It's an action for me.

I guess you can rule they can pick it up and do another action but I might rule they are at some disadvantage that round. Maybe -1 to hit by them and enemy combatants get a +1 to hit. They aren't paying attention to combat is my idea behind this.

Well, yes be spontaneous, GM with the facts.

Did the weapon fall at his feet, or 6 to 10 feet away. He needs to move to it (1 action) and pick it up from the ground (second action).

If at his feet: To retrieve a weapon makes him vulnerable, grant a penalty of -/+4 to AC or a bonus to his opponent's attack.

Reduce his Initiative, -2 to his 1d6 roll?

Perhaps reduce their use of their shield, etc.

Picking up the weapon would be on the subsequent round.  I rule that critical misses ruin all of your attacks in the case of multiple attacks in a round.

Would you use the whole action to pick up and ready the weapon and attack on a subsequent round, or just charge the PC movement cost to pick up and ready the weapon then attack with half or whole movement gone?

rhialto wrote:

I'd probably give the player the option of cautiously retrieving their weapon (i.e., use their action to pick it up, and no AC penalty) or quickly retrieving it (Test of Dexterity, no AC penalty) in order to attack in that round. Fail the test, it's still on the ground and they can try again the next round. I suppose they could also decide to pick it up nonchalantly, in which case they'd be treated as stunned (+4 to-hit) or at best fleeing (+2 to-hit).

I like the test of dexterity idea! Adds some gravitas to the action and you get the attack on that subsequent round but if you fail you are kinda screwed again.  I believe I will implement that idea, thank you!