[Dungeon Fantasy] Esoteric Medicine and First Aid?

[StormCrow42]

I'm afraid I've found a bit of minor errata in DF1. Since First Aid defaults directly to Esoteric Medicine, at the levels listed for both the Cleric (where it's a required skill) and the Druid (for which it's optional), First Aid should be credited as improved from the default 14 base of Esoteric Medicine and be credited as IQ+1 [1**]-15 instead of IQ [1]-14. Or of course not included at all, although the first couple of levels of improvement over the Per-based Esoteric Medicine are cheaper than buying EM up further directly.

[Bruno]

The way I went with it, after reading what DF uses Esoteric Medicine for, was saying "First aid doesn't default to Esoteric Medicine. It DOES default to physician, but players aren't doctors so no PC actually cares."

Esoteric Medicine is for realigning your chi, balancing your four natural humours to align with the elements, or treating maladies of the spirit, not for paltry little things like cuts or broken bones. ;)

This may or may not have been the intention. Either way it could do with a clarification or correction or something.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Bruno

The way I went with it, after reading what DF uses Esoteric Medicine for, was saying "First aid doesn't default to Esoteric Medicine. It DOES default to physician, but players aren't doctors so no PC actually cares."

Esoteric Medicine is for realigning your chi, balancing your four natural humours to align with the elements, or treating maladies of the spirit, not for paltry little things like cuts or broken bones. ;)

This may or may not have been the intention. Either way it could do with a clarification or correction or something.

The pattern was repeated for the Holy Warrior template, as well. That makes me think that a distinction, like you suggest, may have been intended. If you want to keep it completely compatible with Basic, putting the extra point back into First Aid seems very reasonable.

[Kromm]

I did indeed deliberately separate First Aid from Esoteric Medicine, but I sure wasn't using up a paragraph to explain two skills! The short version is that the first needs bandages ($10, 1 lb.) or a first-aid kit ($50, 2 lbs.), which are cheap, light, and available anywhere, while the second needs a healer's kit ($200, 10 lbs.), which is costly, heavy, and esoteric. However, Esoteric Medicine can also do everything Physician can do, and cure weird conditions besides. A cleric ought to have both.

[StormCrow42]

Originally Posted by Kromm

I did indeed deliberately separate First Aid from Esoteric Medicine, but I sure wasn't using up a paragraph to explain two skills! The short version is that the first needs bandages ($10, 1 lb.) or a first-aid kit ($50, 2 lbs.), which are cheap, light, and available anywhere, while the second needs a healer's kit ($200, 10 lbs.), which is costly, heavy, and esoteric. However, Esoteric Medicine can also do everything Physician can do, and cure weird conditions besides. A cleric ought to have both.

Does that mean that First Aid shouldn't default to Esoteric Medicine? Otherwise you can at least use your first aid default with your bandages and first aid kit (and run into the issue again of buying first aid up from default for the Cleric and Druid, the Holy Warrior's first aid skill is better than his esoteric medicine default would be).

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by StormCrow42

Does that mean that First Aid shouldn't default to Esoteric Medicine? Otherwise you can at least use your first aid default with your bandages and first aid kit (and run into the issue again of buying first aid up from default for the Cleric and Druid, the Holy Warrior's first aid skill is better than his esoteric medicine default would be).

Yeah, this is an important point for my campaign which is starting Real Soon Now when DF3 arrives (and also impacts on the data file I'm making for GCA incidentally).

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by StormCrow42

Does that mean that First Aid shouldn't default to Esoteric Medicine?

At least so far as Dungeon Fantasy is concerned, that seems to be the case.

...the Holy Warrior's first aid skill is better than his esoteric medicine default would be).

Oops... yeah, I overlooked the amount of points he was putting into EM :*|