Medical Treatment (Medicae & Chirugeons)

First Aid

All characters in DuD are treated as being capable enough to aid someone who is obviously bleeding, a player character may always choose not to have this ability however, if they feel it is not appropriate. This is represented by the First Aid trait, which is free for all characters

This trait lets them pause a character’s bleed count by roleplaying basic medical attention. First aid requires two hands, and the First Aider’s full attention. If the character giving First Aid is interrupted, the bleed count begins from where it left off.

Medicae and Chirugeon Training

Trained medics such as the Medicae who tend to battlefield casualties and Chirugeons who studied at the Imperium’s Medical Academies to hone their arts have a more significant role to play in treating Casualties. The individual abilities of each type of medic is covered in detail below. A character cannot use Medicae or Chirugeon on themselves.

Medicae

Medicae can perform effective medical treatment in the field and under fire;

• They can remove effects that prevent a character from regaining hits (such as the Bolt, Boom, Burn, Sunder or Null Call) or restore limbs disabled by calls and effects with 30s of Medical Roleplay - they cannot do this to themselves.
• They can perform First Aid with one hand enabling them to do it to two Bleeding casualties at the same time providing both limbs are functional. Alternatively they can continue to treat someone while using a 1-Handed weapon in their free hand, or move a casualty and keep their bleed count paused while they do so.
• They can perform Triage.
  • If they discover a Complication with a Medicae Intervention option on it they can perform Surgery to return the casualty to a healthy state.
  • They may perform a Quick Fix option if provided instruction by a nearby Chirurgeon or one talking to them via radio.

Chirurgeons

• Chirurgeons are the pinnacle of medical expertise, and with access to a proper operating theatre they can achieve almost anything.
• They can remove effects that prevent a character from regaining hits (such as the Bolt, Boom, Burn, Sunder or Null Call) or restore limbs disabled by calls and effects during a period of Recuperation - they cannot do this to themselves.
• They can perform Triage.
• Provided they have access to a Medbay, they may perform Surgery to return a casualty to good health and resolve all Complications.
• They may ask a ref and attempt experimental surgery or the installation of bionics. The latter requires the presence of a Tech-Priest (who may also be the Chirugeon).

Triage

• Triage requires 30 seconds of Medical Roleplay, followed by a Power Check - if the check is failed then a complication has been found and the treating character must draw from the Complications Deck.
• A character’s bleed count is paused while undergoing Triage. Once Triage is completed, they are on 0 Endurance but stable. Any damage call will restart their bleed count from the beginning.
• If no Complication is found the character is not too badly injured, the Medicae or Chirugeon can call On Your Feet.
• If the Check is failed then you should draw a card from the Complications Deck, read it and hand it to the patient
  • In the rare cases where a card tells you to discard it if certain conditions are not met, then you may treat the check as a Pass.
• You must resolve the Complication in order for the character to be returned to a healthy state this is called Surgery.

Performing Surgery

When a Complication is drawn from the Complication deck there will be one or more options written on it, these are;

Medicae Intervention: These can be done in the field by a Medicae. They are battlefield treatments to get a casualty on their feet, but often don’t deal with the problem entirely. They take no more than a minute of roleplay to perform.

Quick Fixes: These can be done in the field by a Chirugeon, or by a Medicae who is being given explicit instructions by one (over radio etc will count). These are quick and brutal solutions to get a casualty back on their feet but often cause more issues going forwards. They take no more than thirty seconds of roleplay to perform.

Proper Procedures: May only be performed by a Chirugeon in a Medbay. These are the correct surgical methods for dealing with injuries. They should take upwards of a few minutes of roleplay to perform.

Roleplaying Surgery

To perform any form of surgery, a Medicae or Chirurgeon must make use of tools to perform a period of roleplay treating a character’s wounds. Casualties must be given a dose of the Chem Opia in order to hold still for surgery without restraint otherwise they should be instructed to roleplay extreme pain and make a lot of noise while you work.

When surgery is completed, the treated character is restored to a healthy state with Half Endurance (round up) unless a complication specifically states otherwise. Some treatments may have additional conditions attached, be sure to inform the casualty of them.

Medbays

A Medbay is defined as a well equipped medical facility such as a small surgery or a field hospital. Medbays are set up as part of the game environment and in some cases may be deliberately absent to present a challenge to players. A medbay is usable as such if an Officio Medicae Banner is set up in the environment by the Game Team or if the Game Team tells you otherwise.

It is possible for players to bring their own Field Hospital setups with Game Team approval you must have your own Officio Medicae Banner to set up - you may ONLY set up the banner after getting approval from a member of the Game Team that your medbay is ready to take casualties.