Keep 'em alive and kicking - A Complete Guide to healing part 1/3

Ever been hit by a raging orc barbarian with a fiery greataxe? Man that hurts! While cinematic scenes like this add to the excitement of the game such an event can quickly result in a Total Party Kill (TPK). Even if such an attack is not deadly, each lethal encounter can also slow down the pace of the adventure drastically when the party needs to rest after combat for about a week to gather its strength again.
This can be frustrating for the Game Master and his players alike.
There are many solutions to this problem, most however rely on magical means like clerical aid or healing potions. But not always such resources are available to the players. In the following article you find some useful equipment und rules to avoid this problem.

Equipment

Healer’s Kit
(taken from SRD)
It is the perfect tool for healing and provides a +2 circumstance bonus on Heal checks. A healer’s kit is exhausted after ten uses.

Weight: 1lb. Costs: 50 gp

Antitoxin
(taken from SRD)
If you drink antitoxin, you get a +5 alchemical bonus on Fortitude saving throws against poison for 1 hour.

Weight: - Costs: 50 gp

First Aid Kit
This kit contains bandages and everything you need to stabilize a dying character. The first aid kit provides a +4 circumstance bonus to first aid heal checks only. With a successful check the character stops losing hit points (at the rate of 1 per round, 1 per hour, or 1 per day). This bonus does not stack with the bonus granted from a normal healer’s kit. A first aid aid kit is exhausted after ten uses.

Weight: 1 Costs: 50 gp

Antidote Kit
This kit contains everything you need to treat a poisoned character. The antidote kit provides a +4 circumstance bonus to treat poison heal checks only. This bonus stacks with the alchemical bonus granted through the use of Antitoxin. An anti-poison treatment kit is exhausted after ten uses.

Weight: 1 Costs: 50 gp

Apothecary Kit
This kit contains everything you need to cure a diseased character. The kit provides a +4 circumstance bonus to treat disease heal checks only. This bonus does not stack with the bonus granted from a normal healer’s kit. An Apothecary kit is exhausted after ten uses.

Weight: 1lb. Costs: 50 gp

Medicine Pouch
A medicine pouch contains rare ointments, herbs, and other materials that help to treat injuries, diseases and poisons. A medicine pouch provides a +2 alchemical bonus to heal checks. This bonus does not stack with antitoxin. A medicine pouch is exhausted after ten uses.

Weight: 1lb. Costs: 50 gp

Healing Incense
If someone uses his heal skill on you or if you rest normally, and you are within 10 ft. of burning healing incense you have one of the following benefits:
Natural healing: you heal twice the number of hit points you normally would for resting.
Long term care: you heal twice the normal amount of hit points or ability score points.
Treat Poison or Disease: every time you make a saving throw against the effects of poison or a disease, you get a +2 bonus.
Note that a single incense burns for eight hours. If you wish to rest for a whole day you need to burn three incenses to heal accordingly.

Weight: - Costs: 100 gp

Smelling Salts
With smelling salts you can keep a character conscious while he is dying (see the staying conscious rule below). When smelling salts is used on a dying character he gains a +5 roll to his Constitution check to stay conscious. If a character was already unconscious before, he gets another Constitution check to become conscious again. Smelling salts can also be used to wake up sleeping characters as a standard action without a check. It is not effective against magical sleep effects. Smelling salts is exhausted after ten uses.

Weight: - Costs: 20 gp

KEEP 'EM ALIVE AND KICKING is open game content and is available for use under the terms of the OGL. To use it correctly, please add the following line to the section 15 of the OGL linked below:

KEEP 'EM ALIVE AND KICKING copyright 2008 by Markus Brixius (except when otherwise noted)

This article is published under the open gaming licence.