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Old 07-08-2015, 06:17 AM   #1
WaterAndWindSpirit
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Default dropping a US Marine Medic in a med-fan setting

Hello all!

So let's suppose a present day US Marine medic is quietly reading a book in the barracks, with only his Battle Dress Uniform, when a flash of light brings him in a medieval fantasy town. He doesn't know how to read the characters of his book anymore, but he now knows how to read the characters of the street signs and so on of the locale he was dropped in.

Setting aside the typical US Marine Medic abilities (very fit, possibly combat reflexes, combat skills, medical skills, and everything a modern soldier will be having), what are his likely advantages and disadvantages?

High TL is probably a given, Dead Broke since he doesn't have his gear nor access to his money anymore, Mundane Background (He'll be baffled at the 1st barbarian rage, the 1st mage casting a spell, the first bard captivating a crowd with a song, and so on), he won't have Rank since nobody there will recognize the rank he had back home, but what did I miss? (Assume he's not an RPG player and as such has no idea whatsoever what is awaiting him.)
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Old 07-08-2015, 06:38 AM   #2
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Default Re: dropping a US Marine Medic in a med-fan setting

Sounds to me like although his Language(s) got switched, his Cultural Familiarity did not. So there will be the -3 to social skills for not knowing the local customs.
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Old 07-08-2015, 06:39 AM   #3
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Default Re: dropping a US Marine Medic in a med-fan setting

One important correction: AFAICT, US Marines don't have medics, they have US Navy Corpsmen.
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Old 07-08-2015, 07:25 AM   #4
Culture20
 
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Default Re: dropping a US Marine Medic in a med-fan setting

Being TL8 without access to TL8 tech or starting funds is actually a disadvantage and should be priced accordingly (look at the skill penalties to use TL3-4 tech with TL8 skills).
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Old 07-08-2015, 07:40 AM   #5
WaterAndWindSpirit
 
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Default Re: dropping a US Marine Medic in a med-fan setting

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Originally Posted by Culture20 View Post
Being TL8 without access to TL8 tech or starting funds is actually a disadvantage and should be priced accordingly (look at the skill penalties to use TL3-4 tech with TL8 skills).
Depends. 1st, he can have the physician skill which explicitly doesn't take TL penalties.

Second, if we took a Combat Engineer instead, I'm sure he could get creative with lower TL tools, he would surely take familiarity penalties, but a TL8 combat engineer could probably make improvised explosives with medieval tech and resources. Knowledge of engineering, chemistry and physics could be useful. Surely a TL8 engineer could craft a parachute or a glider even with low tech tools if he understands the principles behind those items. Okay, that's a tangent since I was talking about a medic, not a combat engineer, but check up Dungeon Keeper Ami if you wanna know what creative applications you can get out of TL8 knowledge combined with magic in a fantasy setting (A parachute, a gem furnace to fuel her dungeon heart, destroying an underwater dungeon by filling it with summoned Chlorine Trifluoride...).
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Old 07-08-2015, 07:42 AM   #6
lachimba
 
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Default Re: dropping a US Marine Medic in a med-fan setting

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Originally Posted by Culture20 View Post
Being TL8 without access to TL8 tech or starting funds is actually a disadvantage and should be priced accordingly (look at the skill penalties to use TL3-4 tech with TL8 skills).
100% incorrect. If I go from tech level 8 to work with TL 3 locals I don't have a disadvantage.

Instead you choose the base tech level of the campaign (in this case likely 3 instead of 8) then you work out the advantages and disadvantages.

Also physician can be used as TL 5 with no equipment.
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Old 07-08-2015, 08:40 AM   #7
Culture20
 
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Default Re: dropping a US Marine Medic in a med-fan setting

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Originally Posted by lachimba View Post
100% incorrect. If I go from tech level 8 to work with TL 3 locals I don't have a disadvantage.

Instead you choose the base tech level of the campaign (in this case likely 3 instead of 8) then you work out the advantages and disadvantages.

Also physician can be used as TL 5 with no equipment.
I refer you to page 168 in Basic. To use Engineering/TL8 with TL3 tools, you will incur a -9 penalty to your skill roll. No computers, no calculators, no drafting tables, no reference manuals, etc. And that's before determining any other modifiers for task difficulty, equipment quality, time spent... Using Engineering/TL8 with improvised (-5) TL3 tools (-9) to design a giant wooden badger (Easy +5) in 1/10 the time (-9) is at a -18 to draw his designs with charcoal on the stone nearby. Someone with Engineering/TL3 and access to actual TL3 equipment might have quills, parchment, an abacus, right angle, compass, etc. and would use their good quality (+1) TL3 tools (+0) to design the same giant wooden badger (+5) n 1/10 the time (-9) for a final -3 penalty. The TL8 person is at a significant disadvantage to all technical skills unless they know the appropriate low tech skills to fabricate normal quality TL8 tools. Otherwise, their best quality TL8 tools will eventually be improvised, which will get them only a -5 penalty instead of the -9 for using TL3 tools.

In terms of combat, the medic might be basically trained in brawling, judo, knife, and staff. Give him a background as a recreational bow-hunter if you want a little extra survival advantage. I don't know if the Hippocratic Oath is followed by military doctors/medics, but that would surely limit combat effectiveness.
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Old 07-08-2015, 08:51 AM   #8
johndallman
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Default Re: dropping a US Marine Medic in a med-fan setting

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Originally Posted by Culture20 View Post
I don't know if the Hippocratic Oath is followed by military doctors/medics...
Actual doctors with medical degrees, yes. But doctors don't normally go out on the front line with the troops. Military corpsmen/"medics" have a lot of training, and ones who serve with Marines have combat training, but they don't have medical degrees.

Last edited by johndallman; 07-08-2015 at 08:52 AM. Reason: clarify
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Old 07-08-2015, 09:47 AM   #9
Tomsdad
 
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Default Re: dropping a US Marine Medic in a med-fan setting

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Originally Posted by Culture20 View Post
... I don't know if the Hippocratic Oath is followed by military doctors/medics, but that would surely limit combat effectiveness.
leaving aside the Hippocratic oath is only for those with medical degrees, and we're talking about medics.

I don't think the Hippocratic oath covers situations that don't involve medical treatment.
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Old 07-08-2015, 11:08 AM   #10
RyanW
 
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Default Re: dropping a US Marine Medic in a med-fan setting

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Originally Posted by Culture20 View Post
I refer you to page 168 in Basic.
IDHMBWM, but I believe Physician is a specific exception.
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