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 are trained in providing battlefield aid to casualties rather than the neat and precise work of a Chirugeon operating in a medbay or operating theatre - they are the Field Medics and Chop-Docs of the Imperium specialised in the rapid treatment of casualties on the battlefield or on the streets.

A Medicae can;

• Spend 30s restoring another's limbs (not their own) disabled by the calls of Rend Bolt or Boom by appropriate roleplay to 'heal' them enough to fight through these injuries (eg, pouring a hip flask over a burn, popping their arm back into joint)
  • Or to remove the effect of Bolt Burn Boom or Sunder that prevents the target from recovering Endurance (except to recover to 1 from Bleeding).

• 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 on Bleeding characters but can only treat Complications that offer a Medicae Intervention or Quick Fixsolution.

Chirurgeons

Chirugeons are medical professionals who are trained work in operating theatres and medical bays rather than having a battlefield role - in the Inquisition they do not solely fulfil the role of healers and carers but sometimes are called on to carry out autopsies and detailed medical examinations.

• Spend a period of Recuperation restoring another's limbs (not their own) disabled by the calls of Rend Bolt or Boom by appropriate roleplay to 'heal' and fully mend their wounds (eg. Applying wound dressings or )
  • Or to remove the effect of Bolt Burn Boom or Sunder that prevents the target from recovering Endurance (except to recover to 1 from Bleeding).
  • Or accomplish this in 30s if they are in a Medbay.

• They can perform Triage on Bleeding characters and treat Complications that offer a Quick Fix or Medicae Intervention solution.
  • In a Medbay may re-do a failed Power Test. They may not use this again until they have Recuperated.
  • Can perform Proper Procedures and resolve lasting effects of Medicae Intervention in a Medbay

• Can after speaking with the Game Team perform other medical procedures with access to a Medbay including but not limited to; Installation of bionics (with the aid of a Tech Priest), Conducting Autopsies.

Power Tests

Several traits and abilities request that a character performs a Power Test - this is a test with a 25% chance of failure. In the case of Medical characters this MUST be taken at the end of the 30s of Triage to identify if a Complication Card should be drawn.

The standard suggestion for doing this is take a bag of beads and fill it with 12 beads, 9 of one colour (representing success) 3 of another (representing failure) and do a draw. But any other method capable of determining a 25% chance of failure is acceptable.

There may be conditions where this will flip and it will be a 75% chance of failure and a 25% chance of success.

Triage

• Triage requires 30 seconds of Medical Roleplay, followed by a Power Test - 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 but they are still considered to be Bleeding both during and after this process. If Triage is interrupted then the bleed count is unpaused.
• If no Complication is found the character is not too badly injured, the Medicae or Chirugeon can call Get it Together.
• 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 test as a Pass.
• A character with a complication is considered Bleeding but in a stable state where their bleed count is reset to 0 and remains paused unless they take damage or a Complication says so.
• You must resolve the Complication in order for the character to be returned to a healthy state, this is called Surgery.

Medical Complications Deck

When a Medicae or Chirugeon is performing Triage on another character and fails a Power Test they draw directly from the Medical Complications Deck each of these cards describes the exact nature of the complication that the character has encountered while healing an individual and its direct effects.

In addition it will offer one or more of three possible ways to resolve it which we call 'Surgery';

• 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 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 you may call Get it Together on the patient unless the Surgery option you have chosen specifies additional conditions and side effects of the Surgery. If a surgery card does not specify how long it takes to complete it takes 1 minute.

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.