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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 5685502" data-attributes="member: 92305">I want to get more into roleplaying wounds in my game. Instead of saying, "Oh, that dude's at -4 HP. Roll to stabilize him. And that other dude is at 3 HP. Roll for Short Term Care to give him some more hit points." I'm not really addressing magical healing, here, so let's ignore that for the moment. I'm curious as to what is really happening when a character makes a Heal check to stabilize another, or what it means when a character makes a Heal check for Short Term Care. It easier to think of how to treat a gash or a puncture. A character can stop the bleeding. Poor water over the wound to clean it out. Maybe stitch up a slice or a gash. Put something on the wound for infection. And, maybe make a bandage. But, what about blunt force trauma? The result of many blunt weapon attacks? If you see a guy who's been knocked in the side of the head with a club and his right eye is swollen, how would you treat that given a typical fantasy universe (and no magic)? I'm thinking that you'd get something cold on it to reduce the swelling. Maybe mud wrapped in a cloth. Maybe your waterskin, if cold water is nearby. And, maybe the character knows of a certain plant or root that, when chewed on, will numb the senses and deal with the pain.     What I'm looking for is some brainstorming ideas on how to deal with wounds. Do you have any creative ideas? Describe a wound result from combat, then describe how a character could deal with the issue. For example: Freddor is lying, face down, in the mud when Beorin gets to him. Flipping Freddor on his back, Beorin sees that Freddor is conscious, breathing shallowly, and seems to have taken a blow to the chest. Removing Freddor's leather armor, Beorin sees some gash wounds--piercings to the chest cavity. Beorin knows that Freddor must have taken a blow to the chest from one of those orcish spiked clubs. The first thing Beorin does is use water from his skin to clean out the puncture wounds. Next, takes off his cloak, cuts it into strips with his knife, then wraps Freddor's chest, tightly, in case there are broken ribs. And, lastly, Breorin goes looking for hollin seeds that drop from the trees in this area. Finding a few, he uses the end of this knife to crush them up into a paste-like concoction after adding a little water. With this, he places between Freddor's cheek and gum, telling Freddor suck on its juices. Beorin knows the seeds will help with the pain. And, at this point, Beorin has earned his Heal Check on Freddor for Short Term Care.     I know that a lot of you gamers don't like to deal with this type of thing, and that's fine. I think it can be an exciting part of the game (the reason medical shows on TV are so popular), and I'd like to see my players stopping to gather hollin seeds when the see them or carrying stuff to be used First Aid in their packs.   So, what I'm looking for from you is different, creative ideas on how to deal with wounds received in the game (but don't use magic--that cures everything with little explaination needed).  So, what do you think? Got any ideas/examples of treating wounds in a fantasy setting?</blockquote>

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