# Treatment and Antidotes *The Apothecary, Poisons, Drugs, and Chemical Agents for Exodus NDS. Source: https://exodusnds.com/sourcebooks/the-apothecary/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 | A healer at a bedside