I only got my copy a few days ago and have not done more than read the walkthrough guide so far but, off the top of my head, would this variant be better run as "you can play a number of cards up to your hand limit per turn"?
That way the scale of a turn would be similar to the original game and there is a still a benefit to increasing hand size (either temporarily or permanently).
The benefit is that you have more tactical scope to decide what to do with your cards each turn (rather than relying on the luck of the draw).
However, these variants still seem to greatly diminish the impact of wounds, which I understand as getting stuck in your hand as you draw them from your deck, leaving you with the possibility of only having a couple of 'real' cards per turn (or none at all) unless you heal/rest to get rid of the wounds.
That way the scale of a turn would be similar to the original game and there is a still a benefit to increasing hand size (either temporarily or permanently).
The benefit is that you have more tactical scope to decide what to do with your cards each turn (rather than relying on the luck of the draw).
However, these variants still seem to greatly diminish the impact of wounds, which I understand as getting stuck in your hand as you draw them from your deck, leaving you with the possibility of only having a couple of 'real' cards per turn (or none at all) unless you heal/rest to get rid of the wounds.