The Apothecary · Chapter 4

Treatment and Antidotes

A character with Medicine has five things to do about a poisoning. They are listed in the order they usually happen.

Notice

Someone has to realise it is poison.

When the cause is not obvious, a character examining the victim makes a Medicine or Perception check against Average difficulty, adding Bane Dice equal to the poison's Subtle rating. On a success the character knows the victim has been poisoned and by which Vector.

A dart in the neck, a coated blade, and a cloud of yellow gas need no check.

Identify

Naming the poison takes an action and a check against its Potency.

The poison is	Skill
A plant or a venom	Medicine or Survival
A mineral, a refined chemical, or a gas	Medicine or Science
Alchemical, or from a creature of another world	Medicine or Lore

On a success the healer knows its name, its numbers, and its antidote. A sample of the poison, the weapon, the cup, or the creature adds 2 Boon Dice.

An unidentified poison can still be treated. Add 1 Bane Die to every Medicine check against it.

Purge and Wash

These work only during the Onset.

Purge. Against an Ingested poison, a healer spends an action and makes an Average Medicine check to empty the victim's stomach. An Emetic makes the check unnecessary. On a success, halve the Course, rounding up, and reduce the Potency by 1.

Wash. Against a Contact poison, an action with water or a clean cloth ends the poison before it starts. A Persistent poison takes soap, a change of clothes, and five minutes.

Treat

Treating a poison that has started is an action in structured play and a few minutes otherwise. The healer must be Engaged with the victim and makes a Medicine check against the Potency.

Result	Outcome
Success	Counts as one successful resist check for the victim
Success with a Breakthrough	Counts as two: the poison ends
2 Boons	The victim recovers 2 Strain
Failure	Nothing. The healer may try again at the next Interval
Calamity	The Course gains one check

A healer may treat a given poisoning once per Interval, and never more than once a round.

Circumstance	Dice
No medical kit of any kind	Add 2 Bane Dice
The poison has not been identified	Add 1 Bane Die
A general antidote has been given	Add 2 Boon Dice
Working in a surgery, a sickbay, or a hospital	Add 1 Boon Die
The poison is from a later period than the healer's training	Add 2 Bane Dice

Antidotes

A general antidote helps against many poisons and cures none. The victim adds 2 Boon Dice to resist checks, and healers add 2 Boon Dice to treatment checks, against one poison for the rest of its Course. Theriac, Activated Charcoal, and Broad Antitoxin are general antidotes.

A specific antidote ends one named poison at once. Giving it is an action. The healer must know which poison it is, or guess right. The wrong antidote does nothing.

Neither kind heals Wounds or Strain already suffered, and neither removes an After row unless the entry says so.

Continuous Care

A victim who is incapacitated by Wounds while a Lethal poison runs is in real danger. A healer who stays with that victim, with a medical kit, gives continuous care.

Each time the victim under continuous care fails a resist check and would suffer a Critical Injury, the healer makes a Medicine check against the Potency. On a success the Critical Injury is prevented.

A healer giving continuous care can do nothing else. A hospital, a sickbay with a working autodoc, or a temple infirmary gives continuous care without tying up a character and adds 1 Boon Die to the check.

After the Body Is Cold

Finding poison in the dead takes an hour and a Medicine check against Average difficulty, adding Bane Dice equal to the Subtle rating.

The examiner works in	Dice
The Old World	Add 2 Bane Dice. There is no chemistry to speak of
The Industrial period	No change
A Modern laboratory	Add 2 Boon Dice
A Stellar medical bay	Add 3 Boon Dice

On a failure the examiner records the cause the poison imitates: a fever, a failing heart, a wasting sickness, or drink.

What the Healer Can Do, at a Glance

When	Action	Check
Any time	Notice	Medicine or Perception, Average, plus Subtle
Any time	Identify	Medicine or another skill, against Potency
During the Onset	Purge an Ingested poison	Medicine, Average, or an Emetic
During the Onset	Wash off a Contact poison	None
Once started	Treat	Medicine against Potency, once per Interval
Once started	Give a general antidote	None: 2 Boon Dice from then on
Once started	Give a specific antidote	None: the poison ends
Victim down, Lethal poison	Continuous care	Medicine against Potency at each failed check