Jane Williams on healers usefulness

From: Mafalda e Sirgio Mascarenhas <sermasalmeida_at_mail.telepac.pt>
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 10:47:03 +0100

Jane Williams:
> what is there left for a healer to do for them? (...)
> As far as I can see, all that's left is poison antidotes and curing=20
> broo-related diseases. And most parties will deal with this by buying=20
> antidotes before they leave town, or rushing back to the healing =
temple=20
> at the first sign of trouble.

A possibility is to turn the healer into the center of the action. = Suppose that a new disease (maybe of chaotic origin) emerged and is = starting to spread. Since it's new, no existing healing is able to deal = with it. So enters the healer: he has to research and discover the cure = for it. If you want to had a realy nasty turn to the situation, make the = player carachters cathch the disease first and them start to tell = describe them the its progression (and its very nasty consequences). = They will know that their time is counted if the healer doesn't finish = is job quickly. Make them locate the place where everithing started, = make them deal with the diseased and with the people behind this, make = them deal with the research process ("hum, we know already that we need = blue winter flowers to prepare the medecine. Does anybody know where we = can find the dam flowers?").
Possible sources of inspiration? Crychton's 'Congo'; Camus' 'La Peste'; = thousands of sci-fi books and television serials. If you play-it as a campaign, you can turn your healer into the center = of the action for months or even years of game play.

The problem with my previous proposal Jane is that you can use it only = once with a certain set of players. what about ongoing campains and = scenarios?
- - First, the art of healing is not a farmaceutical science. By this I = mean that medecine are unreliable to a certain extent and that the = quality of potions vary widelly. If PCs buy antidotes before they leave = town, they will risk to take with them some completely unuseful potion. = Was the antidote-maker competent? Did he use the best ingredients? Isn't = it spoiled? Will the potion survive the hardships of the voyage = (different temperatures, shaking, etc.)? If players have some bad = experiences with buyed potions, they will start to understand the value = of a healer.
- - Second, assume that there are differences in time: diseases change = over time so that an old potion can no longer be effective to the = disease or poison (like influenza which requires a new vaccine every = year).
- - Third, assume that there are differences in space: the local healer = knows how to deal with the local diseases and poisons but is unable to = provide potions with more generic efficacy. - - Forth, make the way the medecine is administred a skill in itself. = Something like: "to counter disease X you must combine these two potions = in the exact measure while chanting the song of apease fever", or: "you = must apply this ailment but be sure not to apply to much or it will = worsen the effects of the poison and not to apply to few or it will be = enefective."

Best,

Sergio Mascarenhas

---