Class: The Gorean Battle Medic 2
Lecturer: Snow Gryphon
Prerequisites: The Gorean Battle Medic 1
By touching this Dunvegan box here, you can obtain an organized folder with with my class notes and supporting documents. Class notes, text and textures are the sole property of the creator. They are not to be shared, sold or used to teach others without the specific permission of the instructor. This includes local chat.
At Physician’s Academy we make no effort to train you for any real life medical situations. We offer general information on medical topics, by the book and others, designed to better prepare you to role play as a Second Life Gorean physician. I make no claim to authoritative interpretation of the books by John Norman; nor am I trained in medicine in real life. These lectures are offered as a resource to role play only.
Please type an @ if you wish to ask a question or make a comment.
This is the second of a series of lectures called "Gorean Battle Medic (GBM)". It will deal with Equipment and the Battle Experience.
Let us begin.
3. Equipment
3.1 GBM Clothing & Equipment
Kajirae should wear a simple modest tunic, preferably green and with their hair under control. Warriors don’t need to be distracted while they are fighting. Similarly, kajirus should wear a loin cloth. Simple clothing also has the advantage of not getting in the way when doing a serve. The last thing one needs is billowing silks or dresses obscuring the view. Free women physicians must remain fully clothed and faithfully follow sim rules. They should endeavour to dress modestly. And be sure to wear your green arm band to be readily identified by friend and foe alike. The same exhortation applies to free men physicians except of course they have greater freedom in dress codes.
In addition, GBM’s can be equipped with a tool-belt worn on the arm or waist that may include such items as tweezers, scalpel, knife, light tube, magnifier, bandages, rep cloths, disinfectant and medicines. For a one minute serve with a warrior, one may not have the time to apply a prim bandage or have the warrior drink your favourite healing brew, but when RPing with others not so time constrained, these devices can add to realism and fun.
3.2 The Mobile Field Infirmary
Whether defending at home or attacking another sim, you may wish to use a Mobile Field Infirmary. At home, you infirmary may be a long way from the battle site or inconvenient to access, so setting one up can make good sense. Place it strategically with the advice of your Commander. It should be close enough for easy access, but out of the way of the normal flow of the battle.
Similarly, when setting up away from home be sure it will be behind your warriors and not easily over-run. This takes some experience to judge, so avail yourself of the advice of others. An added complication when attacking is that you likely will not be able to rez out on your enemy’s sim. So be sure to discuss this with your Commander. You may have to be added to the enemy group, at least temporarily, to do this.
Well, what constitutes a typical Mobile Field Infirmary? It may include the following: a tent, one or more beds, a medic belt or backpack and some supply packs. It should be easily seen and well-marked. As soon as you arrive on site, the GBM will help the physician(s) get setup, and be sure to remember where your Mobile Field Infirmary is located at all times! A well-trained physician and their GBM make a great team for roleplaying.
Question: If your Mobile Field Infirmary is over-run by the enemy, should the GBM try to defend the patients? If so, how?
Comments or questions so far?
5. The Battle
5.1 Rules
Sims often have extensive rules governing all aspects of combat and raids. We will explore those few that directly impact the GBM on an ongoing basis. However it is hoped that you will read and follow all the rules of your sim and that of your guest city, when applicable. I will be using examples taken from a few cities such as Port Cos, Port Olni and Lydius Port. The rules can vary considerably from city to city, so once again you must read them!!
5.1.1 Roleplay Rules
Most sims will allow reasonable personal RP limits such as:
“ - Players may choose to opt out of explicit roleplay they do not feel comfortable participating in, such as rape or excessive violence and gore. “
“ - Limits such as "No binding, no nudity, no branding, no killing, no hair cutting, and no collaring...etc" are unacceptable. “
“ - "Fading to Black" for the duration of the incident will help keep the story going. This means the 8 hours of brutal rape RP you were hoping to subject someone to can be replaced by simply saying their character was raped and moving on with the story rather than TPing out. “
Note that limits that you cannot normally opt out of are what most consider BTB “normal” aspects of Gorean life. If you are unable to deal with these issues, you may want to reconsider your role. Many sims have safe zones to which you can go in battle. But be sure to write RP limits in your profile to give others a heads up, and if you have a Free Companion or a significant other, it is best to consult with them on these limits as well.
Also, it is not considered good RP to change your mind or role when you find yourself in trouble. For example, one minute you are a GBM and the next a non-involved Free Woman. At all times try to be a faithful RPer, sticking to your role. Some sims have rules such as this one:
“ - Any changes, invalidations, or termination of RP should be done with the consent of whomever is participating. If no agreeable solution can be met, an RP moderator or Admin should settle the dispute. Have logs of the incident prepared.”
Many sims also will apply bans if you leave the battle for personal reasons. Here are some examples:
“ - TPing out of RP because your group owner or significant other demands it will result in a ban for you. “
“~ Any one TPing to leave combat and return with a reset meter will be ejected.”
So you can see from these examples, that once a battle starts you must do your best to stay in your role, whatever the consequences, but within reasonable personal limits. And you also must never TP away to another part of the sim to evade capture.
Question: Give me some examples of how you would actually do a “Fade to Black” if you are captured and are about to be slave raped by several men.
Any other comments or questions?
5.1.2 Combat Rules
Most combat rules are relevant to combatants, but there are a few to keep in mind for the GBM. The first and almost universal rule is that you must never re-set your meter while in battle. This often will result in banning.
Also there are rules about the use of doors. You may think you will be perfectly safe behind that door, but wait, here is an example of some rules:
“ ~All doors are scripted to be lock picked, to be opened with stolen key or jammed. “
“~Door prims are not allowed in Port Cos and will invalidate any attempt to pass through a door.”
“~Lockpicking or Breaking down doors: 3 emotes needed to pass”
“ ~Jamming the door: 2 emotes needed”
So you can see that RPing is what it’s all about and you may not be safe anywhere in the battle area.
Many sims have rules limiting the use of weapons. For example, can bows be used in the city, or not, can arrows be lobbed, are dual wielded weapons allowed and how about grappling hooks? The GBM must be aware of these rules as they will affect his/her strategy and play.
Question: So you evade capture but the warrior chases you to a locked room that you have entered. He suddenly appears in the locked-room and starts hacking at you. How did he likely get in and what should you do?
Any comments or questions?
5.1.3 Capture Rules
Now we will discuss one of the most controversial aspects of life in Gor: being captured. If not done properly this can split families, and bring great disharmony in communities.
It is not likely that as a GBM you will be capturing anyone, except for their protection. But it is highly probable that you will be captured in battle.
Here are some RP rules that typically apply:
“~Binding - Three emotes, minimum of 10 words for full bind, one post for slave bind. Once you are bound you cannot move, roll, or squirm in any way while bound.”
“~Unbinding - Three emotes, minimum of 10 words for full bind, one post for slaves”
“~No unbinding others while bound “
“~Self-unbinding - Ten minutes after battle has ended.”
Please note that all must be accompanied by RP. Think it through, keep it real!
So what if you are captured. What now? Some sims have rules governing the minimum and maximum time you may be held captive, some don’t. Some allow captors to take their captives out of the sim, some don’t. But one thing is clear: Once you are a captive you begin to lose your rights as a free, if you started out as one. You may be tied up, disrobed and collared. These are reasonable things that could happen to you while you are down and unconscious, right?
Question: Well there you are on the ground, tied up and no one seems to be paying attention to you. Can you try to escape? If so how?
Any comments or questions?
5.2 Capture & Submission RP
Now let’s think this through carefully keeping the rules in mind. You suddenly find yourself cornered by a warrior. Let’s assume you have not been downed and he says “Lady I have you cornered and I intend to capture you”. What should you do? Well if I were you I would try to escape, if there was any reasonable probability of success. What is the downside of running? Worst thing that can happen is you end up in a bubble. Best thing is you escape and can taunt the luckless warrior. So make a run for it! He will try to down you with his melee weapon or fire some arrows at you, if it is legal to do so. Either way, do some zigzagging to disturb his aim, know where you are going and you may be lucky and escape.
But let’s assume you haven’t been successful and end up in a bubble. What now? Well you must RP being unconscious for a start, so no shouts or emotes or attempts to escape. He likely will start his binding emotes by coming to you and saying something like “Runs to the side of the downed Lady and quickly ties her arms and legs with binding fiber.”
Ok you are caught. Then when your minute is up, he can give you aid to wake you up by saying “Slaps the Lady on the face to awaken her and says “Lady I have captured you, please be still and I will get you some medical attention””, then you respond by clicking on the “Bind” button (click on HUD, Setup, Bind) and saying “Sir, please do not harm me, I am a respected Lady!” You see you do have to cooperate in RP! Then he will finish with the third emote as follows: “Checks the binding fibers to see that they are secure and says “Lady XYZ you have been captured by me Sir Powerful””. At this point you may have to just sit there waiting for someone to free you or haul you away. Or you may opt to try to escape.
Capture and submission are two very different things. The first can be “forced” on you as the result of being faithful to your RP. For example, what can you do when you are unconscious besides allow yourself to be tied, disrobed and collared? Think about it. After the battle, you captor may seek your submission. This however will be YOUR choice. There will always be alternatives scenarios. Here are a few to consider:
When asked to submit,
1. You do so willingly
2. You refuse but are branded and raped anyway
3. You refuse and are killed
4. You refuse and are rescued, released, traded or sold
5. You refuse but agree to work as a GBM for them
There are many possible outcomes and combinations. But often this is not easy RP and you may find yourself in an emotionally untenable situation and wish to Fade to Black.
We will not discuss killing and suicide except in passing, suffice to say there are extensive rules in most sims governing them and one hopes it never happens to you. There usually will be a more suitable solution using RP. But serious grudges can develop between communities and men, often over honour and women, and sometimes extreme measures are sought.
So how do you get home? Well if you have willingly submitted, you are already home! Otherwise, there are RP ways to get you home such as by rescue, etc., before the time limit is enforced. Most sims use a 3 day limit, then you can TP home. If you are a Free Companion one would hope back to your loving Companion. These kinds of experience can add stresses to relationships, so it is best to have your strategies and assurances in place before you go to battle.
For example, there is an issue in most Free Companion contracts that stipulates that once a Free Woman is enslaved, she is no longer a Free Companion. So if you want to stay together, you and your Companion need to agree about what will really happen if he/she is captured. And it may not be simple, because you may hear some very malicious remarks and rumours along the way. Men love to taunt each other after battle and sometimes admins allow things to get out of hand. Enough said on that. Be careful!
Question: You are a captured physician and have been told there are many wounded enemy warriors that need your help. What should you do?
Comments or questions?
5.3 The Battle & Staying Out of Trouble
Battles are often carefully planned affairs preceded by lengthy negotiations, or they may be more impromptu. Be sure you are well briefed by your Commander. So if you are on the attacking side, show up on time at the raid dock ready to be of assistance. Once the raid ratio rules have been verified you will be let in and the fun begins! Most attacks start with the use of several volleys of arrows traded back and forth. Find a good place to hide that is easily accessible to the action. A nearby tree or rock would be a good place. Carefully watch your men and if any fall, leap into action and perform your Aid Service RP. Then quickly head for cover. Rinse and repeat.
The next stage usually involves the use of grappling hooks to scale the walls. Wait a bit before you follow the warriors, you don’t want to end up in the middle of things. When the time is right, click on the rope and up you go, then orient yourself and find cover again. Usually, the fighting will be with melee weapons at this point. Just be sure you don’t get too close to any of the enemy.
Battles often last for a total ½-2 hours, so stay focused and out of trouble. It’s not easy! Besides doing your serves, the important thing to watch is your own meter. If it dips into the yellow zone, take a time-out to hide and recover. The idea being that you want to be useful throughout the duration of the battle and aid as many of your warriors as you can. You may also come across some of your warriors that have been captured. If they are unguarded, you may be able to untie them. Do so by clicking on their ropes and having a suitable RP.
Ultimately, one side will wear the other down and a winner will emerge. Hopefully, it will be your side! At that point there will be many captives lying around and with some luck and skill you won’t be among them. The post-battle RP’s then commence.
Once you get home, give your typing fingers a rest and chill with your comrades. It also may be a good time to review in your mind what went well and what didn’t. Ask your warriors for recommendations and advice. Make some notes and try to do better next time. All in all, RPing a GBM should be a very fun and rewarding experience.
One final question from me: What is the best beverage to drink after a battle?
Any final comments or questions?
This concludes the series of lectures on the Gorean Battle Medic. Thank you for attending.
Dunvegan is a beautiful port city located south of Kassau on Thassa, the sea in Gor. It is a Gorean roleplay community in Second Life based on the books of John Norman, and is renowned for it's infirmary and as a place of learning and the arts. It also has a fine artisan village and a lively farm.
Showing posts with label Battle Medic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Battle Medic. Show all posts
Thursday, February 12, 2015
The Gorean Battle Medic 1
Class: Gorean Battle Medic 1
Lecturer: Snow Gryphon
Prerequisites: none
By touching this Dunvegan box here, you can obtain an organized folder with with my class notes and supporting documents. Class notes, text and textures are the sole property of the creator. They are not to be shared, sold or used to teach others without the specific permission of the instructor. This includes local chat.
At Physician’s Academy we make no effort to train you for any real life medical situations. We offer general information on medical topics, by the book and others, designed to better prepare you to role play as a Second Life Gorean physician. I make no claim to authoritative interpretation of the books by John Norman; nor am I trained in medicine in real life. These lectures are offered as a resource to role play only.
Please type an @ if you wish to ask a question or make a comment.
This is the first of two lectures called "Gorean Battle Medic".
1. Overview and Basics
1.1. Why
The Gorean Battle Medic (GBM) is a highly useful character for several reasons. They provide a tactical advantage in battle by giving a health assist that allows the wounded warrior to regain health more quickly. And the GBM provides another level of Role Play (RP) that adds to the complexity and fun in battles. Most sims use the Gorean Meter (GM). As the warrior takes hits, he is damaged and his health deteriorates and at some point he is no longer able to function and becomes unconscious or may die. The GM has a built-in clock that allows the warrior gradually to regain health (unless he is dead) even if he is not assisted. But help by the GBM speeds this up and allows the warrior to get back to the fighting more quickly. The job if the GBM is to make sure that happens, quickly and efficiently.
1.2. What
The GBM provides basic first aid on the battlefield. This includes determining the nature of the wound, stabilizing the patient, stopping bleeding, dealing with concussions and shock and assisting the warrior to get to the nearest infirmary. This first aid serve should take less than one minute and should be well-practiced. Remember a warrior heals himself by doing nothing and the last thing he needs is a half hour RP in the field.
1.3. Who
The GBM requires training in first aid and dealing with battle situations. Typically a GBM is a kajira (female slave)/kajirus (male slave) or a physician. Since the probability of injury, death and capture is quite high in a battlefield environment, it is considered better practice to have lesser trained more expendable characters fulfilling with role. In order of preference you may want to use a kajira, kajirus, male physician, female physician, Caste Leader. A typical female has the strength of a 12 year old Gorean boy, so they have limited abilities to be able carry a wounded warrior from the field.
Physicians should be protected and are better used in the infirmary. And exposing Free Women (FW) to battle is very risky, for themselves and any relationships they might have. If given a choice, train a few slaves. The slaves should be intelligent, quick RPers, brave, and ready to accept some dire consequences. A word of caution though: A GBM that is a slave normally is not permitted to perform anything beyond basic first aid, and even when trained is not a member of the Green (Physician’s) Caste. There are some slaves that were trained healers and physicians. Upon enslavement, they lost their rights and freedoms, but of course not their abilities. However, the use of “skilled” slaves is controversial, so it is best to stick with a simple format of offering first aid.
1.4. When
Obviously a GBM should be available for battles (or raids), but also should be included in battle training with the warriors. If the GBM is a kajira/kajirus, they also will be invaluable in assisting with RP in the infirmary. Battles usually don’t just happen. They are often carefully planned. It is always good practice as a physician to be involved in the planning process and to pass along any relevant information to your GBM. For Example: the next battle with XYZ city is at 1pm SLT on Friday. Be there ½ hour ahead of time for a briefing and the battle should last 2 hours including aftermath.
1.5. Where
Battles are either offensive or defensive. The offensive battles take place in your opponent’s sim. Sims can be cities, towns, villages, camps, or wild areas. Your Commander (warrior leader) should have scouted the area and be able to advise the GBM about the battlefield. He likely will also have a battle plan including positioning, objectives, and fallback, and as a GBM you need to know where and when you should be at all times. Most active raiding sims have a ‘Raid Gate” that you will assemble in front of before a raid, but some don’t. You absolutely must read the raid rules of the sim you are raiding. Ignorance is no excuse. We will deal with this in more details later.
The defenders almost always are given the advantage in a raid. Make yourself very familiar with your sim. Know how to navigate quickly and efficiently. Find the hiding places and safe areas. Know the areas where the raid will come from. Most important, know where your infirmary is and how to get there. This may seem obvious, but in the heat of battle, it is easy to become disoriented. All this will give you an advantage over the enemy and make you a more useful and valued RPer.
Question: You are a physician and want to train a slave to be a GBM. What medical skills and techniques should the slave learn?
Answer: “This includes determining the nature of the wound, stabilizing the patient, stopping bleeding, dealing with concussions and shock and assisting the warrior to get to the nearest infirmary.”
1.6. Gorean ranged and melee weapons
Many of us have not experienced being in battle alongside our warriors. It is a fast and furious affair. It can be exhilarating, scary and fun all at once. There are in general two kinds of weapons: range and melee.
Range weapons include bows, spears and slingshots. Melee weapons are such things as swords, axes and pikes. The most commonly used are a combination of a bow and a sword. The swords can be one-handed or two-handed. The one-handed sword like a gladius or short sword usually comes with a shield of some kind. So it has both offensive and defensive properties. Two-handed weapons like the great sword or battle axe are mostly offensive but had catch blows on them as well.
The weapons are designed to give no individual a distinctive advantage in battle. They all have advantages and disadvantages. For example one may deal more damage, but is slower to use than another.
The bow is the most commonly used and versatile range weapon. It is able to fire unlimited arrows (only on Gor…laughs) and can be setup to lob arrows over walls or buildings or fire straight at things. Bows usually come with a HUD that allows the user to adjust and target easily. In the hands of a skilled warrior a bow is highly accurate and lethal. When you see a warrior draw his bow, you had better escape quickly! The bow also has a grappling hook for scaling walls and other obstacles.
In a battlefield during a ranged attack, arrows will be flying all around you and you may be hit several times by accident. Also, some less than honourable people do target greens to take us out of the equation.
When you see a warrior close by draw his melee weapon, don't stop and think. Run away as fast as you can! You are unarmed silly, what chance do you think you have? It is very easy to go down when attacked by a warrior. They are very fast and deadly. If you have a chance, go and see your warriors training even if you have no intention of taking part in the battles. It will give you a clearer understanding of the role of a GBM. Next, we will explore training in more detail.
Question: You find yourself in the middle of a raid and the arrows are falling all around you. What is your best course of action?
Answer: Try to get behind your battle lines and behind shelter but still available to assist downed warriors.
2. Training
2.1 Caste Codes and Sim Rules
Knowing the rules of the game is the starting point in any training. Of relevance here are caste codes and sim rules. I’m going to pull out those that are essential to know, but of course you must be familiar with them all.
The Physician’s Oath of this Academy says that “I will aid any who call upon me for healing.” Well in a battle there may be many calling on a GBM for help. Obviously you should help your warriors. But should you help a downed enemy, if he is close by? In some sims, aiding the enemy is considered treasonous. You need to read your sim rules and have this discussion with your Commander and admin. Usually a middle path is acceptable, in that you can assist a downed enemy when you are not needed anywhere else and it won’t affect the outcome of the battle.
There are usually a great many sim rules governing raids. They include, entering and exiting the sim, TPing, binding, use of weapons by different classes, etc. They differ somewhat from sim to sim. You must carefully read and understand the rules and apply them faithfully. Combat brings out the best and worst in all of us, and not following rules can lead to unnecessary conflicts.
If you are training a slave, it is essential that they be made aware of the Physician’s Oath and relevant sim rules.
Question: If you have a choice between helping an enemy warrior near death of one of your own that is lightly injured, who should you treat first?
Answer: I would treat the enemy warrior first as long as it didn’t endanger my warriors, but this is a very tough choice.
2.2 Know Your Warriors
Imagine you are in the middle of a battle and 10 warriors are swirling around you fighting, one goes down and shouts “Medic I need help!” You look in your local chat window and see his name, and for a several seconds, you can’t remember if he is on your side or not. It’s very embarrassing, right? And when you get to him, and ask him what the problem is and he responds in a strange way and you don’t know what to do? The result: lost time and an annoying experience for you both. So the solution is that you must practice with all your warriors. Memorize their names, understand their RP styles and roles, and let them get used to you too. They will learn how to respond, they will get used to you being there for them, a help and not a hindrance, a part of a well-oiled team. The key is practice, practice, practice. It can be a lot of fun too and you’ll enjoy your RP a great deal more when you are with your “buds”.
2.3 The Battlefield Serve
2.3.1 Accessing and Interviewing Your Patient
The first thing to remember is that you are doing “first aid” as quickly and efficiently as possible, in less than one minute, if possible. So with that in mind, when you encounter a wounded warrior, the first step is to ask him about his injuries. This should only take a few seconds with practice. For example say “Warrior, where are you injured?”, and he responds “I have an arrow in my shoulder”. A battle serve is not the time for para RP, keep it simple and direct, forget about the long emotes. Your next goal is to stabilize his injuries and prevent further damage. Determine what his worst injuries are, if he has more than one, and treat them first. Look for major artery cuts or punctures, or major bone breaks or difficulty breathing. This requires some practice and judgment, but in most cases it means stop the bleeding first.
2.3.2 Cuts and Projectile Wounds
If the patient is a non-combatant you may wish to offer a painkiller such as a tassa tincture. Warriors almost never will accept a painkiller, so you can save yourself the typing. If the wound is a cut or puncture, clean the wound with sterile water and remove any debris with tweezers. Do this quickly. Do not try removing any projectiles such as arrows in the field unless you are a trained physician and even then, it usually is better to do that in the infirmary.
If the bleeding is profuse, press a sterile rep cloth on the wound to promote clotting. In most cases, your goal is to get the warrior to the infirmary ASAP. If you are a physician you may consider cauterizing the wound with a hot iron and putting in a few stitches in the field to repair major damaged arteries, but think about how likely this is in the middle of a battle. Slaves must not do this at all without permission. If the wound is less severe, you may be able to patch him up sufficiently to keep on fighting by simply stopping the bleeding and bandaging.
OK so here is the heart of the problem: A warrior is down and he emotes that he has an arrow in his leg. I have just told you that a GBM should not attempt arrow extraction in the field, and that the proper course of action is to stop the bleeding and get the warrior to the infirmary and to a physician; BUT…you have only one minute to do that and the warrior can himself in 4-5 minutes. What are the chances of a warrior agreeing to be brought to an infirmary for an extended RP while his mates are being slaughtered? So usually the best you can do is to get him out of his bubble and back into the fray ASAP.
Question: You come upon a warrior with arrows in both legs and he can’t walk. What are your options for getting him to the infirmary?
Answer: A few people could carry him or better yet use a stretcher or wagon.
2.3.3 Concussion and Shock
Shock can occur with almost any injury, so here are the symptoms: pale, clammy skin, rapid heart rate, low blood pressure, decreased alertness, and confusion. Be sure to watch for any of these key words in your patients emote. Treat by having the patient lie down with feet elevated, unless it is a head wound. Loosen any tight or restrictive clothing and keep the person calm. Warm the patient if needed and give liquids.
Concussions may accompany other wounds, so watch for these symptoms: headache or a feeling of pressure in the head, temporary loss of consciousness, confusion or feeling as if in a fog, amnesia surrounding the traumatic event, dizziness or "seeing stars", ringing in the ears, nausea, vomiting. The treatments are as follows: Apply ice or a cold wet cloth, use a painkiller such as tassa tincture, rest, and monitor symptoms over time.
Cuts and projectile wounds, shock and concussion are the medical issues most often encountered in the battle field that can be addressed easily and efficiently. You may also encounter, poisoning, bites, burns, broken bones, choking among others. Treatment of all these are beyond the scope of this series of lectures, but suffice to say that the GBM should pass these along to the infirmary staff.
Question: A warrior is down and he said that he fell of the wall and may have banged his head. His only symptoms are a rapid heart rate and cool clammy skin. What should you do?
Answer: It is not uncommon to get mixed messages and symptoms or even next to no symptoms from warriors. A little bit of godmodding here may be OK.
2.3.4 Summary of the Battlefield Serve, Step-by-Step
Now that you have mastered the RP, here are the steps to do a healing serve in the battlefield. First, when someone goes down they will usually say something like; “shouts: I need healing, help me!!”. Once you have determined that the person is on your side and where he/she is, run to them quickly. When a person is downed you can’t aid them for one minute. So as soon as you arrive, click on the bubble to see how many seconds are left.
Also look around and assess the situation. Is there an enemy warrior standing right there? If so, will he leave you alone to do your serve, or does he attack you? If you are attacked, get out of there fast, you have no chance against a warrior. Also make note of who he is and when and where, and give that info to your Commander. Post battle, there are often heated debates about cheating, etc.
Now let’s assume you have arrived and no one is trying to kill you. And in this example, it is assumed you do not have GM crafted bandages that give a huge health boost but are difficult to make or find. Here are the next steps for a battlefield serve.
1. When the patient is down and in a bubble, emote about getting ready to heal the person, name them explicitly. For example: “Runs to PowerfulOne to heal him”
2. Assess the injury. For example: “How can I help you warrior?”
3. Use appropriate RP to heal the wound. For example with a cut: “Warrior, be still and I will heal you." Cleans wound carefully with sterile water and removes debris with tweezers. Applies healing salve, and presses sterile rep cloth on wound and wraps with bandage. "You will be fine now brave warrior!”
4. Click on the bubble again and select “Aid”
5. The bubble should disappear and the patient will once again be on their feet. You will note that their health number may be very low, so they are not really fit to re-enter battle accept to assist someone else. At this point you can close the serve by saying something like: “You are healed enough to continue PowerfulOne, Be well!”
6. Or if the patient is seriously wounded, transport to the nearest physician.
2.3.5 Questions
I pose the following questions because I value your input. Often there is no right answer, so let's see what we can do with them.
1. How do you deal with an uncooperative warrior?
2. IMing on the battlefield, should we do it, and when?
3. Why bother doing the RP, why not just click the aid button and go to the next patient?
4. Should you try to defend yourself when you are working in the battlefield?
2.4 Extending the RP at the Infirmary
Not all your patients will be warriors. Some will be others in the community such as free men, women and slaves. They may be injured either accidentally or on purpose. So the GBM can encourage these patients to visit the infirmary for a more extended and hopefully more interesting RP. These RP’s can also serve to enrich existing story lines and create new ones. For example, a pregnant free woman has been caught in the crossfire and has received a few arrow wounds. Will she survive, and how about the baby? And why was she there in the first place? One can imagine many possibilities.
While the warriors certainly will not appreciate extended RP’s while the battle goes on, they may quite enjoy a post-battle visit to the infirmary to fix up any serious problems. These RP’s can be quite fun as the warriors often are in a good mood after a battle. They can be scheduled same day or more typically for the following days. For best results invite them before the battle. Warriors love to talk about their battle exploits. Be sure to ask them about it while you are healing.
The next lecture will deal with equipment for a GBM and a mobile field infirmary, and RPing the battle and its consequences. Hope to see you then.
Lecturer: Snow Gryphon
Prerequisites: none
By touching this Dunvegan box here, you can obtain an organized folder with with my class notes and supporting documents. Class notes, text and textures are the sole property of the creator. They are not to be shared, sold or used to teach others without the specific permission of the instructor. This includes local chat.
At Physician’s Academy we make no effort to train you for any real life medical situations. We offer general information on medical topics, by the book and others, designed to better prepare you to role play as a Second Life Gorean physician. I make no claim to authoritative interpretation of the books by John Norman; nor am I trained in medicine in real life. These lectures are offered as a resource to role play only.
Please type an @ if you wish to ask a question or make a comment.
This is the first of two lectures called "Gorean Battle Medic".
1. Overview and Basics
1.1. Why
The Gorean Battle Medic (GBM) is a highly useful character for several reasons. They provide a tactical advantage in battle by giving a health assist that allows the wounded warrior to regain health more quickly. And the GBM provides another level of Role Play (RP) that adds to the complexity and fun in battles. Most sims use the Gorean Meter (GM). As the warrior takes hits, he is damaged and his health deteriorates and at some point he is no longer able to function and becomes unconscious or may die. The GM has a built-in clock that allows the warrior gradually to regain health (unless he is dead) even if he is not assisted. But help by the GBM speeds this up and allows the warrior to get back to the fighting more quickly. The job if the GBM is to make sure that happens, quickly and efficiently.
1.2. What
The GBM provides basic first aid on the battlefield. This includes determining the nature of the wound, stabilizing the patient, stopping bleeding, dealing with concussions and shock and assisting the warrior to get to the nearest infirmary. This first aid serve should take less than one minute and should be well-practiced. Remember a warrior heals himself by doing nothing and the last thing he needs is a half hour RP in the field.
1.3. Who
The GBM requires training in first aid and dealing with battle situations. Typically a GBM is a kajira (female slave)/kajirus (male slave) or a physician. Since the probability of injury, death and capture is quite high in a battlefield environment, it is considered better practice to have lesser trained more expendable characters fulfilling with role. In order of preference you may want to use a kajira, kajirus, male physician, female physician, Caste Leader. A typical female has the strength of a 12 year old Gorean boy, so they have limited abilities to be able carry a wounded warrior from the field.
Physicians should be protected and are better used in the infirmary. And exposing Free Women (FW) to battle is very risky, for themselves and any relationships they might have. If given a choice, train a few slaves. The slaves should be intelligent, quick RPers, brave, and ready to accept some dire consequences. A word of caution though: A GBM that is a slave normally is not permitted to perform anything beyond basic first aid, and even when trained is not a member of the Green (Physician’s) Caste. There are some slaves that were trained healers and physicians. Upon enslavement, they lost their rights and freedoms, but of course not their abilities. However, the use of “skilled” slaves is controversial, so it is best to stick with a simple format of offering first aid.
1.4. When
Obviously a GBM should be available for battles (or raids), but also should be included in battle training with the warriors. If the GBM is a kajira/kajirus, they also will be invaluable in assisting with RP in the infirmary. Battles usually don’t just happen. They are often carefully planned. It is always good practice as a physician to be involved in the planning process and to pass along any relevant information to your GBM. For Example: the next battle with XYZ city is at 1pm SLT on Friday. Be there ½ hour ahead of time for a briefing and the battle should last 2 hours including aftermath.
1.5. Where
Battles are either offensive or defensive. The offensive battles take place in your opponent’s sim. Sims can be cities, towns, villages, camps, or wild areas. Your Commander (warrior leader) should have scouted the area and be able to advise the GBM about the battlefield. He likely will also have a battle plan including positioning, objectives, and fallback, and as a GBM you need to know where and when you should be at all times. Most active raiding sims have a ‘Raid Gate” that you will assemble in front of before a raid, but some don’t. You absolutely must read the raid rules of the sim you are raiding. Ignorance is no excuse. We will deal with this in more details later.
The defenders almost always are given the advantage in a raid. Make yourself very familiar with your sim. Know how to navigate quickly and efficiently. Find the hiding places and safe areas. Know the areas where the raid will come from. Most important, know where your infirmary is and how to get there. This may seem obvious, but in the heat of battle, it is easy to become disoriented. All this will give you an advantage over the enemy and make you a more useful and valued RPer.
Question: You are a physician and want to train a slave to be a GBM. What medical skills and techniques should the slave learn?
Answer: “This includes determining the nature of the wound, stabilizing the patient, stopping bleeding, dealing with concussions and shock and assisting the warrior to get to the nearest infirmary.”
1.6. Gorean ranged and melee weapons
Many of us have not experienced being in battle alongside our warriors. It is a fast and furious affair. It can be exhilarating, scary and fun all at once. There are in general two kinds of weapons: range and melee.
Range weapons include bows, spears and slingshots. Melee weapons are such things as swords, axes and pikes. The most commonly used are a combination of a bow and a sword. The swords can be one-handed or two-handed. The one-handed sword like a gladius or short sword usually comes with a shield of some kind. So it has both offensive and defensive properties. Two-handed weapons like the great sword or battle axe are mostly offensive but had catch blows on them as well.
The weapons are designed to give no individual a distinctive advantage in battle. They all have advantages and disadvantages. For example one may deal more damage, but is slower to use than another.
The bow is the most commonly used and versatile range weapon. It is able to fire unlimited arrows (only on Gor…laughs) and can be setup to lob arrows over walls or buildings or fire straight at things. Bows usually come with a HUD that allows the user to adjust and target easily. In the hands of a skilled warrior a bow is highly accurate and lethal. When you see a warrior draw his bow, you had better escape quickly! The bow also has a grappling hook for scaling walls and other obstacles.
In a battlefield during a ranged attack, arrows will be flying all around you and you may be hit several times by accident. Also, some less than honourable people do target greens to take us out of the equation.
When you see a warrior close by draw his melee weapon, don't stop and think. Run away as fast as you can! You are unarmed silly, what chance do you think you have? It is very easy to go down when attacked by a warrior. They are very fast and deadly. If you have a chance, go and see your warriors training even if you have no intention of taking part in the battles. It will give you a clearer understanding of the role of a GBM. Next, we will explore training in more detail.
Question: You find yourself in the middle of a raid and the arrows are falling all around you. What is your best course of action?
Answer: Try to get behind your battle lines and behind shelter but still available to assist downed warriors.
2. Training
2.1 Caste Codes and Sim Rules
Knowing the rules of the game is the starting point in any training. Of relevance here are caste codes and sim rules. I’m going to pull out those that are essential to know, but of course you must be familiar with them all.
The Physician’s Oath of this Academy says that “I will aid any who call upon me for healing.” Well in a battle there may be many calling on a GBM for help. Obviously you should help your warriors. But should you help a downed enemy, if he is close by? In some sims, aiding the enemy is considered treasonous. You need to read your sim rules and have this discussion with your Commander and admin. Usually a middle path is acceptable, in that you can assist a downed enemy when you are not needed anywhere else and it won’t affect the outcome of the battle.
There are usually a great many sim rules governing raids. They include, entering and exiting the sim, TPing, binding, use of weapons by different classes, etc. They differ somewhat from sim to sim. You must carefully read and understand the rules and apply them faithfully. Combat brings out the best and worst in all of us, and not following rules can lead to unnecessary conflicts.
If you are training a slave, it is essential that they be made aware of the Physician’s Oath and relevant sim rules.
Question: If you have a choice between helping an enemy warrior near death of one of your own that is lightly injured, who should you treat first?
Answer: I would treat the enemy warrior first as long as it didn’t endanger my warriors, but this is a very tough choice.
2.2 Know Your Warriors
Imagine you are in the middle of a battle and 10 warriors are swirling around you fighting, one goes down and shouts “Medic I need help!” You look in your local chat window and see his name, and for a several seconds, you can’t remember if he is on your side or not. It’s very embarrassing, right? And when you get to him, and ask him what the problem is and he responds in a strange way and you don’t know what to do? The result: lost time and an annoying experience for you both. So the solution is that you must practice with all your warriors. Memorize their names, understand their RP styles and roles, and let them get used to you too. They will learn how to respond, they will get used to you being there for them, a help and not a hindrance, a part of a well-oiled team. The key is practice, practice, practice. It can be a lot of fun too and you’ll enjoy your RP a great deal more when you are with your “buds”.
2.3 The Battlefield Serve
2.3.1 Accessing and Interviewing Your Patient
The first thing to remember is that you are doing “first aid” as quickly and efficiently as possible, in less than one minute, if possible. So with that in mind, when you encounter a wounded warrior, the first step is to ask him about his injuries. This should only take a few seconds with practice. For example say “Warrior, where are you injured?”, and he responds “I have an arrow in my shoulder”. A battle serve is not the time for para RP, keep it simple and direct, forget about the long emotes. Your next goal is to stabilize his injuries and prevent further damage. Determine what his worst injuries are, if he has more than one, and treat them first. Look for major artery cuts or punctures, or major bone breaks or difficulty breathing. This requires some practice and judgment, but in most cases it means stop the bleeding first.
2.3.2 Cuts and Projectile Wounds
If the patient is a non-combatant you may wish to offer a painkiller such as a tassa tincture. Warriors almost never will accept a painkiller, so you can save yourself the typing. If the wound is a cut or puncture, clean the wound with sterile water and remove any debris with tweezers. Do this quickly. Do not try removing any projectiles such as arrows in the field unless you are a trained physician and even then, it usually is better to do that in the infirmary.
If the bleeding is profuse, press a sterile rep cloth on the wound to promote clotting. In most cases, your goal is to get the warrior to the infirmary ASAP. If you are a physician you may consider cauterizing the wound with a hot iron and putting in a few stitches in the field to repair major damaged arteries, but think about how likely this is in the middle of a battle. Slaves must not do this at all without permission. If the wound is less severe, you may be able to patch him up sufficiently to keep on fighting by simply stopping the bleeding and bandaging.
OK so here is the heart of the problem: A warrior is down and he emotes that he has an arrow in his leg. I have just told you that a GBM should not attempt arrow extraction in the field, and that the proper course of action is to stop the bleeding and get the warrior to the infirmary and to a physician; BUT…you have only one minute to do that and the warrior can himself in 4-5 minutes. What are the chances of a warrior agreeing to be brought to an infirmary for an extended RP while his mates are being slaughtered? So usually the best you can do is to get him out of his bubble and back into the fray ASAP.
Question: You come upon a warrior with arrows in both legs and he can’t walk. What are your options for getting him to the infirmary?
Answer: A few people could carry him or better yet use a stretcher or wagon.
2.3.3 Concussion and Shock
Shock can occur with almost any injury, so here are the symptoms: pale, clammy skin, rapid heart rate, low blood pressure, decreased alertness, and confusion. Be sure to watch for any of these key words in your patients emote. Treat by having the patient lie down with feet elevated, unless it is a head wound. Loosen any tight or restrictive clothing and keep the person calm. Warm the patient if needed and give liquids.
Concussions may accompany other wounds, so watch for these symptoms: headache or a feeling of pressure in the head, temporary loss of consciousness, confusion or feeling as if in a fog, amnesia surrounding the traumatic event, dizziness or "seeing stars", ringing in the ears, nausea, vomiting. The treatments are as follows: Apply ice or a cold wet cloth, use a painkiller such as tassa tincture, rest, and monitor symptoms over time.
Cuts and projectile wounds, shock and concussion are the medical issues most often encountered in the battle field that can be addressed easily and efficiently. You may also encounter, poisoning, bites, burns, broken bones, choking among others. Treatment of all these are beyond the scope of this series of lectures, but suffice to say that the GBM should pass these along to the infirmary staff.
Question: A warrior is down and he said that he fell of the wall and may have banged his head. His only symptoms are a rapid heart rate and cool clammy skin. What should you do?
Answer: It is not uncommon to get mixed messages and symptoms or even next to no symptoms from warriors. A little bit of godmodding here may be OK.
2.3.4 Summary of the Battlefield Serve, Step-by-Step
Now that you have mastered the RP, here are the steps to do a healing serve in the battlefield. First, when someone goes down they will usually say something like; “shouts: I need healing, help me!!”. Once you have determined that the person is on your side and where he/she is, run to them quickly. When a person is downed you can’t aid them for one minute. So as soon as you arrive, click on the bubble to see how many seconds are left.
Also look around and assess the situation. Is there an enemy warrior standing right there? If so, will he leave you alone to do your serve, or does he attack you? If you are attacked, get out of there fast, you have no chance against a warrior. Also make note of who he is and when and where, and give that info to your Commander. Post battle, there are often heated debates about cheating, etc.
Now let’s assume you have arrived and no one is trying to kill you. And in this example, it is assumed you do not have GM crafted bandages that give a huge health boost but are difficult to make or find. Here are the next steps for a battlefield serve.
1. When the patient is down and in a bubble, emote about getting ready to heal the person, name them explicitly. For example: “Runs to PowerfulOne to heal him”
2. Assess the injury. For example: “How can I help you warrior?”
3. Use appropriate RP to heal the wound. For example with a cut: “Warrior, be still and I will heal you." Cleans wound carefully with sterile water and removes debris with tweezers. Applies healing salve, and presses sterile rep cloth on wound and wraps with bandage. "You will be fine now brave warrior!”
4. Click on the bubble again and select “Aid”
5. The bubble should disappear and the patient will once again be on their feet. You will note that their health number may be very low, so they are not really fit to re-enter battle accept to assist someone else. At this point you can close the serve by saying something like: “You are healed enough to continue PowerfulOne, Be well!”
6. Or if the patient is seriously wounded, transport to the nearest physician.
2.3.5 Questions
I pose the following questions because I value your input. Often there is no right answer, so let's see what we can do with them.
1. How do you deal with an uncooperative warrior?
2. IMing on the battlefield, should we do it, and when?
3. Why bother doing the RP, why not just click the aid button and go to the next patient?
4. Should you try to defend yourself when you are working in the battlefield?
2.4 Extending the RP at the Infirmary
Not all your patients will be warriors. Some will be others in the community such as free men, women and slaves. They may be injured either accidentally or on purpose. So the GBM can encourage these patients to visit the infirmary for a more extended and hopefully more interesting RP. These RP’s can also serve to enrich existing story lines and create new ones. For example, a pregnant free woman has been caught in the crossfire and has received a few arrow wounds. Will she survive, and how about the baby? And why was she there in the first place? One can imagine many possibilities.
While the warriors certainly will not appreciate extended RP’s while the battle goes on, they may quite enjoy a post-battle visit to the infirmary to fix up any serious problems. These RP’s can be quite fun as the warriors often are in a good mood after a battle. They can be scheduled same day or more typically for the following days. For best results invite them before the battle. Warriors love to talk about their battle exploits. Be sure to ask them about it while you are healing.
The next lecture will deal with equipment for a GBM and a mobile field infirmary, and RPing the battle and its consequences. Hope to see you then.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)