Optional Rules: Healing, Medicines & Magic - Part Two

For game purposes, medical attention, is defined as care provided by anyone competently trained in the arts of healing. But first, a clarification. First aid, that is the immediate treatment of wounds to stop bleeding, and prevent further injury, is a basic skill possessed by many. Anyone who has spent any time at all on a battlefield, or trained in the use of violence, learns rather quickly how to keep themselves and others from bleeding out until competent help arrives.

But, for game purposes, just who can be assumed to have training in competent medically related skill? Many, but not all, clerics will be trained in such arts, as long as it is appropriate for their deity/order. Druids have training in the healing arts, with an obvious leaning towards herbal and natural remedies. It is not unusual for Rangers and Monks to have access to such training. Some magic-users, with the appropriate areas of study, may be competent healers, even though they do not have healing magics. Paladins may use healing magics, but are usually not trained in the medical arts, unless their deity/order is associated with such knowledge. However, any character with a reasonable background explanation, could have access to healing skills.

Those with knowledge of herbalism and alchemy, can locate, identify, and prepare specific plants, fungus, and other substances for use in creating non-magical potions, tinctures, poultices, powders, and other concoctions, for either beneficial or harmful purposes.

Healers double the hit point recovery of those under their care, per day. Up to six patients may be under a particular healer's care per day, to receive adequate treatment.

Some DM's may require a healer to make a Competency Check, when treating patients under difficult circumstances or severe medical issues. Simply roll under x4 healer's Intelligence + level (if their class applies to healing), expressed as a percentile dice roll. Rolling under this target number means the patient was competently treated. Herbalists and alchemists may add an additional x1 Wisdom + level, to this roll, due to the additional benefit of their knowledge and medicines.

Treating poisons and diseases always require a Competency Check, and allow a character a second Saving Throw, to reduce or negate the deleterious effects. It is up to each DM to decide what effect such intervention should have in game.

Medical Treatments:

Advanced First Aid - When a character is wounded, a healer can immediately treat the character's wound the next round, restoring up to 1d3 hit points, but no more than the original wound, or above the character's normal hit point total. This may only be done once per day. The healer may only be able to do so if left unmolested.

Treat Poison - If a healer can immediately treat a patient that has been poisoned within one round, then add +2 to the character's Save.

Slow Poison - Should a character fail a Save, they do not immediately die, though they will become incapacitated and unconscious. If a healer can begin treatment within three rounds, they may slow down the effects of the poison by one hour per point of Intelligence + level, of the healer.

Treat Disease - A healer treating a patient allows a +2 to any Save the character must make against the effects of a disease.

Slow Disease - Some diseases have quick, debilitating effects. A healer can often slow down these effects for hours, if not days, in an attempt to keep the patient alive until magical healing can be applied.

Medicinal Preparations:

Herbalists, physicians, and alchemists/apothecaries, can make either fresh, or preserved, substances to help treat poisons, diseases, etc. Freshly prepared are usually made within 24 to 48 hours. Preserved are specially prepared to last longer before being used, but have reduced potency.

Antitoxin - When ingested, give a character a +1 bonus to Save vs poisons for the next hour. +3 to Save if the preparation is freshly made. Price: 50 gold pieces per vial.

Panacea - When ingested, gives a character a +1 bonus to Save vs disease, or infection. +3 to Save if the preparation is freshly made. Price: 30 gold pieces per vial.

Click here to read Part One of this article.

Optional Rules: Healing, Medicines & Magic - Part One

The following rules alter the recovery rates of natural and magical healing to some degree over the RAW (Rules-As-Written). Each DM is strongly encouraged to study them carefully before allowing them into their own campaign.

As written (in Swords & Wizardry), natural healing restores 1 hit point per day of uninterrupted rest. And four weeks of uninterrupted rest and recuperation will restore a character to full hit points, regardless of damage taken.

Extrapolating from this, we have integrated the following rules into our home campaigns. We call these rules, the Four Weekly Stages of Healing. They may seem complicated, but they're not. The progress of tracking healing this way is very simple and intuitive.

First Week: The character must rest uninterrupted. Any activities will re-open wounds and cause the character to begin to "bleed", losing 1 hit point per hour until the wound is properly tended to again.

Second Week: The character must rest, avoiding strenuous activities, or they will not regain any hit points for each day they are active. After the first week, a character also adds their Constitution bonus, if any, to the number of hit points they regain each week.

Third Week: The character may perform light duties and still recover hit points.

Fourth Week: The character can perform some strenuous tasks, but overexertion will negate the recovery of any hit points for that day.

Injured characters, under medical care, regain hit points at twice the rates stated above.

Using magic to accelerate the healing process works as follows. Any day which a Cure (Any) Wounds spell is cast upon the character, automatically bumps that character's level of recovery up by one week, if they are not completely healed outright. This may only happen once per day, no matter how many healing spells are cast upon the same character after the first, unless the character is healed completely.

Efficacy of spells and potions are as follows. Each day, the first spell cast upon the character, or potion imbibed, will heal the character up to the full amount of hit points allowed by its type. Any further spells or potions are reduced by half normal. This reflects the fact that magic can only do just so much per day to restore a character's health.

Click here to read Part Two of this article.