Medical Question: Surgery

[jayouzts]

There is an apparent contradiction in the Medical rules I was hoping someone could clarify.

On page 217 the Medical Care chart indicated that Surgery feat. Makes sense.

On Page 109, the Surgery Feat says "Anyone can perform Surgery without this feat. The Surgery feat gives a patient a chance of survive". However, there is no elaboration. (i.e must the patient make a Fort Save?). This is, of course, seems to contradict page 217.

Finally, on the Medical Tasks chart on page 95 there is no apparent requirement to have the Surgery feat.

Which is correct?

 

[tjoneslo]

I would say the medical tasks chart on p95 is missing the footnote that is on the medical care chart on p217, that is anything that says "Surgery" requires the surgery feat.

I'd add a tracheotomy to the list of medical care items which require the surgery feat.

As a rule addition I would suggest that performing surgery inflicts knife damage (1d4 per round), but with the surgery feat the person never drops below 0 LB (i.e. starts dying) unless the surgen rolls a confirned critical failure on their T/Medical roll and this damage recovers at twice the normal rate.

 

[sandman]

I've always thought that by saying "Anyone can perform Surgery without this feat. The Surgery feat gives a patient a chance of survive", they were only stating that if you don't have Surgery, your patient Dies...

Everybody can open up the ribcage of someone and play with his heart... but only a surgeon can do it and have the patient live.

There are sometimes a kind of tongue-in-cheek/jokish style in the book so that could be what's confusing, no?

As for the Medical Tasks, one can use his common sense: Gee whiz, Mr. GM, why can't I use my T/Biology to do a brain transplan???

Surgery involves toying around with the inside of someone, so almost everything that fits the description should require the Surgery feat

i.e:
resetting the popped shoulder of someone = first
aid.

going in with scalpel, forceps and the likes = Surgery

 

[rlvargas]

I also think that the description of the Surgery feat is done in a tongue-in-cheek spirit. The way I take it is that people with T/Medical but not the Surgery feat can do up to minor surgery (stitches, certain biopsies, etc.)

I think that simple tracheostomies would be ok to do without the Surgery feat. A more complex one designed to maintain patency for an extended period of time should be done by a surgeon and as such sould require the feat.

The table on p.95 has removing a bullet as routine and amputation as serious. I would definitely put amputations in the routine category (residents do them unassisted). Removing a bullet is much harder, depending on where it is. I would definitely consider it serious, unless the bullet is in an easily accesible area and did not hit any viscera or arteries.