Hemp Bandages

[Water Bob]

Remember...this post is about the Conan RPG...we don't have very much magical healing in this game....



I'm playing a pretty neat computer roleplaying game called Arcania: Gothic 4. And, my character has come across these hemp bandages that are soaked in vinegar. Apply these, and my character regains health.

I was intrigued by this idea, so I did a quick Google and found out that hemp bandages were really used back during ancient times.

Hm...

I think these would be a good addition to the Conan game, since healing is always something that is important to the characters. And these vinegar drenched hemp bandages seem like something that my Cimmerians would probably use.

What do you think the game effect of something like this would be?

I'm thinking that, using the bandages, will give the user a choice. He can gain a +2 on his Heal check to provide Short Term Care (this modifier cannot be combined with the +2 check a character receives from using a healer's kit). Or, he can gain extra hit points for his patient.

The question would be: How many hit points are restored by using these bandages. I'm thinking, maybe, 5 points plus the number the Healer exceeded his Heal check. Thus, the Short Term Care DC is 15. If the healer rolled 17 on his check, then Short Term Care provides and extra 7 points.

I've also thought about awarding the points at one per hour. So, with the above example, the wounded character would get his normal amount of hit points returned on a successful Short Term Care Heal Check, then he would get 7 more points at a rate of 1 point per hour.



I don't have this written in stone--I'm still brainstorming. So, if you've got a better idea or want to change my idea, then let's hear it!




EDIT: On second thought, the bandages are easy to apply and really have nothing to do with the healer's ability. I'm thinking I should stick with lowing the DC by 2 points (the +2 modifier to the check that cannot be combined with a +2 modifier from using a healing kit) and/or providing a flat bonus of returned hit points not tied to the healer's skill.

What about doubling the amount of points returned from Short Term Care? Or, maybe 50% more, to a minimum of 1 hp?

Still thinking out loud.







2nd EDIT:
You know, it might be neat to come up with a lot of ideas like this. I'd make them so that won't stack--you can't use more than one method at a time to stack the modifiers, and you can't use multiples of the same item. But, each method provides a slightly different modifier.

The Healer will have to pick the best tool he has available for the job. And, because Conan is not about "drops" and finding treasure the way it is in D&D, this might add a neat little reward for the players from time to time. They don't come across potions of healing, but they find some hemp bandages and a soft leathern jack of vinegar.

And, the PCs can learn stuff as the game goes on. Down the road, and NPC might teach them about the root of the ju-ju tree. Break the root open and suck on the sap acts like a pain killer (which could restore a few hit points to a hurt character).

Some remedies could be better suited to different types of wounds than others. The ju-ju root pain killer might be the best thing for internal injuries, but the Hemp bandages actually return more hp--but the bandages are a topical agent. If there is no open wound, say as from a club or other blunt weapon, the bandages won't do diddley (you need the ju-ju root to reduce the pain on that bruise, sprain, broken rib, whatever).

Still just thinking out loud....neat idea, I think.







3rd EDIT: You know, another idea might be to use the items together to allow synergy bonuses. If I go this route, I think the thing to do is make the benefit from each type of "medicine" very small, and together, they can make a decent bonus on the injured character.

For example, let's say a character took a deep scratch across the gut from a poinard his enemy held. After the battle, when Short Term Care is being provided, the healer succeed on this Heal Check, give the injured PC the normal amount of hp, then gives him a small bonus because the healer has administered ju-ju root for the pain and then another small bonus because vinegar drenched hemp bandages were used to cove the wound after it was cleaned.

The GM could get playful with this and maybe have, from time to time, a character that is allergic to ju-ju root, or one that the root actually works well upon and gets twice the benefit.

Still thinking out loud.

 

[Ashtagon]

"Realistic" would make it a +2 on Heal checks for immediate aftercare.

"Cinematic" would make it function equal to a potion of CLW, but require two full-round actions and a DC 10 Heal check to apply (DC 15 if self-administered).

Whatever approach you take, no more than one should be usable at a time. After using one, you can't use another until either a day's rest or you take another hit.

Either way, although not common knowledge to modern day players, it would certainly be common knowledge to anyone with at least a single rank in the Heal skill. Don't make the bandages into a riddle.

 

[Empirate]

What is a Heal check? In in-game terms, it is applying vinegared hemp bandages, or pouring boiled wine on the wound and apply a mud poultice, or washing the wound and covering it with clean linen... you get the idea. The bandages are part of what you need to make a normal Heal check at all. If you don't have any, you can still rip strips of cloth off your sleeves or something to produce a makeshift tourniquet, but your check will then have to be made at a penalty of some sorts (I'd say -5 or so).

Can't pick a lock without lockpicks, can't play a tune without an instrument, can't make a sword without a forge, and can't bind a wound without bandages.

 

[Water Bob]

I tend to agree with Empirate. But, if in deed, the Heal Check is comprised of what he describes immediately above, then what is different by using the Healing Kit?

I mean, what did the Healing Kit bring to the task that earned the +2 modifier on the check?





Another thought: Do I want to limit the use of the Heal Check based on supplies?

I actually like the idea. But, of all the Conan stories I read, I never saw him carrying bandages and the like. Is that type of ruling within the spirit of the universe?

Last game session, one of the PC's got into a fight and took some damage. Nothing serious--he just lost about a fourth of this hit points before killing his foe.

I said that his enemy had used the tip of his stilletto to scratch a line across the PC's bare chest. It wasn't very deep, but blood was drawn.

After the battle, the PC wanted to perform Short Term Care on himself, and I allowed it. I asked him how he was going take care of his wound. He said use some of the water from his costrel to clean it out.

That was all he did, and I allowed the Healing Check.

Too easy? Just right for the universe? Should I not allow the check unless he does more to the wound? And, if so, then what does the Healing Kit bring to the situation?





Maybe he should have used mud as a bandage? He could have cleaned the wound, then made some fine mud by crushing it into a powder with is weapon, then smear that accross his chest?

The +2 for a heal kit or a vinegar bandage represents having the right tool for the job--a bandage instead of having to make mud?

 

[Greenfield]

The special bandages are probably one of the things in a healer's kit.

Note: Vinegar in a wound might help sterilize by killing anything that can't live in an acidic environment, but it will burn like hell. Boiled wine will have no alcohol left, and will in essence be little more than sterile vinegar.

Historically, hemp was used to make ropes and canvas (the very word "canvas" was a degenerate form of "cannabis".) Though related to marijuana, the amount of THC in the fibrous stalks used to make cloth and rope was pretty damned close to zero, so its main effectiveness was that it was strong, and you could bind it tight.

 

[kitcik]

Now, if you had masterwork hemp bandages, that would be a whole different ballgame...

 

[Ashtagon]

Yes, when I noted that "realistic" is a +2 on checks, it was I the spirit of being the perfect tool for the job (aka masterwork). You still need tools to perform a Heal check at all. But you can improvise bandages from clothing, if nothing else.

It's may well be true that you never saw him describe how he was making his Heal checks in the novels. I bet you never read about him go for a biobreak either.

 

[Visigani]

The healing should be percentage based if at all and should not heal the bandaged more than say 80% of his or her health.

Let's say I have 80 hit points and I take a greataxe to the gut and a greatsword to the spine knocking me down to 20 hitpoints. Applying bandages (and it would be a full round action) would bring me up 10% of my maximum hitpoints.

This reflects the closing of wounds, the stopping of bloodloss, and the setting of broken bones. However, bandages can only do so much and they can never completely heal you.

 

[Water Bob]

The healing should be percentage based if at all and should not heal the bandaged more than say 80% of his or her health.

The Short Term Care check returns a number of hit points equal to the character's level plus his CON modifier. I was thinking twice this amount.





Here's a question: What kind of things would be included in a Healing Kit?

Hemp bandages plus vinegar. What else?

 

[Greenfield]

There are a number of Alchemical items, such as Burn Butter, Cooling Gel and Gash Glue that would seem appropriate. But, since I don't know the price of that kit off hand, I can't say that they'd fit in the budget.

So, staying non-magical and non-alchemical...

Bandages, leather cord or straps for constriction bandages, wine or strong liquor for washing wounds and pain control, oil or salve for burns, an iron knife (blunt) to be heated and used for cauterization, aromatic herbs that can be crushed to use as smelling salts. (I'm thinking stinkweed or skunk cabbage in a sealed container, but it's up to you.). I'd also include needle and gut to succor wounds, and a pair of pincer/cutters for removing arrow heads.