I have a question, and I aplogise if it has been asked/answered elsewhere, I have looked through most of the questions here and couldn't find anything.

Is it an error in the rule book that Medicae skill is Int & Fieldcraft and not Int and Knowledge?

According the the rule book Fieldcraft is :

Staying alive in the varied environments of the 41st Millennium can be as difficult as surviving battle, Characters with fieldcraft aptitude easily adjust to, and thrive on the battlefield, whether sneaking through a dense jungle or navigating constantly shifting terrain , they easily adjust to any condition .

I fail to see what this apitutude has to do with Medicine, science, surgery and attaching bionic limbs, from the Medicae skill destricption :

Medicae is an understanding of the Biologis sciences , how to set broken bones, heal wounds, or even perform complicated surgery.

All other skills that use fieldcraft are : Awareness : Navigate : Operate : Stealth : Survival, which as you can see actually make sense for them to be using it, going off of what Fieldcraft and the word is supposed to mean in the game.

Talents that utilize Fieldcraft : Blind Fighting, Catfall, Combat Formation, Combat Sense, Heightened Senses, Light Sleeper, Lightning Reflexs, Rapid Reload, Hotshot Pilot, Paranoia, Rapid Reaction, Assassin Strike, Sprint.

Every single skill or talent is paired with either Agility or Perception and Fieldcraft, (Navigate is Int/Fieldcraft) and make sense to be paired so aptitude wise.

It seems to me to be a strange concept to tack Scientific Medicine into skill groups that utilize either agility or perception or talents that complement said groups.

So is it an error? should Medicae be Int / Knowledge like every other skill that requires real learning?

According the the rule book Fieldcraft is :

Staying alive in the varied environments of the 41st Millennium can be as difficult as surviving battle, Characters with fieldcraft aptitude easily adjust to, and thrive on the battlefield, whether sneaking through a dense jungle or navigating constantly shifting terrain, they easily adjust to any condition.

Changed the emphasis.

Part of dealing with the various hazards on a battlefield and in other terrain is treating the wounds you didn't manage to avoid.

While Medicae can be used in the medicae tent with proper equipment, it can also be used in the middle of a battle using a uniform sleeve as a bandage. Fieldcraft is the ability to adapt and improvise in the field, which can very well be a part of Medicae (especially in a military game). Of course the Medic is trained, but not necessarily in a med school and any other players that pick it up certainly aren't.

There is also the gameplay element, five specialities have Fieldcraft while only three have Knowledge. With Only War being a military game, players will be injured at some point have allowing easier access to back-up medics can help a squad survive.

I'm not saying you don't have a point, you definitely do, I just think Fieldcraft fits better than Knowledge. I guess it's how you see Medicae.

According the the rule book Fieldcraft is :

Staying alive in the varied environments of the 41st Millennium can be as difficult as surviving battle, Characters with fieldcraft aptitude easily adjust to, and thrive on the battlefield, whether sneaking through a dense jungle or navigating constantly shifting terrain, they easily adjust to any condition.

Changed the emphasis.

Part of dealing with the various hazards on a battlefield and in other terrain is treating the wounds you didn't manage to avoid.

While Medicae can be used in the medicae tent with proper equipment, it can also be used in the middle of a battle using a uniform sleeve as a bandage. Fieldcraft is the ability to adapt and improvise in the field, which can very well be a part of Medicae (especially in a military game). Of course the Medic is trained, but not necessarily in a med school and any other players that pick it up certainly aren't.

There is also the gameplay element, five specialities have Fieldcraft while only three have Knowledge. With Only War being a military game, players will be injured at some point have allowing easier access to back-up medics can help a squad survive.

I'm not saying you don't have a point, you definitely do, I just think Fieldcraft fits better than Knowledge. I guess it's how you see Medicae.

What you are describing is first aid, a temporary stop gap until the injured person can be gotten back to real doctors and real medical treatment areas.

That is not what Medicae is, Medicae and Master Chirurgeon are/is doctors/surgeons.

What you are describing is a corpsman who runs around with his company temp fixing and patching wounds to keep someone alive until they can be treated properly, someone who has basic, rudimentary knowledge...like being sent on a first aid course.

Any book or movie you can care to mention this is true, Gaunts Ghosts? corpsmen run around, stop blood loss and then scream they need evacuating to the person in charge or they are going to die, and then they get sent back to where Dorden in his field medical station, where they get properly treated, and operated on.

Medicae has nothing at all to do with being able to stealth around a battlefield, has nothing to do with how agile you are avoiding bad things, who ever thought this was a good idea, you are wrong, it is a terrible idea.

What you are describing is first aid, a temporary stop gap until the injured person can be gotten back to real doctors and real medical treatment areas.

That is not what Medicae is, Medicae and Master Chirurgeon are/is doctors/surgeons.

Yes, I'm describing first aid because that is covered by the Medicae skill, and it's the most common use of it in Only war.

Master Chirurgeon would fit better with Knowledge but since it's purpose is to improve Medicae use it was probably given the same aptitudes as Medicae for simplicity.

What you are describing is a corpsman who runs around with his company temp fixing and patching wounds to keep someone alive until they can be treated properly, someone who has basic, rudimentary knowledge...like being sent on a first aid course.

Any book or movie you can care to mention this is true, Gaunts Ghosts? corpsmen run around, stop blood loss and then scream they need evacuating to the person in charge or they are going to die, and then they get sent back to where Dorden in his field medical station, where they get properly treated, and operated on.

No, I'm describing a player in a situation where the medkit is lost/out of bandages/being used by someone else.

Would you specify what I'm supposed to quote a book to prove? However the Medic is trained is up to the player playing him/her to decide, possibly the player group if they are creating a new regiment. As for Medicae being used in the field, most Only War games (for what I can tell) seem to have the squad alone which precludes having a medical station to return to, and Only War is structured for a Medic in the squad.

Medicae has nothing at all to do with being able to stealth around a battlefield, has nothing to do with how agile you are avoiding bad things,

No they don't, but Sleight of Hand have nothing to do with Forbidden Lore and yet they are both based on Knowledge. A common aptitude does not neccessarily mean the skills are related, they are simply based on the same, for lack of a better word, theme.

If you want to use Knowledge in your games feel free, nobody is stopping you. I'm just saying that it's not a change I would personally suggest.