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I have a half-elf druid PC whose backstory includes being a doctor in Korvosa. He works free of charge and mainly treats those who couldn't afford regular healing services as provided by the temples. He uses strictly herbal remedies, but now that he has access to 2nd level spells (just leveled up to 3rd), he may use them more often in the future.
I don't think I need the spoiler tag, but I'll use it anyway, just in case. :)
How should I involve him? Obviously the QP will not want the rest of the party hanging around, so I may have to do a session or two with this player split off from the rest of the group, but I'd rather avoid that. (We play online though, so an alternate night for the player might be possible.)
Ideas?
However, since it sounds like you want him to join, the first thing I'd imagine they do is try to initiate him into the cult - torture and brainwashing are probably the desired tools. Depending on how willing you are to separate the PCs, you could have them start "working" on the druid, and have the PCs rescue him from the underground temple.
Hmmm, that seems tough. I don't see them welcoming an outsider into the group.
I'd let him heal. Have him set-up his own clinic. Put some patients under his care (I allowed 6 per day with the extended healing rules). Let me cast some spells. Involve the NPCs.
Then have the QP's show up and take a few of his patients for "extra special care". That'll give them good reason to be mad at the QPs.
Hmmm, that seems tough. I don't see them welcoming an outsider into the group.
I'd let him heal. Have him set-up his own clinic. Put some patients under his care (I allowed 6 per day with the extended healing rules). Let me cast some spells. Involve the NPCs.
Then have the QP's show up and take a few of his patients for "extra special care". That'll give them good reason to be mad at the QPs.
On the one hand, I'd like to directly involve the PC. I think it would provide more investment in the health of the city (in more ways than one). I've got a couple PCs who've finished their original backstory quests (finding a daughter, etc) and the players have expressed to me that their characters don't seem to have much motivation to continue on their current path. But yeah, I think inducting the PC into the cult is a bit harsh. I can't think of any way the cult could possibly talk him into it, anyway. :-/
However, I can easily see the QPs telling him to set up a separate clinic. Since the Hospice will be hard-pressed to deal with all of the incoming patients anyway, having a separate location, "will help spread the load a little bit". If he says he wants to visit people in their homes, the QPs can refuse or allow it as they wish. If they refuse, it's because this PC "doctor" doesn't have the training they deem necessary to treat the disease. If they allow it, it'll be because every little bit will help (and they want to maintain their front of trying to help people).
When I tell him he has to spend 8 (or 16) hours there at a time to be able to help people, he may decide that he doesn't want to just sit around while the rest of the group is off adventuring. But having a few QPs show up when he just happens to stop in for a few minutes would be a great lead-in to bringing the PCs to the Hospice. Especially if the PC doctor shows up only to find out that some of his patients have disappeared -- taken by the QPs!
In my campaign I said that there were several physicians from Korvosa and nearby settlements who rushed to volunteer their services. It's what doctors do in this sort of situation, after all. I figured that Dr. Davaulus would stick them in doctor's masks (not plaguebringers masks) and send them off to where they were most likely to get ambushed or sick or overwhelmed (probably Old Korvosa).
Dr Davaulus has to have thought of how to deal with this. PC healer or no, this issue is almost certain to arise, in my opinion.
Since the Dr. are really just rogues in disguise, having a stranger among them would lead to a quick discovery.
I think that the other clinic idea would work best. That is actually what my parties cleric did with some urging from some events that happened in his church which made him the most powerful priest in his church. He is a priest of Erastil, so it would only be natural for his character to want to help the people in the city.
In my campaign I said that there were several physicians from Korvosa and nearby settlements who rushed to volunteer their services. It's what doctors do in this sort of situation, after all. I figured that Dr. Davaulus would stick them in doctor's masks (not plaguebringers masks) and send them off to where they were most likely to get ambushed or sick or overwhelmed (probably Old Korvosa).
Dr Davaulus has to have thought of how to deal with this. PC healer or no, this issue is almost certain to arise, in my opinion.
Exactly.
I like the idea of Dr. D. sending them to Old Korvosa. I can imagine that the good Dr. sends all of the volunteers to OK, but without being obvious about it. Maybe he puts one of his own people at each clinic in OK? Then when it comes time for the Queen to clamp down on OK, they leave the volunteer doctors there as well, taking care of anyone who may suspect them from the medical side of things.
Perhaps the PC doctor can even bump into these other doctors and slowly find out that none of them are locals!? Gee, what a coincidence... :)
And if Dr. D. offers to pay the PC doctor, he'll probably jump at it. :)
I like the idea of Dr. D. sending them to Old Korvosa.
Well, it turned to be moot. The druid healer was asked to set up a clinic in Old Korvosa (makes it easier to trap the party there as part of the quarantine later). But the druid decided to wildshape and check out the ship that the party hadn't looked at yet. Unfortunately, Yvvica's evil eye took out the lone druid, his body becoming chum in the water and attracting other sharks...
There is a cleric of Sarenrae in my group. He took the library of books about diseases from Rolth's lair in Edge of Anarchy. I handed him the pages about disease from Seven Days to the Grave (edited out the part about Vorel's Phage and the assasins) and he spent time between adventures to study up on them.
He did preliminary studies on blood veil and was stumped, other than that it was spread by contact.
The party wizard and bard then worked some alchemy skills to create a cleansing agent to be used by the temples and businesses to clean all the money they get in and give out.
The disease was quickly getting under control, but little pockets of infections kept popping up because the Queen's Physicians were spreading the disease with their "poking sticks."
It all ended with the raid on the hospice, but the works of the "PC Doctors" was too effective for the disease to continue spreading on its own. It quickly became apparent that the disease was being spread intentionally, and the group took action against the hospice.
It was a Looooooooong battle, but ultimately pretty cool.