Sorry if this rule is listed somewhere and I missed it.. Is there a specific window during which a PC can administer a Medicine check to heal a Critical Injury? For example, can this happen during a combat encounter, or must it wait until combat has concluded? If the answer to the former is "yes", can the "target" PC (that is, the PC being healed) be engaged with an enemy at the time? Thanks in advance.

Corebook p. 61, the Medicine Check Difficulty sidebar, lists all the limitations. Technically, there's no rule against using Medicine on a currently engaged character, but personally, I wouldn't allow it, as battlefield medicine tends to be hard enough without an enemy trying to beat you or your patient to death.

2 hours ago, Morangias said:

Corebook p. 61, the Medicine Check Difficulty sidebar, lists all the limitations. Technically, there's no rule against using Medicine on a currently engaged character, but personally, I wouldn't allow it, as battlefield medicine tends to be hard enough without an enemy trying to beat you or your patient to death.

Sounds like a great reason to add a setback…or three! If the medic has Knack for It they are better able to handle the hecticness of battlefield medicine.

27 minutes ago, c__beck said:

Sounds like a great reason to add a setback…or three! If the medic has Knack for It they are better able to handle the hecticness of battlefield medicine.

I guess that also depends on the tone you're going for, the specific Critical in question, and the level of medicine technology in your setting. Personally I'd object to that happening in any but the most gonzo settings, as that's not an action any sane person would even attempt.

Thank you for the interesting replies! As far as the tone, it's "serious"/not wacky or gonzo. The specific Critical was 06-10, "Slowed Down" (I'm not sure what that means, is it like dazed? Or how is it cured, exactly (thematically, I mean).. I know it means the PC has to go in the last allied initiative slot). In our actual example, the target PC was actually not engaged with anyone, and neither was the healer, they were both at short range from enemies. (I only threw the "engaged" part of the question in there just to know for future reference, but of course it makes a difference so I should have been far more specific about it with my original question...) It's a fantasy (Terrinoth) setting, as far as the level of medicine technology.

The criticals are deliberately left vague so you can figure out the exact injury based on what exactly happened in your game. A critical axe hit is likely to look vastly different from a critical laser shot, even if they both have the same mechanical result. Likewise, the way to deal with it depends on the wound and on medicine available.