Sorcery: Healing

Since the earliest days, those whose touch could heal have been held in highest regard. The laying on of hands by a saint, the witch's poultice, the intercession of a houngan with Legba and the caring touch of a general practitioner have all been seen as a kind of miracle. When practitioners of this Path are involved, this appellation it is not far from the truth.

The Path of Healing takes time; there are no miraculous cures, no instant regeneration of wounds and no sudden recoveries from fatal illnesses. Even the most experienced healer can only force the body to do so much; a healer normally works by accelerating the body's natural processes, by helping it do what it would normally do anyway, only faster and better. Worse, use of this Path saps the user; overuse can lead to burnout and even death. A master of the Path can bring someone back even from death's door... but the cost is often more than he can bear. Although not absolutely necessary for the use of this Path, most healers have at least some knowledge of medicine, although this may not be traditional Western medicine: Acupuncture, homeopathy, herbalism or knowledge of which spirits to propitiate and which to exorcise can all be effective to a healer who believes.

The Path of Healing can relieve pain, cure diseases, speed recovery from injuries (and heal some injuries outright), even restore sight to the blind. It cannot, however, do anything to alleviate aggravated injuries... fire, Pattern magic and acid all do things so heinous to the human (or inhuman) body that it cannot be healed in this fashion. For reasons that should be obvious, the Path of Healing cannot be used on the dead (or undead).

A sorcerer may attempt to heal any given injury, disease or condition once; if she fails or achieves only a limited success (due to skill), she may not go back and attempt to improve the situation later.

System

Roll: Manipulation + Intuition

Cost: one Willpower per injury or disease

Modifiers: -1 Difficulty of Medicine, or appropriate Lore is equal to or higher than rating in Path.

Duration: Permanent


* You can soothe a headache, backache or other minor pain. By learning to mend yourself you are able to work your art to aid small ailments in others. Subtle healing can be reached allowing the user to heal the bruised health level of your self or your patient of bashing damage. This level can also be used to map out the illnesses of the body or such details as a subjects age, sex and upon 4 successes or more all aspects of their health. Diff 6.

** Sprains, migraine headaches, flu, minor infections. You can speed the healing process by 50% or more with a little work, or you may choose to heal one bashing per success up too five health levels. This power may not be used more than once a 24 hour period on the same target. Diff 6.

*** A cure for the common cold! Broken bones and nasty wounds heal twice as fast as they would normally and without infection. You can help an incapacitated character to her feet and get her moving. The witch is now able to heal lethal damage at one per success up to four health levels (From Bruised to wound). (Diff 7). If the sorcerer so chooses he/she may also turn one point of lethal damage to one point of bashing damage to allow for easier healing per success. At this level the sorcerer is able to heal two points of bashing per each success rolled. This power may not be used more than once a 24 hour period on the same target. Diff 7.

**** Chronic diseases (asthma, arthritis, diabetes, etc.) are not beyond your care. Broken bones and severe trauma heal 50% faster than normal, and your touch banishes all but the worst pain. At this level the sorcerer is able to heal lethal damage at a rate of one level per one success rolled. This power may not be used more than once a 24 hour period on the same target. Diff 8.

***** With effort, you can cure deadly conditions (AIDS, cancer, meningitis, stroke), though it takes a lot out of you and requires weeks of treatment. When these diseases go, they're gone for good. Broken bones and major trauma heal in one to three weeks of care, and infection poses no risk as long as you're on the job. At this level he/she may choose to transfer up to the targets stamina in aggravated wounds over to lethal to aid in the healing process at a rate of one success per one wound transferred, successes beyond the stamina rating allow for one extra level to be converted. The sorcerer is able to heal lethal damage at a rate of two points per each success rolled. This power may not be used more than once a 24 hour period on the same target. (Diff 9)


Pain

You can relieve the pain of an injury, even if you cannot heal the injury itself. With 4 successes, you can reduce the task penalties from injuries by -2; with 5 successes, the patient can ignore most penalties that don't involve actual amputations - and even then, the penalties are because of the missing limb, not because it hurts.


Toxins and Diseases

With a single success, you can virtually guarantee that a patient will not suffer from secondary infections or problems as a result of disease. With greater numbers of successes, you can cure diseases or counteract exposure to poisons of a Toxin Rating equal to or below the rating listed and alleviate the symptoms of diseases one level higher (the disease is still present and could still kill the patient, but the patient gets +1 on all survival rolls and at least won't be miserable as he dies...). Recovery time is dependent on the virulence of the disease or poison, how massive the exposure was and how long the patient has already been afflicted.


Rate of Healing

Agg turned to lethal takes one day per level to heal.

Lethal heals at a rate of one per hour.

Bashing heals at a rate of one per minute.


Bashing Damage

The healer can close up minor contusions, scrapes, etc. with but a single success; the injuries fade over the course of 10-15 minutes or so. For every 2 successes spent on dealing with bashing damage, the healer can reduce the damage taken by one level (from Wounded to Injured, for example). Bashing damage that has been converted to lethal damage cannot be cured in this fashion.


Lethal Damage

Two successes lets the healer stabilize even a critcially wounded patient; the patient will not regain any levels of Health but will be safe to transport and may even be able to move about under her own power, at least a little (dependent on injuries). More successes do not actually remove health levels of damage but do cause the patient to heal at an accelerated rate; this is in addition to any benefits gained by regular medical care (so an Incapacitated patient who is being treated in a hospital by a doctor who also happens to be a healer who scores 4 successes on healing lethal damage would recover completely from her injuries in 51 days, instead of 102 (or the almost a year that it would take with no medical attention or healer intervention).


Other Injuries or Debilities

With great effort (a minimum of 4 successes needed), a healer can correct congenital defects or problems incurred after birth. Many problems are beyond the ability of even the greatest healers to cure (they cannot regenerate limbs, etc.), but they can cure bad vision or tone deafness (with 5 successes) and even some neurological conditions (6 successes). Exactly how many successes are needed, and what is beyond the scope of the Healer is up to the Storyteller.


Rituals

Healing Sleep *

The healer can place a patient in a deep, restful sleep that relaxes and revitalizes. The patient wakes from even a few hours of sleep refreshed and alert, with a clarity of thought and purpose. In game terms, the player rolls Manipulation + Intuition versus a difficulty of 6; if more than one success is rolled, the (willing) patient falls into a deep slumber. This ritual normally results in 9 hours of sleep; subtract one hour for each additional success. At the end of that sleep, the patient awakens revitalized; all bashing damage is healed, and the patient regains a point of Willpower.

Mike's Cure-All **

Although the exact version referenced here appears to date from the Chicago speakeasies of the 1920s, versions of this ritual have been around for centuries. When cast on a patient who has been drugged, poisoned or merely over-indulged, the patient immediately begins to flush any toxins in their system; depending on the length of time it's been since the toxins were introduced and the method of introduction, they might be expelled through sweat, vomiting or diarrhea, tears or some combination. This is rarely pleasant for the patient, but in the end, the toxins are removed, and any effects they may have on the patient are negated (already existing damage will not be healed, but any side effects or further damage will cease). The difficulty of this ritual is 6, and the healer must score more successes than the Toxin Rating of the drug or poison that the patient has in their system (or the highest Toxin Rating, in case of multiple drugs or poisons). This ritual can be cast as an extended task, and while it will flush out even alchemical concoctions and poisons, it does not affect vitae in any way; a ghoul will not have the vitae in his bloodstream forcibly removed, nor does it remove a blood bond.

Wakey-Wakey ***

With this ritual, a Sorcerer can revive anyone from even the deepest sleep. Even magically induced slumber can be broken with this ritual, although the caster must generate more successes than the originator of the sleeping spell did. The base difficulty of this ritual is 6; normally only a single success is needed, although someone who is drugged, is a naturally deep sleeper or is incredibly exhausted may require more successes. This ritual costs one Willpower to cast.

Revive ******

The pinnacle of understanding in the Path of Healing is the ability to bring back one that has traveled beyond Death's Door. Even masters of the Path can only call back those who have very recently died, and survival is never assured; more than once, a patient has been revived, only to succumb once again to his injuries. The healer burns two permanent Willpower and rolls against a difficulty of 9; she must achieve at least 3 successes, plus 1 additional success for every three minutes the patient has been dead (not counting the length of time the ritual takes to cast). If successful, the healer loses any remaining Willpower they may have (these points, unlike the initial two, can be regained over time), is physically exhausted and at -2 dice on all dice pools for the next week. The patient, while revived, still suffers from whatever ills killed him in the first place; if immediate medical attention is not forthcoming, he will quickly die once again.

Price of Failure

A simple failure merely means that the healer has no effect; she cannot work on this injury or disease for whatever reason. A botch, however, can be particularly horrifying in the case of this Path; stories tell of tissue surrounding a wound going hypercancerous, orifices like the mouth, nostrils, etc. suddenly "healing" themselves over, diseases going berserk and worse. The healer can also backlash the injuries of the patient onto herself or subject herself to the poisons or diseases she was trying to cure.