Physician Image

Much of your life has been dedicated to treating the sick, injured, and dying.  You've learned which herbs make the best medicines, the best way to splint a broken bone, and the most effective treatments for various coughs, hives, and rashes.  You may have been the shaman of your tribe, the wise woman of your village, an apothecary in a city, or doctor for a great noble.  Maybe you spent your entire career in one place or maybe you traveled a route between locations, promoting the health of an entire countryside.

The way of healing that you follow is not easy.  It's not painless - for you or the patient - and it's not quick.  Some may take the quick and easy path to mastery of the healing arts - tapping into arcane energies, twisting the body to their will, ripping out foreign entities and stitching corpses back to their souls.  Others take the godly route and beseech intervening higher powers to do much the same.  You may never be able to bring back the dead, but where those others can heal no more than a dozen before lapsing into unconsciousness, you can keep right on saving lives so long as you have rags for bandages and a few of the right herbs.

Though they cannot conquer death itself, physicians are adept at treating both illness and injury.  They can increase the chances of a successful pregnancy or lessen the pains of aging.  For many communities, the presence of a good physician is the difference between life and death.  

 
Skill Proficiencies: Medicine, and one of either Nature or Survival
Tool Proficiencies: Herbalism kit
Languages: One of your choice
Equipment: A token from a former patient, a well-used blanket, a small knife, a set of common clothes, an herbalism kit, a healer's kit, and a pouch containing 5 gp.
 
Feature: Accomplished Physician

Thanks to the time you have spent practicing your craft on the sick and injured, you are familiar with all kinds of maladies and afflictions which might burden your patients.  When making a diagnostic medicine check you do so with advantage.  You also are familiar with the many varieties of plants and herbs used for your craft.  When making a nature or survival check to locate these items, you do so with advantage.

 
Suggested Characteristics

Physicians are dedicated to the welfare of their patients above all else.  They seek out knowledge of anatomy and disease and use everything they learn to bring those under their care back from the brink or prevent them from succumbing in the first place.  They have seen atrocities of disease, famine, pestilence and war that have left their mark, shaping their ideals, creating strong bonds, and often leaving them scarred and vulnerable.

d8 Personality Trait
1 I save lives. What you do is probably not nearly as important.
2 I will aid anyone who is ailing, but please don't ask me to chat with them.
3 Every symptom must be treated, every stitch must be perfect; I’ll settle for nothing less.
4 I can't quit, I won't give up, and I can never abandon a patient.
5 If I am to treat the disease, I must first seek to understand it.
6 I cannot abide the suffering of others, and I will do anything I can to ease it.
7 I am constantly pointing out the flaws in others and their arguments, as if diagnosing an illness.
8 I have a tendency to become focused on my work to the exclusion of everything else.
d6 Ideal
1 Greater Good. My craft is meant to be shared with all, not used for my own benefit. (Good)
2 Charity. I always try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost. (Good)
3 Dignity. All people deserve to be treated with respect; even the sickly and the infirm. (Lawful)
4 Creativity. The world is in need of new ideas and bold action. (Chaotic)
5 Aspiration: I work hard to be the best there is at my craft. (Any)
6 Greed. I’m only in it for the money and fame. (Evil)
d6 Bond
1 It is my duty to protect my patients.
2 Everything I do is for the common people.
3 My life’s work is a series of tomes about the diagnosis and treatment of rare ailments.
4 I’ve been searching my whole life for the cure to a certain disease.
5 Someone I loved died because of I mistake I made. That will never happen again.
6 I have a friendly rival. Only one of us can be the best, and I aim to prove it’s me.
d6 Flaw
1 I judge others harshly, and myself even more severely.
2 I overestimate the worth of my skills, and I'm blind to my shortcomings and the risk of failure.
3 I am haunted by the memories of every patient I could not save.
4 I am too enamored of ale, wine, and other intoxicants.
5 I speak without really thinking through my words, invariably insulting others.
6 I am hesitant to injure others, even in self-defense.
 
Variant Feature: Physician in Residence

If your character has a Physician background, you can select this feature instead of Accomplished Physician.

You can always find people in every community who are in need of your services.  Your patients, and their friends and family, will be inclined to help you in return.  They may offer compensation, to the best of their ability, and you can always find a place to hide, rest, or recuperate among them, unless you have shown yourself to be a danger.  They will shield you from the law or anyone else searching for you, though they will not risk their lives to do so.  In addition, as you perform your work, more and more people in the community will begin to recognize you as someone trying to help.  When strangers recognize you in a town where you have practiced, they typically take a liking to you.

 
Physician Image

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