Draw Steel skill
Heal
Heal is a skill in Draw Steel: Treating wounds in the field: stopping bleeding, setting bones, and stabilizing a dying ally.
Last reviewed
Key facts
- Characteristic
- Intuition
Overview
Heal is hands-on first aid: packing a wound, splinting a leg, drawing venom, keeping an unconscious hero breathing until help arrives. It is an Intuition skill because good field medicine is fast reading of a body under pressure, not recall of a textbook. It comes up right after a fight, on a forced march with an injured companion, and in the minutes when someone is at 0 stamina and the party has no magic left to spend.
How it works
Characteristic: Intuition. Skill group: Intuition skills. Test: 2d10 + Intuition; 11 or lower is tier 1, 12 to 16 tier 2, 17 or higher tier 3. Training grants a benefit and unlocks attempts untrained heroes cannot make. How it is used: Tier 3 stabilizes the patient and eases the recovery ahead. Tier 2 stops the immediate danger but leaves lingering effects. Tier 1 fails, and clumsy work can worsen the injury. Edges and banes: Clean supplies, a safe place to work, and time grant an edge (+2). Working under fire, in filth, without a kit, or on an unfamiliar anatomy imposes a bane (-2).
Tips and playstyle
Best for: Parties without a Conduit, and any hero who wants to matter in the aftermath of a fight. Character concepts: Sage career field surgeon, Laborer who patched up the crew, a Censor trained to tend the faithful. Synergies: Medicine for diagnosis and disease, Alchemy for antidotes and salves, Nature for herbs when the kit runs out.
Frequently asked questions
Does Heal restore stamina?
Not by itself. It stabilizes and prevents worse outcomes; stamina comes back through recoveries and respites unless the Director rules otherwise.
How is Heal different from Medicine?
Heal is the immediate, physical intervention. Medicine is the reasoned understanding of disease, poison, and anatomy behind it.