Infection
Sanitary conditions in fantasy/medieval societies are rarely better than horrible.
Compounding these sanitary conditions is the relatively long time required before medical
treatment of a wound is available.
- Wound infection is treated initially with cleansing and packing of the wound.
Elimination of an indicated infection can be achieved if in the first 10 minutes of
exposure (within 10 minutes of receiving the injury) Chirurgery(1) skill is applied to
staunch the wound in a clean environment with a D3 test against Stealth. Attempting this
in the field will increase the difficulty of preventing infection substantially. Add an
extra die when clean water or dressings are unavailable. Add an additional die for all
"field" operations - those performed in the open battlefield, cave or dungeon.
Miraculous and Etheric cures will generally prevent infection within this time frame.
- Infection uncured 10 minutes after exposure must be purged chemically or etherically.
The Mend Blood therapy or Cure Disease Miracle are both effective as is the Chirurgery(3)
skill of cauterization. Some Alchemist-Physicians have produced elixirs and/or salves that
may provide a cure for such infections, these would be at the discretion of the GM.
Effects of Infection
The effect of untreated (or untreatable) infection in reality depends on the particular
type of infection suffered. Trying to track half-a-dozen common infections would be
extremely difficult in the game setting, and not particularly useful. Modeling infection
is simplified into two degrees.
| Moderate Infection |
This infection brings on fever, sweats and weakness that diminishes the victims
physical, mental and etheric capabilities by 25% for the duration of the illness. Natural
recovery from moderate infection requires 10 days, after which a D3 test is made against
Constitution. Success indicates that the fever "breaks" and full recovery is
completed in Constitution/5 days.This infection can be cured at any time during this ten
day period through the aforementioned Cure Disease Miracle or the Mend Blood Therapy.
Medicinal "Leaching" or "Bleeding" can increase the Constitution score
(for purposes of this test only) by one point per day performed but the characters
capabilities are diminished to 1/2 normal beginning on the first day of leaching and
recovery time is doubled. Failure of the Constitution test indicates the onset of a
Serious Infection (see below) |
| Serious Infection |
When a wound is allowed to fester open in a moist environment (battlefield, dungeon,
forest floor, etc.) for 24 hours without treatment, in all probability the infection is
Gangrene. Radical amputation of the effected extremities or limb, a Chirurgery(4) skill,
may stop the spread of the infection (D4 test against Stealth). Mend Blood will
"pause" the spread of the infection for as long as the castor desires to
maintain the spell, but will not cure it. It pretty much takes a miracle, Cure Disease to
be exact, to cure the infection outright. |
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