Jeff Zeitlin wrote:

> Kenneth Barns wrote:
>
>> For role-playing purposes, Paramedicine makes much more sense as a career
>> than Medicine itself.  I can see ambulance officers, nurses, army medics,
>> etc, getting into typical PC mischief.  Properly qualified medical
>> professionals?  Not so much.  (We tend to do quite well financially having
>
> Point taken, and I'm hoping that Eric Rhude will contribute to the issue.
> However... Herewith the first three paragraphs of the article:

I feel badly not being willing to jump in and say "I'll take a stab at writing it" but I do find the "paramedic" career field Ken seems to be describing to be more interesting, from a role-playing standpoint, than I do the more stereotypical "doctor" one presented in the preview.  Sure, there may be an "adventuring doctor" character once in a great while but more games and campaigns are going to have characters more along the lines of those (former) armed services medics. . . .

I've been working on an adventure scenario, set in the era of the Sacnoth Dominate.  One of the "Exploring Expeditions" which ventured into the Pilgrim frontier (which will become District 268 one day) leading to a few scattered and eventually "lost" colonies.  A handful of decommissioned former Dominate naval ships--maybe a type-C cruiser, a type-CE close escort, a type-S scout, a couple of merchants serving as auxiliaries--venturing ten parsecs or so into the wilderness on their own for two or three or four years.  There will be a half-dozen or so "medics" in that little flotilla perhaps, none of whom are what any of us here might call a "doctor" the next time we are in a hospital.  None of these medics are going to be a Dr. Peter Conway but they're all the sort of (non-player) characters we'll see in many different games or campaigns.

Ken's brief note is actually some of the most fascinating role-playing guidance I've seen in a while.  He's taken his specialized domain knowledge and brought it thoughtfully to the specialized realm of game role-playing.  I confess I look at "medics" in sci-fi role-playing quite differently now than I did before I read his post.

I hope you'll find room for that sort of perspective in ~Freelance Traveller~.  Again, I realize what would make that most likely is someone volunteering to provide it.  Perhaps Ken just needs some encouragement. ;)

Cheers,

David
--
Victoria, British Columbia
48° 25' N, 123° 21' W