Binding Wounds (sage ability)

Binding Wounds is an amateur-status sage ability in the studies of Medicine and Animal Physiology, offering a means by which the damage caused by wounds can be stopped, by bandaging the wounded part of the body. To perform the operation, creatures must possess at minimum a low intelligence. The ability also conveys some aid to injuries.

Once the binding of a wound has begun, the creature will cease to suffer damage from the wound; however, if binding the wound is interrupted, even for the space of a round, the wound will reopen and the binding process must begin again as though no previous effort was performed.

For most creatures, it requires three rounds to bind wounds (once the bandage is in hand), +2 rounds per additional severity of the wound beyond 1 hp. Thus, a wound that was bleeding 2 hp per round would require five rounds to bind. It is supposed that more severe wounds happen to the body or torso, requiring more time to staunch the flow. Note that if the creature is suffering from multiple wounds, each wound must be individually wrapped, requiring 3 or more rounds of binding each.

Characters with an amateur knowledge of medicine are able to bind wounds in less time and more effectively. The base time required is two rounds per wound, not three, +1 round per additional severity of the wound beyond 1 hp. Thus, a wound bleeding 2 hp per round would require a medicant only five rounds to bind, not six.

If, however, a character with medicine chooses to perform the operation more slowly (in the time it would take three rounds for most creatures), the character can restore 1 hit point of damage caused by the wound before binding. This, however, requires proper clean bandages.

Bandages

Wounds may be closed with any piece of loose cloth, which can be ripped from clothing that is not fitted tight to the body (unless time is taken to actually take off a shirt, vest, pants, etc.

Extraordinarily heavy cloth, such as oilcloth or that used for padded armour (chausses and hauberk) cannot be employed as a bandage, as it is too thick and stiff.

Actual bandages can be purchased at most markets; these are soft fiber squares made of pulled cotton, wool or linen. It is presumed a character always take steps to keep these bandages clean, though of course they may be damaged by water, fire and so on.

If a wound is closed with ordinary, everyday cloth (termed an "improper" dressing), which will be partly soiled, then there is a chance that a disease will result ~ unless the cloth is replaced with a proper dressing made of clean bandages within the hour. The chance of a random disease occurring when an improper dressing is left alone is 1 in 30. The chance of a disease occurring if an improper dressing is removed within an hour and not replaced with a proper dressing, and the wound is left open to the air, is 1 in 20.

Therefore, it is better to leave an improper dressing on a wound than no dressing at all; but of course a proper dressing is best.

Injuries

The ability also provides the character with an ability to manage injuries, particularly breaks in limbs, so that the patient is able to marginally function. The character can identify the nature of the injury and what's wrong, so that its effect can be mitigated to the greatest degree with materials available, depending upon conditions.

See Also,
Combat