D&D 5E Uses for the Medicine skill

[Blue]

The Medicine skill seems particularly unuseful. Like to brainstorm on things it could be used for. Here's some things to prime the pipe - I'm not talking abotu adding these particular ones, and definitely not all. Just looking for ideas of what Medicine can be used for.

1a. DC 20 after someone has taken a long rest - recover an extra level of exhaustion.
1b. At the end of a short rest, DC 20 to recover one level of exhaustion. Once this has succeeded it can not be used agian on the same person until they have a long rest.

2a. At end of short rest, DC 15 allows one used HD not to be spent. Max can treat Wis mod (min 1) person per rest.
2b At end of Long Rest, gain +Prof extra HD back. Expends use of Healer's Kit.

3. Carry on - 10 minutes to make a check vs. DC 15. Ignore one level of exhaustion or disease track. Expends use of Healer's Kit for stimulants or medicine.

4. 30 minutes and DC 20. Replenish d4 uses in a Healer's Kit in natural surroundings. Characters trained in Survival may Help as well as those who know Medicine.

So what other ideas do you have? (I'd rather focus on that then critiquing these - they are mostly conversation starters.)

 

[Caliban]

In my home campaign, I have proficiency in the Medicine skill grant you the benefits of the Healer feat.

 

[Rod Staffwand]

As I understand it, those trained in medicine find it relatively easy to make low six figures. Minus the student loans, of course.

 

[jaelis]

Let you craft healing potions?

 

[akr71]

I like your 1a/b & 2a/b and the idea that you could slow disease.


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[Shiroiken]

In my game, Healer's Kit doesn't automatically work. You have to make the Medicine Check, but have Disadvantage if you don't have the Kit. Healer Feat also requires the roll, but automatically stabilizes anyway if you fail (because it IS a feat after all).

 

[Quickleaf]

The Medicine skill seems particularly unuseful. Like to brainstorm on things it could be used for. Here's some things to prime the pipe - I'm not talking abotu adding these particular ones, and definitely not all. Just looking for ideas of what Medicine can be used for.

1a. DC 20 after someone has taken a long rest - recover an extra level of exhaustion.
1b. At the end of a short rest, DC 20 to recover one level of exhaustion. Once this has succeeded it can not be used agian on the same person until they have a long rest.

2a. At end of short rest, DC 15 allows one used HD not to be spent. Max can treat Wis mod (min 1) person per rest.
2b At end of Long Rest, gain +Prof extra HD back. Expends use of Healer's Kit.

3. Carry on - 10 minutes to make a check vs. DC 15. Ignore one level of exhaustion or disease track. Expends use of Healer's Kit for stimulants or medicine.

4. 30 minutes and DC 20. Replenish d4 uses in a Healer's Kit in natural surroundings. Characters trained in Survival may Help as well as those who know Medicine.

I wouldn't tamper with the exhaustion system, personally. There's just too many corner cases where the narrative wouldn't make sense. E.g. I "treat" his exhaustion from a forced march? WTF? I know the treatment he needs - he needs to rest!

Similarly wouldn't do the HD-expenditure sparing thing. That's a bit too gamist and starts to step into feat/bard territory.

Recharging a Healer's Kit, however, is a great idea.

So what other ideas do you have? (I'd rather focus on that then critiquing these - they are mostly conversation starters.)

I use Medicine as a forensics check, and it gets a lot more play in my games this way. What could have made this wound? How long has this body been dead? Does my companion's bite from the werewolf show signs of lycanthropy taking root?

I've also seen it used to create what was essentially a vaccine to a death dog's disease during downtime, based on several rare ingredients gathered.

And if a player wanted to use a healer's kit in a outside-the-box way, I'd likely permit it if they were proficient in Medicine.

 

[Lancelot]

As with Quickleaf above, I use Medicine frequently for knowledge and investigation checks.

How did that corpse die? The DC varies based on the age and state of the body, but this can provide critical information about the sorts of creatures that might be found nearby. Outside stabilizing a dying character, this is the most common use at my table.

How can I calm or heal an NPC who has obvious physical or mental trauma? In my recent Curse of Strahd campaign, there is an insane wizard [no spoilers]. I allowed the characters to attempt Medicine rolls to try and calm him down and slowly repair his psyche and memory over time. RAW, it would seem that you need high-level magic to do this, like greater restoration. I wouldn't allow Medicine checks to replace that spell for PC insanity, but I like the idea of using skills (over an extended period of time) for NPC interactions.

Have I been infected, what will happen to me, and what can I do to fix it? This is important stuff to know if you've recently been fighting anything with a disease effect. Not all diseases are fixed by a simple lesser restoration.

Medicine is also relevant at my table to avoid exhaustion, but only as partial prevention. I use a modified version of 4e's Skill Challenges, so may abstract a long journey by asking for various skill checks (depending on the players' choices). They might need to make 4 successes before 3 failures to avoid accruing a level of exhaustion. Medicine might be one of the skills they can use, representing a PC who is providing long-term first aid during the journey. However, I'd never allow Medicine to "cure" exhaustion. Even a 5th level spell (greater restoration) only removes 1 level of this, on one PC. Exhaustion is the one condition my players greatly fear, because it's hard to remove (...especially given I only permit Long Rests in a safe area with plentiful food and shelter; e.g. a secure settlement).

 

[CapnZapp]

Since Exhaustion removal is WAY overpriced, allowing you to ignore (but not remove) one level of Exhaustion by a DC 20 Heal/Medicine check sounds quite reasonable to me. Duration: until your Exhaustion status changes (decrease or increase).

In my next campaign, I'd probably allow a DC 15 Heal/Medicine check to grant 1d6+4 temporary hit points in addition to stabilizing you (but only if you're "bloodied" or at half max hp or less, in order to not step on the toes of Inspired Leader).

Only granting temporary hp means this doesn't replace the Healer feat either.

You get only one try per patient per rest.

Do note how I intentionally avoid any "heal stacking": there is no significant benefit to making more than one successful Medicine check. Since Exhaustion is only ignored, not removed, multiple checks does not stack. Since temporary hp by definition does not stack, they do not stack

 

[Simonb1]

Hi all,

Some very nice suggestions, I would go with you need medicine to use a healer's kit as worded in the PHB, else you need to roll to use it.

Simon