Greetings, and welcome to the third Discipline Focus article. After recieving positive feedback from the first Discipline Focus about Defenders, I wanted to give the same treatment to the new NFU Disciplines that we recently launched. To that end, I’ve created a few NFU NPCs to help us out, and have even started to crowdsource them with a few select members.

Like the previous Focus articles, I will highlight the NPC that’s been created, showcase a short fiction showing off how they could function, and then break down and expand on what makes the Discipline cool and how it could work in practice. You can view the Disciplines on their Wiki page, or on CDAWG here.

Today I’m going to talk about the Field Medic.

Field Medics were created to give non-Force users an alternative set of skills to help make a character that wasn’t just an expert with weapons and a master of combat. We imagined them as a vital role on these battlefields we often like to write our characters fighting across. From what we’ve seen in canon material like The Clone Wars, standard medicine is used more often than not. While the Force has healing abilities, it is very rare that you see a character using healing “spells” like in TOR or any kind of RPG for that matter. Field Medics for the DB get the bonus of being able to work their Medicine Skill under the strain and pressure of combat, while also possessing a deeper knowledge of alien physiology.

Field Medic NPC: Epi’ona

Ep’iona was created to fill the mold of a conventional RPG medic dropped into reality. Her Aspects and personality should be familiar to anyone that has played a healer type character and grown jaded or frustrated with DPS/Tanks that always seem to want to stand in the fire or aggro all the enemies. Major props to Sildrin for helping me design, create, and bring Eppy to life. She was kind enough to draw her headshot and also wrote the description!

You can check out here Character Sheet here and read her story below.

Short Fiction

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Can’t Save Them All

New Tython
Esstran Sector
34ABY

Atmospheric Assault Landers landed in formation on the mossy ground of New Tython, just outside the treeline of one of its many jungles. Servo-motors hissed as the reinforced landing ramps lowered. Armored boots hammered heavily against the plated slope as a company of Iron Legion Stormtroopers spilled out of the troop transports.

The Legion of Steel, under the command of Augur Solari-Urr, had done its part to make the landings difficult. You could only delay the inevitable for so long, however. The Melewati Bushfighters knew their lands better than any. The guerilla fighting force had been expecting an attack, but not this.

“Rear Guard: fall back!” a commander shouted. “Vanguard: advance!”

Chaos erupted. The screech of blaster fire sparked a messy flurry of crimson and emerald light. Artillery mortars arced through the sky, bellowing angrily as they mercilessly sought out their targets.

Like a swarm of fire ants, the Iron Legion fanned out and engulfed the terrain. They moved with clockwork efficiency, knowing that they had not just the advantage of numbers, but uniformity. They moved like a wave, and with the droid-army occupied on the main assault, they knew they were up against reserves. A cacophony of explosive detonations threatened to swallow the blaster file entirely. That’s when the real screams started to scatter across the battlefield.

Ep’iona grit her teeth as she sprinted for cover, gripping her field kit tightly to her side. She found a makeshift trench formed from one of the artillery blasts and slid smoothly into its groove, pressing her shoulder against it and looking around.

The Iron Legion stormtroopers had pushed the New Tythonians back to tree-line. Advancing into the forest would put the troopers at a disadvantage, but they seemed confident in their numbers. She had been on enough battlefields to pick up the basic do’s and dont’s, and realized that regardless of what strategy was utilized, there would be bodies left in the wake. Sighing, she looked around for the closest casualties and was not surprised to find a number of armored corpses lying still across the mossy grounds. There was not much she could do for them.

Ep’iona shuffled to the other side of her cover and glanced around. A few stray blaster bolts flew past her position, but she did not flinch. A grenade of some kind detonated ten meters away, accompanied by a bloodcurdling scream. She idly tucked her long, curly hair behind her ear and waited for the body to land behind her cover. She frowned, as the trooper had lost the better half of his entire body. Smoldering armor gave way to singed flesh. Organs spilled out from his side and he screamed through his broken helmet.

The Field Medic didn’t hesitate, reaching into her bag and pulling out a syringe. Tapping the tip, she deftly maneuvered it into the dying trooper’s neck, depressing the liquid it held. The trooper’s cries of pain faded away as his body went still, eye closing as he slipped into a more peaceful rest. Even if she had been able to stabilize the trooper, he would have died before he was even carried back to the ship. The least she could have done was deliver a quick and painless alternative.

You can’t save them all.

The Iron Legion advanced. Ep’iona followed, keeping her head low and looking for more cover. The tall trees had thick trunks and looked like good bets. She leapt over a few tangles of roots without much trouble and ducked behind the tree trunk. The Mirialan nearly stumbled over the soldier that had been lying in the dirt beneath the same tree. He was a black Zabrak with brown skin, black facial tattoos, and a trio of horns on the crown of his head. He wore leather hide armor that did not seem to do much to protect him from the gaping hole just to the side of his stomach.

Ep’iona knew that he was the enemy and therefore needed to die. When he looked at her, there was no malice in his eyes. Zabrak were tough as nails, but a blaster shot to the side was still a blaster shot to the side. His eyes were clouded with pain, but he somehow smiled at her.

“Here to finish me off, doc?” he said in faintly accented Basic.

“Tesak ver ei nama,” Ep’iona replied curtly in the Zabraki tongue. She let the corner of her lip curl into a very tight grin. My job is to heal.

The wounded Zabrak started to chuckle but then broke out into a fit of coughing. Blood leaked out of the corner of his mouth when he pulled it away. Ep’iona furrowed her brow and dug into her field pack, pulling out a set of tools to work with.

Zabrak physiology would give most medics trouble. The second heart meant that there was more blood flow than a typical Human or even near-Human body. It also made treating wounds more difficult because they could lose blood at a faster rate. Taking vitals was also always a challenge. Fortunately for this soldier, Ep’iona wasn’t your average medic, and knew exactly what she was doing.

The Mirilan’s fingers moved with deft precision as she sterilized the blaster wound with some spray and a bottle of clear liquid. The Zabrak soldier winced and started to cry out, but felt his muscles relax as she injected him with a painkiller-stim. Never pausing despite the blaster fire reverberating through the forest, she grabbed a bag of what looked like chopped herbs and sprinkled them over the wound.

“What is that?”

“Alternative medicine,” she explained as she smeared on a layer of sealing gel over the wound and started to wrap a bandage expertly around his waist. “Bio-gel can leave some pretty gnarled scarring when removed by a surgeon. Fenton leaves and crushed arrow-root have shown to minimize the effects. Most of the time.” She tucked her hair back behind her ear again and sat back.

The Zabrak regarded her curiously and nodded once. “You must be some kind of angel—”

A blaster bolt lodged itself between the Zabrak’s eyes, jerking his head back into the tree with a hiss and a thump. A neat spray of blood splattered across Ep’iona’s face. Her eyes widened for a moment, but her resolve quickly wrapped itself around her with protective arms and her face shifted to a more neutral mask.

An armored stormtrooper trotted over to her and knelt down beside her. “Are you alright, medic!?” he barked through his helmet.

“Yes sir,” she replied mechanically. The trooper nodded, and continued to advance position into the woods. Ep’iona looked over her former patient for a few longing moments before picking herself up and following the trooper.

You can’t save them all.

-=x=-

Combat Training Center
Medical Recovery Ward
Present Day

“—and so then I was like, ‘Don’t shoot!’ and the crazy woman shot me! How was I supposed to know she wouldn’t take it as a joke?”

Wyn sat on the examination table with his shirt off. Ep’iona’s hands had moved mechanically as they wrapped the now cleaned bullet wound in his shoulder. Her curls bobbed slightly as she shook her head, clearing her mind of the memory. It was hard to focus sometimes in such a controlled environment.

“It was barely a scratch,” Ep’iona said evenly. “In the future, I recommend refraining from making comments about the Trainer Murphy’s height in the middle of a training exercise.”

“It was just a little fun, that’s all.” Wyn grinned.

“Out,” Ep’iona said with a curt, dismissive wave of her hand. Wyn obliged and grabbed his shirt and jacket, humming to himself as he exited.

Alone in the medical examination room, Ep’iona sat down on the floor. She looked around at the clean, sterile room filled with every tool or gadget she could ever need. She closed her eyes, remembered, and started to weep.

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Still Reading? Skipped Ahead?

That's okay if you did. I’m going to highlight the important part anyway, but wanted to give an organic example of how a Field Medic’s skills could be written in real time.

Field Medic Feat: Steady Hands

The Field Medic didn’t hesitate, reaching into her bag and pulling out a syringe. Tapping the tip, she deftly maneuvered it into the dying trooper’s neck, depressing the liquid it held. The trooper’s cries of pain faded away as his body went still, eye closing as he slipped into a more peaceful rest. Even if she had been able to stabilize the trooper, he would have died before he was even carried back to the ship. The least she could have done was deliver a quick and painless alternative.

Blaster fire and explosions are going off around Ep’iona. The troopers body was literally blown to bits and landed right beside her. She doesn’t flinch, and is able to use her Medicine skill and even gains a bonus that bring her up to +5.

You can see this combine with her general ability to handle a battlefield that’s reflected in her Combat Aspect: Steady Under Fire.

Ep’iona is at her best when under the barrel of a loaded gun. While always careful and premeditated in her preparations, a part of her craves the rush and adrenaline of handling life or death scenarios in the heart of a battle. To this end, she has no trouble tackling major trauma and injuries that other medics with more or better training might shy away from in the field.

While Disciplines provide unique perks, building a character to make use of those perks can be advantageous. For example, I also built in a part of her character that likes to use alternative types of medicine in treatment.

“Bio-gel can leave some pretty gnarled scarring when removed by a surgeon. Fenton leaves and crushed arrow-root have shown to minimize the effects. Most of the time.”

Just some extra flavor to show flexibility in character design.

Field Medic Feat: Xenobiology

Zabrak physiology would give most medics trouble. The second heart meant that there was more blood flow than a typical human or even near-human body. It also made treating wounds more difficult because they could lose blood at a faster rate. Taking vitals was also always a challenge. Fortunately for this soldier, Ep’iona wasn’t your average medic, and knew exactly what she was doing.

This is a bit on the nose, but I would still probably go into this level of detail when writing a normal fiction. Xenobiology allows a Field Medic to have an existing knowledge base of alien physiology, so she knows that she has to work differently with a Zabrak, who have two hearts instead of one.

Epilogue

While her hands never shake when making these decisions, Ep’iona carries with her the weight of every life she wasn’t fast enough—or precise enough—to save. Combined with her penchant to be alone and always display a demeanor of independence, the weight can be crushing at times and she’s prone to breaking down when off duty or trying to relax.

I ended the story by touching on her “Can’t Save Them All” Aspect. It’s something I think carries underlying weight to anyone who plays a medic type character, and wanted to show that while Ep’iona is a complete badass as a healer without the Force, she is still vulnerable and a regular person underneath it all.

New Aspects!

I’ve gone ahead and made the following Aspects available as pre-written Aspects in the database.

Don’t Stand In The Fire
The character has been patching up the wounded for years as a Medic and has come to the conclusion that more often than not, the injuries are either self inflicted or deserved. While he will always work tirelessly on behalf of his patient in an ongoing quest to preserve all life, that doesn’t stop him from scolding or belittling patients that he feels should know better than to walk into a rancor pit with a bucket of raw meat. The character teeters on the line between compassion and supporting selective evolution, which can make him come off as less friendly or inviting than other medics.

Alternative Methods
The character's skills as a medic are not just limited to holo-books and lectures. He has read up and practiced a handful of experimental treatments while inventing a few home remedies of his own. This allows the character to work outside the box in less than ideal situations, and can lead to him solving mysteries other trained medics might struggle with. This, of course, comes with its own string of failures, as nothing is ever perfect. That, and some of the more established professionals in the field often doubt or question the character's alternative practices. He typically brushes them off in favor of doing everything he can to help a patient, but does quietly seek recognition for accomplishments as a healer.

Always Prepared
Sometimes the only way to prepare for the worst is to always expect it. The character takes this philosophy one step further by never leaving home without accounting for every possible scenario he might expect to encounter. The character tends to always have the right tool or item for a situation and has a habit of quietly and almost smugly presenting solutions before anyone even recognizes there is a problem. This foresight is far from infallible, however, and he often finds himself at a loss in situations that go beyond what he could have imagined. While incredibly practical and often a life-saver in a pinch, his perpetually pessimistic outlook on daily life can be a bit draining on more optimistic-inclined companions.

You can find an archive of my previous Combat Master reports HERE. These reports contain a lot of helpful information, so if you’re a new or returning member, I’d suggest leafing through them.

ACC Links

• Species Wiki
• Disciplines Wiki
• Aspects Wiki
• Skills Wiki
• Force Powers Wiki
• Feats Database -- CDawg

ACC Exams

• ACC Combat Studies
• ACC Qualification Exam
• Lightsaber Combat
• Martial Arts: Form Studies

That's all for now. As usual, if you have questions, let me know. If you liked these articles, leave comments below so I know that they are being helpful.