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Old 03-08-2018, 02:57 AM   #55
vicky_molokh
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Esoteric Medicine

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
I know. My point is that the way the books split the skills is dumb.

Actually, there's nothing saying that massage isn't part of Physician -- just that esoteric medicine might use it. Someone who needed long-term physiotherapy would have Maintenance (B143) that requires medical care (Physician)
Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
Physiotherapy is an optional specialisation of Physician, according to Bio-Tech, p214.
Perhaps, and yet specifically massage gets its own Professional Skill listing (and an inclusion in Esoteric Medicine). And while skills can have overlap, a single already very broad skill shouldn't appropriate all the good parts of all other remotely related skills. We don't have an all-consuming Fighting (Non-Art, Non-Sport) skill that combines all the good bits of Karate, Boxing and Brawling with none of the downsides, and we shouldn't let Physician do it either. (Unless you go with a Wildcard skill like Skullcracking and Manhandling.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
Yes, manufacturing tools is not the same as using them.

No-one would mistake orthotics for esoteric medicine. Esoteric medicine does not mean non-traditional medicine, it means medicine associated with an esoteric tradition (as noted, this usually means magical or spiritual).
Names can be non-literal in GURPS. What exactly qualifies something as an esoteric tradition as distinct from nontraditional/alternative medicine? For examples: Applied Xenology offers EM to be used to treat stun blaster hits through alternative-medicine (of the holistic sort with a weirdsciency bend). Edge of Reality offers EM use for electrotherapy-based pain management. According to the Weird Science Pyramid, medical theories not based on religious teachings are also covered in theory and practice by the Esoteric Medicine skill (and this includes quantum mechanics mysticism).
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