Durzan
2018-03-26, 11:32 PM
I have reworked the heal skill to be a tad bit more useful, particularly in campaigns where the players have little or no access to healing spells. I'd like to hear your thoughts on it below.
Heal (Wis)
You are skilled at tending to the ailments of others.
Identify Drugs or Pharmaceuticals (Trained Only): You may use the the Heal skill to identify Drugs and Pharmaceuticals.
Detect Contagion (Trained Only): You may use the heal skill to attempt to identify the source of poison or disease. Success allows you to detect the disease or poison as though you had cast Detect Poison on the subject. Failure by 5 or more indicates you misidentify the source. The DC varies based on the circumstance.
Stabilize: As a Standard Action, you may make a Heal check (Base DC 10 + Number of HP Below Zero) in order to save a dying character. If a character has negative hit points and is losing hit points (at the rate of 1 per round, 1 per hour, or 1 per day), you can stabilize the character. A stable character regains no hit points but stops losing them.
If you have at least 1 rank in the Heal skill, then a Heal Check made to stabilize a character allows that character to regain 1 HP for every 2 points by which your check exceeds the DC. The damage healed by stabilizing them cannot heal a person above 1 HP.
You may only use this feature if someone is unconscious and dying.
First Aid (Trained Only): You may make a Heal Check (Base DC 15) in order to immediately treat a person’s wounds. If you succeed on the check, your patient recovers a number of HP equal to 1d8 + your Wisdom Modifier (Minimum of +1). In addition, for every two points by which your check result exceeds the DC, the patient converts 1 additional point of damage into 1 point of non-lethal damage. Failing the check by 5 or more instead deals 1d8 points of damage to the patient.
Treating someone with First Aid requires you to spend one use of a Healers Kit, and takes a full minute to successfully accomplish. Attempting to give someone First Aid without the use of a Healer’s Kit incurs a -2 penalty to the check. A character may attempt to give someone First Aid as a full round action, but doing so incurs a -5 penalty to the check.
A patient may normally only receive the benefit from first aid once per encounter. Any additional attempts at first aid beyond this prove to be ineffectual.
Surgery (Trained Only): A character with at least 5 ranks in the Heal skill may make a Heal Check (Base DC 20) in order to put the subject into a relaxing state of temporary unconsciousness, allowing the patient to be treated more effectively. This ability otherwise functions similarly to First Aid, but allows you to heal an amount of damage equal to 3d8 + your Wisdom Modifier (Minimum of +1). In addition, for every point by which your check result exceeds the DC, the patient converts 1 point of damage into non-lethal damage.
Treating someone via Surgery requires you to spend two uses of a Healers Kit, and takes a full 10 minutes to successfully accomplish. A character may attempt to rush the surgery attempt in half the amount of time, but doing so incurs a -5 penalty to the check.
A patient may normally only receive the benefits of surgery once in a 24 hour period. Any additional attempts prove to be ineffectual.
Treat Wound from Caltrop, Spike Growth, or Spike Stones: A creature wounded by stepping on a caltrop moves at one-half normal speed. A successful Heal Check (Base DC 15) removes this movement penalty.
A creature wounded by a spike growth or spike stones spell must succeed on a Reflex save or take injuries that reduce his speed by one-third. Another character may remove this penalty by taking 10 minutes to dress the victim’s injuries and succeeding on a Heal check against the spell’s save DC.
Treat Poison or Disease: As a Standard Action, you may tend to a single character who has been poisoned and who is going to take more damage from the poison (or suffer some other effect). Every time the poisoned character makes a saving throw against the poison, you make a Heal check. The poisoned character uses your check result or his or her saving throw, whichever is higher.
Treating a disease functions similarly to treating a poison, but doing so is a little more complicated, requiring 10 minutes of work instead of a single standard action.
The DC for the Heal Check is the same as the save DC of the relevant Poison or Disease.
Long-Term Care: By making a successful Heal Check (Base DC 15) each day you care for a wounded person, you may double their recovery time. As long as your Heal Checks are successful, the patient recovers hit points or ability score points (lost to ability damage) at twice the normal rate: 2 HP per level for a full 8 hours of rest in a day, or 4 HP per level for each full day of complete rest; 2 ability score points for a full 8 hours of rest in a day, or 4 ability score points for each full day of complete rest.
If you beat a Heal Check (Base DC 25), all patients recover all HP in a 36 hour period instead of doubling their recovery time like normal.
You may tend more than one patient at the same time, but each additional patient beyond the first five increases the DC by 2 (All patients are affected by the results of the DC). You need a few items and supplies (bandages, salves, and so on) that are easy to come by in settled lands. Giving long-term care counts as light activity for the healer. You cannot give long-term care to yourself.
Heal (Wis)
You are skilled at tending to the ailments of others.
Identify Drugs or Pharmaceuticals (Trained Only): You may use the the Heal skill to identify Drugs and Pharmaceuticals.
Detect Contagion (Trained Only): You may use the heal skill to attempt to identify the source of poison or disease. Success allows you to detect the disease or poison as though you had cast Detect Poison on the subject. Failure by 5 or more indicates you misidentify the source. The DC varies based on the circumstance.
Stabilize: As a Standard Action, you may make a Heal check (Base DC 10 + Number of HP Below Zero) in order to save a dying character. If a character has negative hit points and is losing hit points (at the rate of 1 per round, 1 per hour, or 1 per day), you can stabilize the character. A stable character regains no hit points but stops losing them.
If you have at least 1 rank in the Heal skill, then a Heal Check made to stabilize a character allows that character to regain 1 HP for every 2 points by which your check exceeds the DC. The damage healed by stabilizing them cannot heal a person above 1 HP.
You may only use this feature if someone is unconscious and dying.
First Aid (Trained Only): You may make a Heal Check (Base DC 15) in order to immediately treat a person’s wounds. If you succeed on the check, your patient recovers a number of HP equal to 1d8 + your Wisdom Modifier (Minimum of +1). In addition, for every two points by which your check result exceeds the DC, the patient converts 1 additional point of damage into 1 point of non-lethal damage. Failing the check by 5 or more instead deals 1d8 points of damage to the patient.
Treating someone with First Aid requires you to spend one use of a Healers Kit, and takes a full minute to successfully accomplish. Attempting to give someone First Aid without the use of a Healer’s Kit incurs a -2 penalty to the check. A character may attempt to give someone First Aid as a full round action, but doing so incurs a -5 penalty to the check.
A patient may normally only receive the benefit from first aid once per encounter. Any additional attempts at first aid beyond this prove to be ineffectual.
Surgery (Trained Only): A character with at least 5 ranks in the Heal skill may make a Heal Check (Base DC 20) in order to put the subject into a relaxing state of temporary unconsciousness, allowing the patient to be treated more effectively. This ability otherwise functions similarly to First Aid, but allows you to heal an amount of damage equal to 3d8 + your Wisdom Modifier (Minimum of +1). In addition, for every point by which your check result exceeds the DC, the patient converts 1 point of damage into non-lethal damage.
Treating someone via Surgery requires you to spend two uses of a Healers Kit, and takes a full 10 minutes to successfully accomplish. A character may attempt to rush the surgery attempt in half the amount of time, but doing so incurs a -5 penalty to the check.
A patient may normally only receive the benefits of surgery once in a 24 hour period. Any additional attempts prove to be ineffectual.
Treat Wound from Caltrop, Spike Growth, or Spike Stones: A creature wounded by stepping on a caltrop moves at one-half normal speed. A successful Heal Check (Base DC 15) removes this movement penalty.
A creature wounded by a spike growth or spike stones spell must succeed on a Reflex save or take injuries that reduce his speed by one-third. Another character may remove this penalty by taking 10 minutes to dress the victim’s injuries and succeeding on a Heal check against the spell’s save DC.
Treat Poison or Disease: As a Standard Action, you may tend to a single character who has been poisoned and who is going to take more damage from the poison (or suffer some other effect). Every time the poisoned character makes a saving throw against the poison, you make a Heal check. The poisoned character uses your check result or his or her saving throw, whichever is higher.
Treating a disease functions similarly to treating a poison, but doing so is a little more complicated, requiring 10 minutes of work instead of a single standard action.
The DC for the Heal Check is the same as the save DC of the relevant Poison or Disease.
Long-Term Care: By making a successful Heal Check (Base DC 15) each day you care for a wounded person, you may double their recovery time. As long as your Heal Checks are successful, the patient recovers hit points or ability score points (lost to ability damage) at twice the normal rate: 2 HP per level for a full 8 hours of rest in a day, or 4 HP per level for each full day of complete rest; 2 ability score points for a full 8 hours of rest in a day, or 4 ability score points for each full day of complete rest.
If you beat a Heal Check (Base DC 25), all patients recover all HP in a 36 hour period instead of doubling their recovery time like normal.
You may tend more than one patient at the same time, but each additional patient beyond the first five increases the DC by 2 (All patients are affected by the results of the DC). You need a few items and supplies (bandages, salves, and so on) that are easy to come by in settled lands. Giving long-term care counts as light activity for the healer. You cannot give long-term care to yourself.