Spells vs Skills- The Advantages Medicine has over Magic

One of the strongest themes in the world of Victoriana is the struggle between magic and science. The rules carry this idea into player character stats very skillfully, but sometimes having two ways of doing the same action can mean someone’s toes get stepped on. A PC based on being a practical physician with a high Medicine skill could find themselves outshone by a magician armed with a healing spell. The magician can cast all sorts of spells, and still heal as well as the doctor. The same can happen with the Invisibility spell and Hide and Sneak, the Repair spell and Ad-hoc Repair, and a number of other spell effects and skills.

If a player feels like their skills can’t compete with a spell, they need to be reminded that their skills aren’t just for actions, they can provide important information too. The Medicine skill wonderfully illustrates this idea. The Thaumatergical spells Heal and Cure nicely cover all the needs of a wounded character, but the Medicine skill can do that and much more:

Social Uses

As scholarly men with expert knowledge and a trained eye, doctors have a certain mystique. A successful Medicine check could add a die or two to Propriety for a Reputation Roll, or hide a lie in medical mumbo jumbo. A skilled physician will almost always be believed over a layman, but be careful. A doctor caught up in a scandal will be quickly infamous.

- The police may not look too carefully at the unconscious man being “helped” home as long as a doctor is present.

-A doctor on hand to the scene of an emergency will always be needed. If he minds his manners he could get quite a bit of information from witnesses, authorities, etc.

-The poor need charity, the rich desire discretion, but everyone needs a doctor sometime. 

Investigative Uses

The wealth of knowledge a trained doctor has at his disposal would be an asset to any group looking into a mystery.

Vocational ailment and diseases were a fact of life in the Victoriana age. A perception check and a Medicine check or just a Medicine check with variable difficulties could reveal a suspects job.

-The dwarf with the severe stomach pains could be suffering from poisoning caused by the arsenic used in the paint factory.

-The small blueish gray dots on the eldren’s hands are mostly likely from working with silver. The small shavings get stuck in the skin and dissolve into the connective tissues of the hand.

-The halfling with the inflammation on her hands may be a cleaning woman who uses lots of alkaloid chemicals.

-The calluses on that man’s fingers are from a hammer. He could be a blacksmith, a carpenter, or a shoemaker.

Human anatomy is an excellent source of clues. A perceptive doctor could also get useful information from a set of footprints, such as irregularity of gait, or subrace, discover the source of wounds using their shape and depth, or identify rare poisons. 

Tactical Uses

Identifying a weak spot greatly increases your ability in combat. A quick Medicine check of variable difficulty could show a weak point in an obstacles anatomy.

-The doorman’s left ear is stuffed with cotton. If he has an ear infection, a quick jab to his head could disorient him enough to get in.

-The thug throwing a chair at you has broken nose and can only breathe through one nostril. If you reset his nose for him, he might be grateful.

-The plump baron possessed by the ancient evil is moving carefully because of his gout. A quick stomp on his feet will disrupt the ritual for a round.

While certain spells can replicate some of a skill’s primary uses, the experience gained from learning the skill and the application of that knowledge remain untouched and viable.