Sawbones

Source: Town Cryer #8

A visit to the apothecary

Medical treatment is far from an exact science in the Old World, and most people have justly learned to fear a visit to the Physician's Guildhouse. Patients of an Old World doctor are likely to face bleeding, amputation, under-anesthesetised (a few pulls on a whiskey bottle if they're lucky!) surgery, and worse in the course of their treatment. Yet, amazingly, they sometimes emerge from these treatments in better health. Medicine may not be pretty, but it is occasionally effective ... and it is often the only alternative to death or life as an invalid.

Yet if medical practice is unsightly in the professional guilds of Old World cities, it is horrendous in the ramshackle butcher shops that are the surgeries of the squalid settlements around Mordheim. No respected professional would practice in such a place, and so the task of mending the wounded is often taken up by wanted men, runaway apprentices, and charlatans out to make a few coins off of another's misfortune. In the encampments around the City of the Damned, seeking out a physician is always regarded as a desperate gamble.

The Medical Tables

Over the course of a warband's career, it is quite likely that heroes will suffer injuries that will leave them, to a greater or lesser extent, diminished in ability. If you wish, you may send a hero to a physician rather than have him look for a rare item during the recruit New Warriors (trading) phase of the pose battle sequence. Even warriors who went out of action in the last battle may go to a physician (they are quite possibly in urgent need!).

You may only attempt to get treatment for one wound at a time, and only one attempt at treatment per hero may be made during each post battle sequence. The cost for treatment is 20 gold crowns per attempt (one attempt = one roll on the table), and this money must be paid before rolling on the table - Mordheim physicians demand payment in advance, while the patient is still capable of doing so!

The following injuries cannot be treated: Chest Wound, Blinded in One Eye, and Old Battle Wound. They are permanent damage the aftlicted warrior will carry to his grave.

The following injuries use the Limb Surgery table: Leg Wound, Smashed Leg, and Hand Injury.

The following injuries use the Brain Surgery table: Madness and Nervous Condition.

Note that while the description on the tables presumes a 'typical human' warband (i.e. Mercenaries, Witch Hunters, etc.), all warbands have access to some form of medical attention and may use the charts above. The Possessed, Undead, and Skaven for instance, have their own contacts in the shanty towns around Mordheim in the form of sympathetic dupes and cultists, including a number of disreputable surgeons.

Limb Surgery Table

Surgery on a broken limb tends to be a straightforward and brutal affair.

2D6	Result
2-3	'Someone fetch a priest...' The unfortunate patient has expired due to excessive blood loss. The hero is dead and muse be stricken from the warband record, but his equipment is retained by the warband.
4	'This has got to come off.' The surgeon has felt the need to amputate, ostensibly to 'keep the rot out.' If a leg was being treated, the model now has its Movement halved (rounding up); if a hand was being treated, the warrior may only use a single one-handed weapon from now on.
5-6	'Sorry, lad. Done my best.' The surgery was unsuccessful, and the warrior musr miss the next battle while he recovers.
7-8	'No luck' The surgery was unsuccessful.
9-10	'Mind you stay off it for a bit.' The surgery was successful! The warrior may remove the injury and its adverse effects from his profile. He must, however, miss the next battle while he recovers.
11-12	'Shaliaya be praised!' The surgery was a complete success! The warrior may remove the injury and its adverse effects from his profile.

Brain Surgery Table

Treating the ailments of the mind and nervous system encompasses a variety of methods, from alchemical and herbal preparations, to the physical opening of the cranium and tampering inside.

2D6	Result
2-3	'Someone fetch a priest...' The physician has been a bit too zealous in his treatment. The hero is dead and must be stricken from the warband record, but his equipment is retained by the warband.
4-5	'Erm... that's not right.' The treatment has not only failed to help the warrior, it has actually worsened his condition! The warrior is now subject to Stupidity. If the warrior was being treated for Stupidity, there is no change in his condition (except perhaps, a bit more drooling than usual).
6	'A bit unhinged, that one.' The treatment has failed, and the warrior emerges from the treatment as something of a raving lunatic. The warrior's Initiative suffers a -1 penalty (down to a minimum of 1). He is now so unsettling to behold that he causes Fear.
7-8	'Sorry lad. Done my best.' The treatment was unsuccessful, and the warrior must miss the next battle while he recovers.
9-10	'A bit of rest, and you'll be fine.' The treatment was successful! The warrior may remove the injury and its adverse effects from his profile. He must, however, miss the next battle while he recovers.
11-12	'Shallaya be praised!' The treatment was a complete success! The warrior may remove the injury and its advecse effects from his profile.