Medikits

[Vasiliy]

Hi,

I'm new in Traveller.

How medikits work and why my PCs need them? It is strange but I found nothing about this in the core rulebook. Only some details about built-in TL10 medikit for armor.

What bonuses TL8 medikit gives? What is the diffrence between TL8 and TL9 medikits? And so on...

In which Mongoose's book I can find answers (I thought they must be in the core rulebook)?

Thanks

 

[Dave Chase]

Maybe this picture will help you visualize a medical pack of the TL 8 range

Dave Chase

 

[rust]

How medikits work and why my PCs need them?

Medikits, their differences and their use are not well defined in
Mongoose Traveller. The basic concept is that they are required
for first aid, so "no medikit, no (efficient) treatment of wounds".

 

[Vasiliy]

How medikits work and why my PCs need them?

Medikits, their differences and their use are not well defined in
Mongoose Traveller. The basic concept is that they are required
for first aid, so "no medikit, no (efficient) treatment of wounds".

Thanks,

But I did not find information that first aid is impossible without medikit.

If using of medicit is not defined in the rules (it is very strange) may be you have some homerules for them?

How medikits worked in the original Traveller?

 

[rust]

But I did not find information that first aid is impossible without medikit.

Not impossible, but certainly not efficient. According to the description
of the medikit, it is "allowing a medic to practice his art in the field", so
without a medikit he is not allowed by the rules to do it as efficiently -
at least that is how I would interpret "allowing".

As for house rules, my only rule is that a medic needs a medikit to use
his skill at average difficulty (modifier +/- 0) and that he gets a negati-
ve modifier whenever he has to work without it, with the size of the mo-
difier depending on the type of the injury and the available or improvi-
sed medical material.

 

[Vasiliy]

As for house rules, my only rule is that a medic needs a medikit to use
his skill at average difficulty (modifier +/- 0) and that he gets a negati-
ve modifier whenever he has to work without it, with the size of the mo-
difier depending on the type of the injury and the available or improvi-
sed medical material.

Thanks

What is the difference between different medikit's TLs in your homerules?

 

[rust]

What is the difference between different medikit's TLs in your homerules?

There is not much difference, except that a medikit of a certain
technology level is required to treat injuries which are unlikely
to happen or to be understood on a lower technology level. For
example, a TL 5 medikit will hardly include the specific materials
to efficiently treat a wound caused by a laser rifle or the drugs
required to deal with radiation sickness.

 

[Egil Skallagrimsson]

How medikits work and why my PCs need them?

Medikits, their differences and their use are not well defined in
Mongoose Traveller. The basic concept is that they are required
for first aid, so "no medikit, no (efficient) treatment of wounds".

Tricky one, this, because a lot effective first aid can be done without a medikit, depending on what the problem is, various improvised solutions can work just as well, or, at least, well enough to keep someone alive. So keeping the rules vague is probably a good idea.

Personally, I assume a ships locker contains first aid kits, and drop broad hints that, whenever venturing into danger, "who has the medikit?", and leave it at that unless there is a clear plot reason for the presence of a medikit.

Egil

 

[phavoc]

A good rule of thumb would be the higher the TL the medikit, the faster the person is able to recover from their damage.

A TL3 bandage will stop the bleeding like a TL 12 bandage. But the TL 12 bandage might instantly stop the pain and blood loss, add additional meds to treat for possible infections, and then begin to fast-heal the skin and underlying tissue damage. The TL3 bandage just stops the bleeding and stabilizes the person.

But you are right that the rules really don't go too much into depth on any of that. It's generally been more of however the ref and players want to handle it.

Just keep in mind how just a single TL in the real world has made a difference between life or death when it comes to medicine. I would expect the PC's to always have a well-stocked TL14-15 medkit in their gear... especially when it comes to ref's who like the action fast and furious.

 

[DickTurpin]

But I did not find information that first aid is impossible without medikit.

If using of medicit is not defined in the rules (it is very strange) may be you have some homerules for them?

The only rule I can recall off hand is in the Skills and Tasks section under Situational Modifiers on page 49. "If a character has help, such as good tools. . ." (e.g. a Medikit for first aid) ". . .he receives a +1 DM to his skill check."

So it is not required but is very helpful. Since you want a good effect on a Medic roll, the +1 DM translates directly into regained characteristic points.

 

[Vasiliy]

Example on page 48

"Yuri (Intelligence 9, Medic 2) is trying to apply fi rst aid to a wounded
ally. First Aid uses his Intelligence DM of +1, plus his Medic skill
level of 2 for a total DM of +3. Yuri’s player rolls 2d6 and adds 3. If
the total is 8 or more, then he has successfully applied fi rst aid."

So, no bonus from medikit, or First Aid can be apply without medikit.

But on page 56

"First aid: Education, 1–6 minutes, Average (+0). The patient regains
lost characteristic points equal to the Effect."

On page 48 First Aid uses Intelligence, on page 56 - Education.

On page 61 - First Aid is significant action (up to 6 seconds), on page 56 - 1-6 minutes. Strange...

 

[hdan]

Yeah, I don't feel that MgT does a very solid job of outlining how to do first aid.

The Central Supply Catalog mentions what amounts to an "improvised medkit", gathered from whatever is around (ripped of piece of shirt, etc.) giving your Medical roll a -1, so if you accept CSC (and not everyone does), then it's reasonable to conclude:

If you don't have ANY supplies, you can't do first aid.
If you can scrounge something to make a bandage from, you roll at -1
If you have a real medkit, you can perform first aid as usual.
If you have an advanced medkit, you get a +1.

However, I would go this way:
No supplies, Very Difficult Medical, Edu
Improvised supplies, Difficult Medical, Edu
Medkit, Average Medical, Edu
Advanced Medkit, Routine Medical, Edu

Doing First Aid on yourself always makes it 1 level harder, and remember that others can do things to assist your roll. (Like maybe find a frickin' piece of cloth to use as a bandage, or make an Athletics(Strength) check to hold down your patient while you remove the bullet. You might even let the patient make an Athletics(Endurance) check)

I think of First Aid is more Education based (it's all about training, not necessarily problem solving skills - or at least it seemed that way back in Boy Scouts, LOL), whereas Surgery might be Int or Dex based. (Dex for "knives and forceps", Int for computer-assisted VR laser rigs.)

 

[Vasiliy]

How many times a first aid can be applied to person per battle?

 

[Wil Mireu]

How many times a first aid can be applied to person per battle?

I'd say think about how real First Aid works.

Personally, I'd say once unless it's really minor. Gunshot and stab wounds aren't really the sort of thing you can just patch up with first aid and send them out into battle again. And it takes time to apply bandages and splints and so on.

 

[Vasiliy]

How many times a first aid can be applied to person per battle?

I'd say think about how real First Aid works.

Personally, I'd say once unless it's really minor. Gunshot and stab wounds aren't really the sort of thing you can just patch up with first aid and send them out into battle again. And it takes time to apply bandages and splints and so on.

Yes, it is common sense.

But how itis workinfg in the rules? I did not see any limitations. And time is 5 seconds in the combat.

And how you guys use First Aid in your games? No limitations? Or some houserules?

 

[alex_greene]

I wrote a whole article on this kind of thing a while back, for Signs & Portents magazine.

The section on medicinal drugs in Traveller Core Rulebook is cursory. It should really have been given as much prominence as the section on different kinds of firearms. Every drug has a different effect, and it can be useful to know that a medikit is stocked with stimulants, sedatives, an IV setup with a saline drip, a broad-spectrum antibiotic shot and immune system booster, swabs, hyposprays, local anaesthetic and a general anaesthetic to knock out a patient preparatory to performing field surgery on that bullet wound to the abdomen.

You never know when the ship's medic might need to whip out a vial of TL 10 Hypnosomnoline from his medikit to jab into the neck of the crazed hijacker waving a gun around in the ship's common passenger area.

 

[Egil Skallagrimsson]

If you don't have ANY supplies, you can't do first aid.

No, it is the knowledge which matters, a lot of first aid is applying that knowledge in the correct way in a timely manner, so, CPR, dealing with epileptic fits, heatstroke etc requires no specialist equipment, wounds can be plugged with whatever comes to hand, sling and splints improvised out of any available textiles or lengths of resistant material etc. Medikits are convenient, and the bigger ones come handy if your "first aid" moves onto field surgery etc (when they would be required), but for simple first aid you don't really need a kit.

If you are ever unfortunate enough to be injured, the last person you need is someone with a big medikit but no idea what to do.

Egil

 

[hdan]

No, it is the knowledge which matters, a lot of first aid is applying that knowledge in the correct way in a timely manner, so, CPR, dealing with epileptic fits, heatstroke etc requires no specialist equipment, wounds can be plugged with whatever comes to hand, sling and splints improvised out of any available textiles or lengths of resistant material etc. Medikits are convenient, and the bigger ones come handy if your "first aid" moves onto field surgery etc (when they would be required), but for simple first aid you don't really need a kit.

I don't disagree at all, though even dealing with fits or heatstroke demand some available objects or at least shade, which in some scifi environments (barren moons, under-construction space habitats, etc.) could be nearly unattainable. But of course as you say, it's almost always the case that you can improvise the tools you need from the environment, so barring Referee fiat settings, I figure you'll be at "one harder" difficulty level if you don't have a real medkit.

Field surgery would suffer the most from a lack of medkit, though improvisation is always an option. The "knife and straw tracheotomy" is a prime example.