These rules apply to Orcish characters of every military specialty unless a specialty explicitly provides different rules. Field Medics will have additional or replacement first-aid capabilities.
What hit points mean
A note from the GM: D&D describes hit points as a mixture of physical health, stamina, luck, and the will to fight. Your GM has never been entirely convinced by this interpretation: the game has hit points fall when characters suffer damage, but not when they become tired, frightened, or discouraged. For this adventure, HP primarily represents physical health and injury. This is an intentional departure from the official interpretation.
HP lost by casting spells without sufficient mana is a real loss of physical health. Temporary HP cannot pay that cost, as explained in the Orcish Magic rules.
Natural healing
- Orcish characters do not use Hit Dice for healing.
- A character recovers 5 HP after each completed 24-hour period, up to their normal HP maximum. Do not track fractional daily recovery.
- This healing is independent of mana regeneration; it does not restore mana.
- Magic and other healing effects can restore additional HP. HP lost through overcasting can be recovered by natural healing or appropriate magical healing.
Ordinary military first aid
All soldiers receive basic first-aid training. For the two procedures below, add your proficiency bonus to the Wisdom (Medicine) check even if you do not otherwise have Medicine proficiency. Add the proficiency bonus twice if you already have Medicine proficiency (different from usual D&D).
| Procedure | Time | Check | Result |
| Stabilize casualty | 1 action | DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) | A creature at 0 HP becomes stable under ordinary D&D stabilization rules. No HP restored. |
| Apply field dressing | 1 minute | DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) | Restore 1d4 HP to a wounded creature with at least 1 HP, subject to the injury-episode rules below. |
Field dressings: one success per injury episode
An injury episode is a continuous incident in which a character suffers physical injury—for example, a battle, a fall, or an accident. Several wounds sustained during one battle count as one episode. A separate later battle or accident is a new episode.
- A character can benefit from only one successful field dressing per injury episode.
- A failed attempt restores no HP. It may be retried as often as time and medical supplies permit; each attempt takes one minute and consumes supplies.
- A successful dressing restores 1d4 HP, but never more HP than the physical injury inflicted during that episode. It cannot heal unrelated earlier wounds.
- HP lost through overcasting does not qualify as an injury episode for field dressing purposes. A dressing cannot restore those HP.
- Field dressings do not raise a creature from 0 HP. Stabilize the casualty first; further recovery requires subsequent field dressing, natural healing, or magical healing.
Example
A private loses 7 HP to sword blows during a skirmish. A comrade attempts a field dressing, fails the first check, spends another minute and more supplies, then succeeds. The dressing restores 1d4 HP. No further dressing can help with injuries from that skirmish, but a later separate injury can be dressed. If the private had lost 3 additional HP by overcasting, the dressing would not restore those 3 HP.
Quick reference for specialty sheets
Basic first aid (all non–Field Medic specialties): Stabilize at 0 HP: 1 action, DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine). Field dressing: 1 minute, DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine), restore 1d4 HP (maximum damage from the current injury episode); one successful dressing per episode, retries permitted with additional time and supplies. Add proficiency bonus to these checks.