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Medicae has 2 special uses: First Aid and Extended Care.

First aid description states:

Special use: First aid

The Medicae Skill performs first aid for the injured, removing a small amount of damage by suturing lacerations, bandaging abrasions, and plugging punctures. A successful Medicae Test removes Damage equal to the Explorer’s Intelligence Bonus on lightly damaged characters or 1 damage point from heavily or critically damaged characters.

Skill Use: Full Action.

The fact that says that it's a full action means that it can be used in combat. How many times can you use this skill on a single target while in combat?

Besides, can you use this skill out of combat? If so, the characters could simply spend some time to top off their wounds and remove all their critical damage?

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I don't remember if this is a rule, or a house rule, but the way we run First Aid is that you can have one (successful?) First Aid attempt per injury received. Not per wound, per injury.

If you were hit by a bolt round for 8 damage and First Aid heals 4, the other 4 can only be removed through regeneration, extended care, or other means. If you're then hit by a power sword for 6 damage, then a second first aid attempt can be made to heal that damage.

First Aid is something you use in combat, or while out in the wilds - outside of those situations, you should be using extended care. It's the action for emergency healing, not for general recovery.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Then we have to take note of every injury and its source in order to use this ability? \$\endgroup\$
    – Golokopitenko
    Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 12:31
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Golokopitenko, while I haven't played RT, I have played other 40k games, and don't remember such a rule. As such, it's a house rule Yoda is using (not a terrible one, IMO). I think the important point to take away from Yoda's answer, though, is that outside combat you should be using Extended Care, not First aid. \$\endgroup\$
    – Brian S
    Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 15:03
  • \$\begingroup\$ That house rule sounds like a lot of book keeping. \$\endgroup\$
    – Ravn
    Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 15:36
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Ravn Not really. It's not that previous damage can't be healed by the new test - just that you can only treat each injury once. You can't spend three turns healing the same sword wound without undoing the work you did before. If you'd taken 8 damage from the pistol and 2 from the sword and were healed 4 each time, you'd be left on 2 damage - and have two sets of bandages. \$\endgroup\$
    – Eligos
    Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 16:10
  • \$\begingroup\$ It's keeping track of "how many times you took damage" vs "how many times you were first aided". \$\endgroup\$
    – Eligos
    Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 16:12
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I don't play Rogue Trader, but I did found the relevant rule in my Core Rulebook for Dark Heresy, which I believe is (more or less) the same system, mechanicswise:

First Aid may only be applied to each Wound once and is a Full Action by you and your patient. [Page 104]

I interpret "each Wound" as referring to "each injury", like Yoda suggested. It doesn't make much sense to me, if the term refers to "hit points", like Wounds do in the general DH terminology. As a caveat, since you can't find a corresponding rule for Rogue Trader, it is possible that this rule is just not used for that setting. Perhaps Yoda picked it up from DH, Deathwatch or a similar system?

Additional note: on the same page, the Core Rulebook also confirms that Extended Care is the way to go when healing characters out of combat.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Just checked the Errata: Medicae (page 83): The following paragraph should be added to the First Aid use of the Medicae Skill: “The First Aid use of the Medicae Skill can be used to treat any number of untreated injuries with a single Medicae Test. If successful, the Medicae Test removes damage as detailed above. Once the Medicae Test is performed, the injuries are treated (for better or worse) and cannot be treated with another First Aid Test. They may be treated with an Extended Care Test.” I guess this pretty much explains it. \$\endgroup\$
    – Golokopitenko
    Commented Mar 10, 2014 at 18:28

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