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IE Medicines

Page history last edited by Michael 12 years, 11 months ago

back to the Index, or the Collegium Medicos page

 

All of the following pharmaceuticals can be used by non-doctors, OR are illegal or prohibited anyway.

 

  • Adrenaliser:  one of the less-toxic methods of staying awake for an extra day or so. Index 2, cost 4 Σ per 5 ml dose (normally sold in 8 dose vials).

  • Amaranth:  the ongoing maintenance substance needed after the Amaranthine Treatment. This substance is relatively easy to formulate, and a dose (200cc liquid taken orally) is required about every week; but skipping dosages will have serious effects. Missing about 10 weeks of Amaranth is fatal, as the subject "ages rapidly" [lose 1 HP, 1 CON, 1 DEX, 1 STR, 1 APP per missed dose; these will recover 1 per week if the dosage is resumed]. The actual terminal effects are not "rapid aging", but they are very ugly; the Church and urban myth are pleased to consider them as retribution for the terrible sin of immortality. Amaranth is not per se illegal, but possession or distribution of this substance will bring the Order of the Seeking Fire, looking for heretics. Index 0, cost 1 Σ per dose if purchased (cheaper if you make it yourself).

  • Anti-Naiven Toxins: It's not too hard to make human metabolism hostile to the naiven ... but not for long periods of time. A few hours or days at most, and then you need to detox for a while. Skilled Psychologists can control their own blood chemistry to achieve this condition. It's pretty easy to make your blood or cerebro-spinal fluid "anti-worm"; the difficulty is making it "pro-human". There's been a thousand years or more of research on this, and nobody's announced a worm vaccine.

Actually:  a worm vaccine has been announced a few times, but each time it was either (a) a fraud, (b) mistaken, or (c) a Vaylen plot ... "Yes, just lie down here while we inject the vaccine into your skull."

But yes, if you know the worms are gonna try and hull you in the next hour or three, and you have some Medicine skill, and some not-too-fancy medical supplies, you can make the worm either die or slither back out. There are roughly two classes of anti-worm treatment therefore; we'll call them "hard" and "soft" (not their actual names -- they go by various local trade or Collegium names). Both are easy to detect if someone draws some of your blood and runs a test (using an automed or med station), by the way. It's quite unlikely that the Vaylen would perform a surgical implantation of a naiven without checking for these drugs (or other health issues -- no high-status naiven want to hull a person dying of an inoperable tumor, for example). Field hulls, though, are usually performed in conditions where the test isn't feasible. Both vaccines are normally available in 8-dose vials.

    • Hard Vaccine:  kills or drives out the naiven before it can create its network within your brain. But:  the drugs begin having negative effects on your health as soon as you take the dose, and is only effective for half an hour or so (larger or cumulative doses will kill you in much less than half an hour). After taking a dose, you should wait a day or two before taking another dose; and taking this medication "a lot" will start to have permanent deleterious effects on your CNS. This is the same effect which Psychologists can use to drive the naiven out of their brains.

    • Soft Vaccine:  kills the naiven, but not till after it's spun its network within your brain. Therefore:  you die, but the worms don't control you. Doesn't have much negative effect on your health, and can be taken in doses to prolong the effect for up to 4 or 6 hours (depending on your CON stat, probably). Still not something you want to be taking all the time. Some Hammer forces issue this drug in an auto-injector to their crews if it looks like they might be captured. It's also possible that the Vaylen may have an antidote for this drug, which might save the naiven and leave it in control.

  • Antibot:  a common broad-spectrum vaccine, widely used among the nobility and spacefaring folk. Good for about a year of prevention, although it's not entirely clear what it is preventing. Index 5, cost 15 Σ per dose of 5 ml (though normally sold in 8-dose vials).

    • Technically, it's an immune system booster, not a vaccine; but it does help quite a bit (+8 to CON for resisting disease). There is a very small chance of serious autoimmune or hypersensitivity disorders; a simple blood test can confirm if this is a hazard for a particular person. The blood test can be performed in 10 minutes by an automed, or even faster in a specialized lab machine, battalion aid station, or hospital.

  • Bellon:  adds +3 to STR and CON, takes effect after about 30 seconds, lasts for about 5 minutes. Aftereffects can be harmful, especially if the user is injured:  make a CONx6% roll to avoid 1d6 damage and 1d6 temporary CON loss, minus 5% to the roll per point of injury the user already has. Index 2, cost 2 Σ per 5 ml dose (though normally sold in 8-dose vials).

  • Cesso:  this compound slows down metabolic rate to about 1/60th of normal; a full dose will put a healthy adult into a sort of coma for 60 days. Most often used for space travel when cryoberths are not the preferred option. Index 1, cost 1 Σ per 5 ml dose (though normally sold in 8-dose vials). An antidote is available or can be easily synthesized, at Index 1 (cost almost nothing, normally available in 8-dose vials).

    • Game mechanics:  revival requires a CON roll vs. a POT 6 effect; add +3 to CON if a medico attending upon revival, +2 CON if the revival takes place in a well-supplied medical facility of Index 2 or higher, + 1 to POT for every 4 points of trauma damage the subject had when given the dose, in excess of 2 points of damage (thus 3-6 damage = +1 POT, 7-10 damage = +2 POT, etc.). Foam can be used to heal injuries of a person while they are under the effects of cesso. Making the revival roll exactly can indicate that recovery will be delayed over a period of days, or there might be permanent damage.

  • Foam:  the only use of nanotechnology acknowledged and allowed by the Mundus Humanitas -- as long as nobility control who is dosed. The standard dose of 250 cc will heal 1 point of damage, fairly quickly; with the right equipment it can be re-cycled to be used on a later injury (this is only possible for a doctor in a proper medical facility). It's also an excellent treatment for acute radiation sickness; one dose will offset the effect of 1 sievert/1 gray/100 rem/100 rads of radiation exposure. "The Gift of Foam" is one of the standard benefits (Fief, Foam, Crucis and Heritage) provided by a lord to his vassals in the Eight Empires. In theory, the Collegium only provides Foam to the Emperors and Grand Lords of a realm, who in turn distribute it to their vassals, etc. around the Wheel.

  • Panomike:  a therapeutic medicine, POT 16 vs. many harmful bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc. If successful, it takes effect in less than a day. Multiple doses can be administered, once per day; but after the fourth dose, it is clear that panomike is ineffective in this case. Like antibot, this drug must be matched to the patient's immune system using a med berth or other testing equipment; the matching is a simple procedure once the immune system information is known. Even if unmatched, however, the drug remains effective against pathogens. Index 5, cost 15 Σ per dose of 5 ml (though normally sold in 8-dose vials). Note that there are some military biological agents that are not affected by panomike.

    • If injected without an immune system match, the patient must test their CON vs. the POT 16 of the drug, or die quickly of an autoimmune failure.

  • Poison Antidote:  below Index 3, antidotes are specific to particular venoms and toxins -- you have to know what to employ. At Index 3, there are a few classes of antidotes (simplifying a complicated situation a bit for ease of play); they cost 1 Σ per 5 ml dose (though normally provided in 8-dose vials). High Index (4+) military chemical warfare agents are usually not affected by general antidotes. The commonest are:

    • versus tissue-destroying toxins

    • versus nerve-affecting toxins

    • versus blood-affecting toxins

  • Senex:  a drug treatment regimen, actually consisting of several compounds. Monthly doses will prevent most effects of aging (although cancers and some other environmental or contagious diseases will still occur). Index 6; a 90 day dose costs 100 Σ, although the price is often higher, as this substance is considered sinful by the Church.

  • Titan:  about 60 seconds after injection, a human subject can nearly double their strength, and has (for 15 minute duration of the drug) greatly increased endurance (+10 to STR and CON). Afterwards, the subject is disabled by cramps and fatigue for several (1d6) hours; people with injuries or health problems (especially cardiovascular problems) should NOT use this drug (make a CONx4% roll to avoid 1d6 damage and 1d6 temporary CON loss, minus 5% to the roll per point of injury the user already has). Index 2, cost 15 Σ per 5 ml dose (though usually provided in 8-dose vials).

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