Heal
| Skill List |
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Specialized Skill — Intuition
The Heal skill is used to treat wounded characters, treat illnesses and poison, and deal with disease.
Unless specified otherwise, a heal check costs 4 AP. A character being healed must also contribute 4 AP and cannot use Conditional Actions for the duration of the round. Heal checks without proper medical tools and materials take a -2. In general no specific supplies are needed, as sticks and pieces of clothing can be used to make splints and bandages, etc, but in a case where there are absolutely no materials at hand, all heal checks take a -6 instead (or may be impossible - GM's discretion).
Heal checks may, unless otherwise specified, be made upon oneself, but one must naturally be both conscious and able, and one takes a -4 penalty.
Specific Uses
First Aid
| Action | DC |
|---|---|
| Stabilize Dying Character | 20 |
| Field Medicine | 25 |
| Stop Bleeding | 25 + bleeding damage per round |
| Treat Special Wounds | Original DC |
Field Medicine — In battle, a certain amount of damage may be healed immediately. A heal check of DC 25 will restore 1d4+1/every 5 points the check exceeds the DC, maximum +4. A heal check like this must be made within 2 hours of the damage being taken (otherwise long-term care should be used), and a character can only be healed in this manner once per day.
Treat Special Wounds — There are many specific effects that can be treated with the Heal skill, such as effects that reduce speed, cause continual damage, or create a specific condition (stunned, etc). If not otherwise specified, the heal DC to negate these effects is equal to the original DC for the effect.
Long-Term Care
| Action | DC |
|---|---|
| Help a character heal double | 20 +2 per additional character |
| Fight a Poison | Poison DC |
| Fight a Disease | Disease DC |
A character that makes a DC 20 Heal(Long-Term Care) check can help a character gain hit points back at twice the normal speed when taking a full day of rest. For every 5 points over the DC, the healer helps the character gain back 1 extra hit point.
If a healer is caring for more than one character, the DC rises by 2 for every additional character. The healer still makes one check.
A character being healed in this way cannot exert themselves without automatically canceling the effects of that day's heal check. If they must be moved, they must be carried, either by two people with a stretcher or in some sort of wagon or sledge. Being carried some other way, such as over the shoulder or slung across a horse automatically cancels that day's heal check as well.
If a Healer is trying to fight a disease, he must make a heal check every day (DC determined by the disease) to prevent damage and/or to cure the disease. Heal checks during recovery can also reduce the time it takes to recover.
Surgery
Surgery is used when dealing with advanced healing. Any type of healing that is more complicated than First Aid or Long-Term Care will fall under Surgery. The GM may find any number of uses, but the most common use is recovering Permanent Ability Damage to scores.
You may recover up to 3 points with any one operation. The operation takes 1d6 hours. Lack of proper tools gives you a -4 and lack of sanitation gives the patient a 50% chance of catching a Disease. Another surgeon may use Aid Another rules to assist. You may only Take 10 if you have proper tools, sanitation, 4 hours to prep, and you have an assistant - you can never Take 20.
Surgery almost always comes with consequences. Beating the DC by 10 or more has no consequences. Successfully beating the DC by less than 10 deals 1d6 points of permanent HP damage to the patient. Failing deals 2d6. Failing by 5 or more also causes 1 point of Permanent Physical ability damage - the score that it damages is randomly determined. Failing by more than 10 forces the patient to take 10d6 damage (in addition to the 2d6 permanent damage) and they must make a fortitude save of 5 + the amount the check was failed by or instantly die. Having a good surgeon can therefore be immensely important.
| Action | DC |
|---|---|
| Heal 1 point of Permanent Physical Ability Damage | 30 |
| Heal 2 points of Permanent Physical Ability Damage | 35 |
| Heal 3 points of Permanent Physical Ability Damage | 40 |
| Heal 1 point of Permanent Mental Ability Damage | 50 |
You may undergo as many surgeries as you wish, but given the risks involved it is generally best to have as few as possible.
Under GM's discretion this skill may be used to remedy states such as permanent Blindness or Deafness. Under these uses the penalties listed above will not always apply.
