannot roll

Monitoring Recovery

The chat log warns when a recovering agent attempts to roll:

• Shows agent name and recovery status
• Displays days remaining: "2 more days until ready"
• Prevents the roll from happening

GM Advancing Calendar

In Foundry settings, GM can advance the Current Day (a numeric setting). When day advances past recoveryStartedAt + daysOutOfAction, the agent auto-recovers. No manual reset required.

Stress vs. Recovery

Stress and Recovery are different:

Aspect	Stress	Recovery
Trigger	Failures, trauma, encounters	Stress 6+, injury, story event
Scale	0-6 (can be reduced gradually)	Duration in days (all-or-nothing)
Effect	Dice pool penalty (-1 per 2 points)	Cannot act at all
Recovery	Natural decrease (1 per mission)	Time-based deadline
When cleared	Gradually over time	When deadline passes

At Stress 0-5, agents play normally and take dice penalties. At Stress 6+, they're incapacitated and recovery begins.

If GM Forgot to Clear Recovery

If an agent's recovery deadline has passed but their recovery fields weren't cleared manually:

1. Check the calendar — Verify current day is past deadline
2. Advance the calendar by 1 day — This triggers auto-clear in Foundry
3. Agent recovers automatically — Status changes to "active", stress resets to 0

If auto-clear doesn't fire, GM can manually reset the agent's recovery fields on the sheet.

Design Notes

Why wall-clock days?

• Simple to understand: "2 days" is concrete
• Consistent across sessions: recovery isn't affected by mission pacing
• GM has explicit control: advancing the calendar is intentional
• Prevents "stuck" recovery: auto-clear prevents forgetting to reset

Why can't recovering agents roll?

• Mechanical consistency: recovery is incapacity, not just stress
• Narrative clarity: out-of-action agents literally can't participate
• Prevents workarounds: can't cheese stress with cheap rolls
• System enforcement: the rulebook says agents are unavailable

Why auto-clear?

• Prevents forgotten resets: GMs have a lot to track
• Reduces bookkeeping: one action (advance calendar) = automatic resolution
• Replicates official rules: rulebook assumes GMs remember; system automates it