Medicine

AX.GHW.04.01.03

The Medicine Talent governs medical knowledge and application in the field, emergency trauma care, forensic analysis, biological research, and supernatural physiology assessment. Wit + Medicine for research and analysis; Speed + Medicine (or Body + Medicine) for hands-on trauma care under pressure.

Core Talent: A character with Medicine and no Focus can provide basic field medicine, stabilize wounded characters, assess injuries, and conduct simple forensic analysis. They are competent across medical domains but not specialized.

Focus: Emergency Response

Scope: Field trauma care, wound stabilization, arterial bleeding, broken bones, concussion management, gunshot and blade wounds, emergency transport decisions. Everything that happens between injury and a hospital.

Mechanical Effects:

+1D to Medicine rolls for trauma care in the field
The character can stabilize a character at 0 Health as a Primary Action (normally takes a Full Round Action). Stabilized characters are not recovering, but they are not dying.
With 2D+ in this Focus: the character's field treatment can restore up to 5 Health to a wounded character per scene (Wit + Medicine vs Threshold 2, requires basic medical supplies). This represents proper wound management rather than just stabilization.

Practical Notes: The most combat-relevant Medicine Focus. Teams without an Emergency Response specialist suffer significantly higher post-combat attrition.

Focus: Forensics

Scope: Crime scene analysis, cause of death determination, evidence interpretation, wound pattern analysis, trace evidence collection, toxicology assessment, differentiating natural from supernatural cause.

Mechanical Effects:

+1D to Medicine rolls for scene analysis and evidence interpretation
The character can determine cause of death and estimate time of death without laboratory equipment (Wit + Medicine vs Threshold 2 for straightforward cases; Threshold 3–4 for complex or supernaturally complicated deaths)
With 2D+ in this Focus: the character can distinguish supernatural from conventional cause in wound and death evidence without ambiguity (Wit + Medicine vs Threshold 2). They can also identify when evidence has been altered or staged, when someone has tried to make a supernatural death look natural, or vice versa

Practical Notes: Investigation-primary characters benefit greatly from Forensics Focus; it converts crime scene examination from a Lore+Notice problem into a Medicine problem with appropriate bonuses.

Focus: Supernatural Physiology

Scope: The biology of non-human lineage characters and threat entities, Dhampir metabolic requirements, Skinchanger transformation physiology, Haunt biological anomalies, supernatural wound response, the physical effects of curse and possession on host bodies.

Mechanical Effects:

+1D to Medicine rolls involving non-human patients or entities
The character can assess a lineage character's current condition accurately, including supernatural conditions (Veil Strain, Blood Hunger in Dhampir, transformation stress in Skinchangers), without the character needing to self-report
With 2D+ in this Focus: the character can provide meaningful medical care to non-human patients. Without this Focus, standard medicine has reduced effectiveness on non-human lineage characters (GM discretion on severity); with it, treatment functions at full effectiveness. They can also assess whether a supernatural condition on a human (possession, curse, Veil Fracture accumulation) is worsening or stable

Practical Notes: Essential for teams that include non-human lineage characters who cannot receive standard medical care. Also highly relevant for assessing the status of possessed individuals and Veil Fracture accumulation in aberration-heavy campaigns.