The Doctor will see you now

Healing and Healers in Théah

The heroes in my game are in constant need of medical attention. So I present a collection of the
various Doctors and healers they have met on their travels to help vary the medical attention your own
group might require. It should also be no surprise to discover the heroes rarely have the funds to
remunerate their healer. So I also present a few adventure seeds and hooks for characters that need to
offer some sort of service when their wealth points are a little lacking.

by Andrew Peregrine

Explorers Society, 7th Sea and all related marks are © and ™ 2016 John Wick Presents. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be duplicated without express permission from the
Author. Additional stock images from dreamstime.com.
Introduction
Heroes get injured, a lot.
To be fair, it is hard to admonish them for
defending their honor with steel or risking life
and limb to rescue their lover. But a
combination of badly thought out, or badly
executed plans, and a tendency to punch just
that little bit above their weight will lead to a lot
of dramatic wounds. While this is well
deserved, too many wounds puts a hero out of
action and that can bring the game to a
standstill. On the other hand, letting them get off
too lightly just so they can do something crazy
again isn’t the best incentive (although it is fun
to encourage crazy sometimes!).
So, I’ve made doctors and healers readily
available in my campaigns, and often used them
as a way to admonish or reward the heroes for
the scrapes that got them hurt in the first place.
The scene where a group of heroes burst into the
healer’s home in the middle of the night,
carrying a comrade in desperate need of medical
Healing and Medicine
Healing is difficult and specialized in Seventh
Sea. While scrapes and grazes are gone in a
moment, real wounds take both time and skill to
heal. This is all detailed in the Core Rulebook
(p181), but here is a quick summary.
Ordinary wounds are easily removed. They are
gone once the character has had a chance for a
rest after combat, but only back to the most
recent dramatic wound. This is because such
wounds are little more than cuts, bruises and
fatigue. However, the Gamemaster might insist
it is too soon for all wounds to heal if the player
characters are having an easy time of it. This
might also be reasonable if they have had a lot
of fights in a short space of time. However, the
general ethos of the system is that wounds aren’t
a problem, it is dramatic wounds that you need
to really worry about.
attention before the guards find them is a staple
of swashbuckling adventure. So this supplement
is designed to offer you a few more ideas for
different types of doctors so you can vary such
scenes a little.
The other problem with wounds is that they take
not only time and expertise to heal but also cash.
Like Dumas’ Three Musketeers, player
characters can get through cash like they get
through ale. This is unfortunate, as with no
socialized medicine in Théah, doctors need to be
paid. Luckily, this problem is actually an
opportunity. For centuries, doctors have
accepted all manner of payment for their
services, knowing full well few people can
afford their fees. This means there is no reason
your player heroes can’t offer some other means
to pay for their medical bills. Such payment
plans may lead to unexpected adventure, one the
heroes can’t avoid if they want to settle their
debts.
Dramatic wounds are usually healed between
adventures. In most cases, it is assumed they
take time to heal before the heroes get into
trouble again. But they can be healed during the
adventure in three main ways. The first is to
seek out a qualified doctor or healer, who will
heal 1 dramatic wound at the cost of 1 Wealth
point. This is for each casualty. After getting
one dramatic wound healed, that is your lot until
the end of the adventure, unless you take a very
long rest before returning to the doctor.
The second way to heal is by using the Miracle
Worker advantage (4 points) as detailed on p153
of the Core Rulebook. This allows a player
character to heal a dramatic wound at the cost of
a hero point. But again, the Gamemaster might
limit its use, as mundane healing can only work
so fast, even with a skilled practitioner.
The Gamemaster might allow player characters
to use the Scholarship to do something similar.
But while Scholarship covers a lot of medical
knowledge, it doesn’t offer any hands on
experience. Only the Miracle Worker advantage
really grants full medical and surgical training
so I tend to keep to that. While most characters
might understand basic first aid and battlefield
wound dressing that just doesn’t cut it when it
comes to dramatic wounds. However,
Scholarship is very useful for diagnosing
disease, anatomy and medical lore.
The last option for healing outside downtimes is
magic. Several magical traditions can deal with
dramatic wounds, but you have to find a
practitioner, and one with the right skills.
Hexenwork: Summer’s Smile (Core Rulebook
p209) is a minor ungent that can heal a dramatic
wound. But only one dealt by an undead or a
monster (depending on the variant of Hex the
practitioner uses).
Glamour: Pain is Temporary (Resolve, Core
Rulebook p216) can cure a lot of wounds in one
go, but not dramatic wounds. I’m not sure if this
leaves the dramatic wounds ‘hanging’ but I’d
allow it and ensure no more can be taken until
the wounds had reached the current dramatic
wound status. Endless Vigil (Resolve) doesn’t
heal anything but allows you to ignore some of
the effects of dramatic wounds. Reborn
(Resolve) heals you completely, but at a cost to
your Resolve.
Mother’s Touch: The Regeneration ability
(Core Rulebook p218) heals the practitioner’s
wounds, but that doesn’t help anyone else.
Porté: Dramatic wounds are the wages of Porte.
Sanderis: While a Losejas can heal, they
generally don’t like to. They much prefer to
inflict pain and suffering. So while it might be
possible, such deals are rare to the point of
unheard of.
Sorté: While a Fate Witch can’t heal with her
power, she can make sure a doctor isn’t very far
away if you need one…
Doctors and Healers
In this section we offer a few doctors and for anything but their medical ability. They
healers that you might use to get your heroes might be talked into joining a group, but only as
back adventuring. They are designed to add a a healer. On the rare occasion their other skills
little more variety if you like to role play a become useful the Gamemaster should assign
healing scene rather than just cross off some them as required.
wounds. Most will be found in an urban Each of these characters has been given a name
environment, but there are plenty living out in and country of origin, but the Gamemaster
the country serving local villages or estates. should feel free to change those as they need.
I’ve not included any statistics for these Although not everyone chooses to make a life
characters as they really aren’t necessary. They for themselves in the country they were born in.
are included for role play, not to help out in an Additionally, the Gamemaster should feel free
action sequence. You can assume each has the to change the gender of any of these characters
Miracle Worker advantage, but nothing else will (and not feel they have to change the gender of
be useful. No skill allows them to heal extra their partners if they do).
wounds, and they are unlikely to be sought out
Alphonse Neville (Montaigne)
Few doctors offer as much sympathy as Dr Neville. He is tormented by the wounds he sees other suffer
and has a tendency to fuss over all his patients. Initially it is quite comforting as he clearly cares that
everyone is comfortable and healthy. But this quickly turns annoying when inquiry turns to whether the
character is eating properly and getting enough sleep. This fussing might even continue after the heroes
have healed, and start to cover the heroes who weren’t injured at all!
Fiora Lingali (Vodacce)
Fiora is a very good doctor, but she came up in the trade as a pharmacist and apothecary. She was
especially practiced in the use and creation of deadly poisons, a talent she is not shy about sharing. She
still produces a number of concoctions for healing that can easily turn fatal with a wrong application. It
has a tendency to make her patients very nervous indeed. While she has put her old life behind her, she
does have a lot of very shady contacts from her past, and is also owed a lot of favors by some very
dangerous underworld figures.
Boris Petrovich (Ussuran)
Boris has little patience with his patients. Most come to him with injuries because they didn’t take care
of themselves or did something stupid, like getting into fights. While he will do his best to treat any
injury, those gained in combat or violence are met with short shrift. However, he will change his tune if
the wounded patient suffered wounds in the pursuit of something truly noble where violence was the
only option. If such is the case he will apologize and treat that person (and only them) to a glass of his
favorite vodka. Otherwise, most heroes can expect an ear bashing while he bandages them up.
Ilona Nasdravi (Samartian Commonwealth)
Ilona is almost qualified and looking for experience. As such she will eagerly offer her services (and
quite cheaply) to those suffering interesting wounds. She makes no secret about being new to the whole
doctoring profession, but she thankfully turns out to be quite good. However, she will be extremely
interested in how the wound was made, to a very graphic degree. Squeamish characters that are not good
with the intimacies of bodily damage have been known to faint when in simple conversation with Ilona.
Juan Marco Del Maestro (Castille)
Juan Marco is one of the few doctors who
has a fascination with the human body, but
no interest in people. While he isn’t
heartless, the suffering of others is mainly an
inconvenience to him when he is trying to
understand something. As you might
imagine, his bedside manner is quite
appalling. However, he is interested in
expanding his knowledge, and it has made
him one of the most experienced doctors
with rare ailments and strange diseases. The
downside to this is that he has little or no
interest in dealing with medical problems he
has seen before, but show him something
new and he gets very interested indeed.
Mairi NicTragaren (Highlander)
Most people think Mairi is a witch, and she
does nothing to assuage them of this
reputation. While she has no formal medical training, Mairi has the healer’s gift. Through a mixture of
folk superstition and instinct, she can heal injury and disease as well as any city doctor. But the
experience is a spooky one. She has a number of apparently magical practices, involving incantation,
incense, foul smelling concoctions and prayers to forgotten gods as part of her process. It can be
unnerving to say the least and many believe she is doing no good at all until they awaken the next
morning.
Father Gustav Lorenz (Eisen)
Gustav saw a lot of injury and pain in the War of the Cross. He quickly found his ability to offer comfort
as a priest, outweighed by his education in medicine as a studious disciple of Theus. It was enough for
him to loose most of his dedication to the church, but he couldn’t quite lose his faith in Theus. Even so,
the Book of the Prophets no longer offers him any comfort. The only way he could rationalize what he
had seen and keep his faith, was to conclude that Theus had left humanity to their own devices after
witnessing such horror. Today, Gustav still calls himself Father, but admits to no affiliation with any
church, allowing people to make their own assumptions. He is a highly skilled battlefield medic and an
experienced doctor. But he still searches for meaning and a hint that Theus is still present. Those who
can tell him stories of miracles and luck siding with justice and good will often find they are not charged
for his services.
Mother Constantina Luisa De Rodrigo (Castille)
Mother Constantina is more priest than doctor. To her, all good in the world comes only from Theus and
only prayer and dedication can ensure his generosity. While she is a very educated woman, her beliefs
are concerningly close to that of the inquisition. So she regards other scholars with great suspicion, as
much as those who seem lax in their attention to their Vaticine faith. This means that while she is a good
doctor, any attention from her takes twice as long as she insists on prayer and supplication to Theus as
an essential part of any treatment. Those who ask her to hurry up, or if the prayer is really necessary,
may find themselves back on the street in no time!
Magnus Gellirsson (Vesten)
Magnus may be one of the new breed of Vesten, but he has not forgotten his heritage. He comes from a
long line of warriors and noble Vesten, whose hard work (pillaging in most cases) is the reason he could
be given a good education. While Magnus pursues his career as a doctor to honor that sacrifice, a part of
him longs to be a warrior. He is very keen to hear the war stories of his patients and if they are
particularly exciting he will usually take them drinking to hear more. If he can spar with them, and trade
a few fighting techniques too, so much the better. While he is an adept swordsman, given this request
comes after a few drinks, it can often lead to more injury!
Nora MacDonagh (Inismore)
Like many of her countrymen, Nora is rather partial to a drink. In fact, she is rather too partial to a drink.
So much so that even most Inish would think she has a problem. However, she remains an excellent
doctor. In fact, she is oddly a far better doctor when drunk than she is when sober. So as a favor to her
patients she will knock back a few ales before starting any surgery. It can make those who don’t know
her somewhat trepidatious of her treatment. However, it is best not mentioned as the suggestion she is
drinking too much sends her into a rage that has sent grown men running in fear.
Pietro Aldorittzi (Vodacce)
While Pietro is a reasonable and competent doctor, it is his wife that has more of a reputation than he
does. She sees herself as his business manager and makes a point of seeing he is paid for his trouble. As
an arch negotiator, Elena strikes a hard bargain while her husband quietly gets on with the work. She is
also known to nag and berate him constantly, and he spends most of a consultation sniping back at her.
However, this is actually the couples form of flirting and foreplay and quite often, in the midst of heated
argument, they will both be overtaken by passion and be forced to leave the room. This has often left a
patient halfway through treatment, unsure if they should leave with their wounds half stitched up, given
the noises coming from the next room.
Luc Sebastien De Gepardy-Aloise (Montaigne)
Luc was born to a reasonably well to do middle class family, but he always wanted something more. He
doesn’t really like being a doctor. But he had the wits and education to make a career of it, and more
importantly, knew it would be a potential ticket into the circles of the nobility. He charges quite a lot for
his services, but you can see where the money goes. He dresses in all the latest and gaudiest fashions and
has made several courtly friends by way of the right tailor. He dreams of one day taking a place among
the butterflies of the nobility, and as such is a sucker for anyone who can get him an invitation to the
right sort of parties, or make him a new contact.
Cornelia Smetterling (Eisen)
Cornelia loves food as much as she loves medicine, and her bookshelves are filled with as many recipe
books as medical texts. She also likes a captive audience and anyone she heals had best not have eaten
before they arrive. She will insist on playing the hostess and seeing what people think of her latest
kitchen experiment. Thankfully, she is a very good cook, but she doesn’t really know when to stop.
People have been known to burst recently sewn stiches after eating too much following treatment. She is
especially insistent with adventurers and travelers who she believes never have a decent home cooked
meal. She also thinks they all undereat and any protestations to the contrary are simply misplaced
politeness. Thankfully she does look for an honest opinion on her food, although she can’t stand people
who only tell her what they think she wants to hear.
Adventures in Payment
Doctors are expensive, which shouldn’t be a
surprise given they are among the most highly
trained and/or educated people in Théah.
However, without any socialized health care,
or even health insurance, player characters are
going to have to reach into their pockets
every time they need stitching up. Luckily,
few doctors expect payment before they will
do any work. If you don’t look very hurt,
some might tell you to come back when you
have some cash, or go and walk it off. But if
you are in serious need of medical attention,
few doctors will turn you away.
However, that doesn’t mean they don’t mind
not getting paid! Thankfully, plenty of
doctors are used to a little quid pro quo when
it comes to healing. They often charge the
nobility a fortune so they can afford to offer
help to those who don’t have the resources to from the local doctors or there might be trouble.
pay them. In such cases, they may also accept Doctors earn a lot of favors from their
something other than cold hard cash as community, and can make life very difficult for
remuneration. Many of the common folk offer any troublemakers.
their services or the fruits of their labors, and
there is no reason the player characters can’t do Additionally, the Gamemaster should remember
the same. That is, as long as they have remained that doctors and healers serve a number of uses
polite and friendly! in the places they reside, and each has a
reputation. Very little of their work will involve
Paying off a medical debt can be an opportunity actual trauma surgery. Disease and its
for adventure (as is everything in Seventh Sea!). prevention occupies most of their time, although
So the following are a few ideas for short one there will be the odd industrial accident from
session missions the group might take on to pay time to time. This is not due to their services not
their debts. They are especially useful if one of being required, but mainly due to their expense.
the players can’t make a session and it is their While nobles call out a doctor for a hangnail,
character that is in need of treatment. While the poor aren’t so lucky. Many people who get
they rest in the doctor’s care, the others set off injured will wrap the wound in a bandage and
to repay the doctor’s kindness. carry on. Childbirth is commonplace, but local
Incidentally, if a player character has the midwives and older women tend to help out
Miracle Worker advantage, and is therefore a rather than call a doctor. People who fall ill
skilled healer, they might charge for their hope the disease will ‘run its course’ rather than
services too. Anytime they enter a town. There call for a physician. This means that doctors are
is often work for a trained physician and they used to emergencies, as they are often only
have every right to expect payment. However, called when something has gone seriously
they had best be careful not to poach clients wrong and a patient fears for their life.
Gossip – The doctor loves to know what is going on around town. They see the place as their own
private soap opera and hear a lot of interesting gossip from their patients. So they ask the player
characters to find out something really juicy. It might be uncovering a secret affair, or clandestine
allegiance, but the more salacious the better. The heroes are not expected to share this gossip with
anyone else, but they might uncover more than they expect if they go poking around in the wrong
places.
Supply Chain – This option suits an Eisen doctor especially well. The doctor gets a lot of herbs and
supplies from a rather obscure village. Unfortunately, the merchant they deal with who travels there is
considering closing that trade route. The way has recently become very dangerous and he doesn’t want
to risk his people. The doctor needs the player characters to convince the merchant to keep the trade
route going and ensure their supply. But to do that the heroes will have to prove it is safe, or put a stop to
the dangers plaguing that part of the land.
Care in the Community – The doctor has a particularly difficult patient who refuses to sit still. They
might hate lying in bed, or be a little confused and keep wandering off, or even love the alehouse too
much to stop going! Bed rest is vital to their healing and someone needs to keep an eye on them.
Unfortunately, the patient is rather cunning and especially adept at slipping away. Can the player
characters mount a guard, and track the errant patient down if they get loose? More importantly, can
they make sure their medical condition doesn’t get any worse?
Rare Herb – The doctor needs a particular
herb to create more of their favorite
potions and medicaments. Sadly it is very
tricky to get hold of. It might be that only
one merchant sells it, but they travel and
are hard to find. It might be that it can only
be harvested from a remote region.
Perhaps it has to be harvested in a
particular way that the heroes will have to
learn. It might even be guarded or
connected to a particular monster.
Justice – One of the doctor’s patients is
being hurt by someone they refuse to turn
in to the authorities. It might be an abusive
husband, or a local bully. Either way, the
doctor is bound by their confidentiality to keep the abuse a secret, even though they have treated this
patient again and again for the same injuries. So they turn to the player characters to get some justice.
Can they find a way to make the abuse stop, but in such a way it doesn’t make things worse for the
patient (especially as they are probably leaving town sometime soon)? While assassination is not the
occupation of heroes, a little negotiation emphasized with violence may be an acceptable option.
House Call – The doctor is overworked, or the roads have become difficult. Either way, they cannot get
out to see some of their most vulnerable patients. While they don’t usually do house calls, the doctor
likes to keep an eye on certain members of the distant community and make sure they are still ok. So
they ask the player characters to go visiting on their behalf. This might mean facing difficult weather, or
the dangers of the road to find these out of the way patients. If one or more of them does need the
services of the doctor, the heroes will have to find a way to bring them back to the physician too.
Pie Challenge – This doctor loves pies made by a particular cook nearby. Unfortunately, the cook and
the doctor have recently fallen out, badly, and the cook refuses to sell any pies to the doctor. Worse, they
insist anyone who buys one sits in their bakery and eats it right there, as plenty of people have been
willing to buy one on the doctor’s behalf. Essentially, the heroes are going to have to steal a pie, or two,
or work out some sort of scam. They might leave some money, but the cook won’t sell to them if they
know it is going to the doctor. The pies, by the way, taste amazing, perhaps too good for the heroes not
to try a quick bite themselves…
Debt Repaid – The doctor owes money to some rather unpleasant people. It might be a loan or a
gambling debt, but either way it involves some pretty unsavory types. The debt is the doctor’s guilty
secret and he is frightened about what it will do to his reputation if people knew about it. So he needs the
player characters to take the money to the villains for him. Unfortunately, even with the heroes’ recent
payment, it isn’t quite enough…
Marital Mission – In this case the payment isn’t for the doctor, but for his wife. She suspects he is
doing more than medical examinations at the local brothels and wants to know if her suspicions are well
founded. The heroes will need to tail the doctor and see what he gets up to. But it will be rather tricky as
any illicit activity or examination he does with the local Jennys will be done behind closed doors.
Romantic Adventure – The doctor is quite shy and bookish and desperately in love. He wants to do
something to really impress the object of his affections but isn’t sure what that might be. He is thinking
something daring and dramatic to make sure she notices him, and he needs the advice and help of the
heroes to pull off the stunt. But it is hard to know if the lady (or gentleman) in question will be
impressed, or if they might be more intrigued by the adventurous companions the doctor has acquired…

Other Explorer’s Society titles from me

 All the World’s a Stage – A guide to theatre across Théah. Including detail on life backstage
and on the road. New theatrical backgrounds and advantages and a look at theatre across the
nations. It also looks at creating theatrical adventures in your campaign
 Sharper than any Blade – Rules for social combat using the dueling system to play out battles
of wit. Includes new twists on the dueling maneuvers for use in verbal badinage and dueling
schools for words rather than blades.
 Mirage – A new sorcery involving mirrors, where secrets might be stolen as long as you do not
lose your soul to the glass
 Vergogne - A guide to the most romantic place in Montaigne, if not Théah! Includes a host of
people and places as well as notes on adding a little romance and fashion into your game.
 Hearts and Harlots – Detail on the Jenny’s Guild and life as a Jenny, including a look at
Brothels across Théah, the Guild as a ‘secret society’ and new advantages and story ideas.
 Razor Sharp Dalliance – The history and use of the fan in Théah, including the mysterious fan
code and a new dueling style.
 The Wine List – A guide to the vintages and drinking habits of the nations of Théah (and its
free!).
Coming Next – The Inns of Theah – a series of mini setting guides to taverns across the world