Is there spell to prevent the Vanquished from getting Backup

Strength of fallen foes?

Coup-de-Gras for a Wound is the fastest way to stop mininons getting back up (they only have one wound, which most of the time will kill them when they fail the TN15 Vigor Action Roll).

Unfortunately, regularly doing this will, in theory, have the NPCs retaliate in kind if they witness it (in practice, most GMs won’t penalise you, as the enemy often heavily outnumber once minions are added).

AOE damage?

I personally don’t have much truck with reviving fallen minions with AOE healing effects, and dont really do it at tables that I run.

no one has ever complained about fights being too easy at my tables.

and I think I would TPK my home group on a regular basis if they weren’t allowed to stand up from vanquished more than once per combat.

Ok so John: You stated that you only allow a vanquished character to revive once per scene using heal. First of all, are you applying this to PCs, NPCs, or all involved characters? Second, you said “heal”. Are you referring to using the Heal Skill/talent (cant remember which it is), or all forms of heal including diminish fatigue as well as any other forms of healing i.e. leadership. I’ve had a battle or two where I have used either diminish fatigue or Leadership to revive a fallen ally 2-3 times. (Battle that comes to mind is HP 1.4 I think). We would not survive if a was unable to revive someone more than once per scene. Can you clarify?

Alex Parmelee
aka Tallus Octavius

Ok so John: You stated that you only allow a vanquished character to revive once per scene using heal. First of all, are you applying this to PCs, NPCs, or all involved characters? Second, you said “heal”. Are you referring to using the Heal Skill/talent (cant remember which it is), or all forms of heal including diminish fatigue as well as any other forms of healing i.e. leadership. I’ve had a battle or two where I have used either diminish fatigue or Leadership to revive a fallen ally 2-3 times. (Battle that comes to mind is HP 1.4 I think). We would not survive if a was unable to revive someone more than once per scene. Can you clarify?

Alex Parmelee
aka Tallus Octavius

Specifically the Heal Skill states once / day, so we use it for that all the time for non-magical healing. The statement within the Heal Skill says “A Target may only be returned to action from the Vanquished state once / day.”

Given how the rules often do not restate things that apply in multiple places (e.g. Religious Sects for spells), we apply once / scene to most other healing unless a Fate Chip is spent for the healing. I also apply this to NPC’s and their allies. Nothing frustrates a table more than spending time to kill minions and then having them rise again and again in the fight. However, this has never been a big problem at the tables I’ve run as a lot of folks have Leadership or Diminish Fatigue uses before folks get vanquished. Chronicler mileage may vary as Josh stated, as I’ve been at tables where the once / day was enforced for all healing and at tables where you are free to come back from vanquished as much as you want.

Now I’ve played in BI’s where it was necessary to Fate Point Leadership to keep people in the fight, and BI’s tend to break the rules that way

I wasn’t saying Heal skill is the only way to bring back from vanquished. However, a strict reading of the rules under the Vanquished state could be argued to support that. It mentions once a character is awakened from vanquished the Heal skill and other restorative effects can be used. Given that there is no mention of bringing someone back from vanquished under Diminish Fatigue and only mention of minions under Leadership, it could be interpreted that Back on your Feet is the only way to actually bring a PC back from vanquished.

I don’t think anyone plays that strict, but I remember discussions on the prior boards that reviving from vanquished was not something that PCI intended to be unlimited in a day. I have played at tables with PCI folks where the once / scene was enforced as well.

John