World of Warcraft®

Below you will find gathered up posts from some older threads on the WoW forums, relating to roleplaying healing in the game - both magical and non-magical. They were originally posted by an assortment of players, but each post will credit the original poster at the top.

There are a wide variety of topics covered, and a wide variety of opinions on those topics presented.

These subjects are not, here, presented in any particular order, and range from quotations of quest texts or short stories in the setting, through comparisons with real-world history, to suggestions of in-game items useful for costumes or props.

Magical healing in quest texts: posts 14, 16, 62,
Real World Historical surgery: posts 7, 8, 9, 10, 17, 18, 31, 42, 44,
Resurrection in RP: posts 12, 63, 65,
Links to outside articles on RP: posts 15,
Costumes and props: posts 35, 36,
Smoking and tobacco: posts 40, 41
Herbals: posts 41, 83,
Magical healing in Warcraft fiction: posts 48, 57, 66, 78, 81,
Apothecary RP: posts 61,
Magical healing and forsaken: posts 73, 74, 75,

Eustace, Argent Dawn
* 12. Re: Healing in RP 17/05/2010 06:59:16 ADT

This is something I’ve been exploring a lot more recently, as Eustace often gets asked to heal people that are brought into the Cathedral.

I’ll admit that I’m a bit lazy with the prayers too, normally I just emote that he closes his eyes and speaks something under his breath. So I may indeed get him to speak some of the prayers in future. My main concern when healing in RP is not making the experience boring for the person being healed. It’s a long and exhausting process to heal someone, especially if their wounds are severe, and that last thing I want if for the other player to simply lie there and get healed. I normally interact with the person being healed via whispers, explaining what the feeling might be like, and giving them choices as to whether it’s aiding them or not. That way they have an option to avoid ‘/me heals all your wounds and now you feel fine’. It doesn’t always work, but that’s just how it goes.

I think it’s important to remember that there is no single way that is correct. Everyone has their own different style of healing, just as everyone has their own different style of RPing in general. Personally I follow the approach that the Light can remove immediate danger from the patient (ie stop infection, stem the flow of blood, remove the more severe pain etc) but that it’s then up to conventional medicine and the body’s natural healing ability to do the rest. I usually advise the patient that they should rest until they feel they’re up to moving around again, thus giving them the opportunity to decide how long they want to be incapacitated for. Some jump up right away, some I’ll still see walking gingerly around after a week.

This was a bit long really. In short:

- try to remove immediate danger from the patient
- give them an opportunity to feed into the outcome
- state the need for conventional medicine, but let them define their own recovery time

Phew. I like healing.

Keylai, < Seashine Foundation >, Argent Dawn
* 32. Re: Healing in RP 17/05/2010 19:07:54 ADT

I do a lot of healing RP on Keylai, as that's pretty much all she uses the Light for. As such I will put in my personal thoughts on how I approach this stuff.

1) The person who's injured decides how effective the heal is.

This is mostly applicable when you've come across random RP of someone being injured, but it allows them to make the wounds as long-lasting IC as they want to roleplay out. Just as I wouldn't god-mode hitting someone, I wouldn't god-mode fixing someone. Although on the other hand for all I know they just had a random person come up and do a bunch of stuff to their character that is no extended plot and they have no interest in, and they might just appreciate it being fixed fairly quickly, so neither do I want to run in and say OH YOU'LL BE ILL FOR WEEKS.

When you don't know the situation or what they want, I'll emote and whisper them to discuss it through. Emoting back and forth makes it more dynamic and fun than me just spewing an endless string of Keylai's glowy shinies.

2) Things take time.

When I'm working either with my own injuries, or with someone who I RP with on a long-term basis, I like the idea that serious wounds require slow, long-term healing support during the recovery. In particular for complicated situations, you don't just want to shove in a bunch of FIX IT NOW energy, as that could lead to bones healing when improperly set etc.

If your character has been in a serious fight and you want to take time after, this is the best way to do it.

3) Use natural assistance.

Calling upon the almighty holy Light, or drawing from nature, or elemental/spirit/loa worship is all well and good, but as others have said, things like bandages etc are important too. Keylai's a herbalist, so she tends to offer people potions to help as well as making poultices to clean out the wounds. Yes, our magical healing is great. However, it's about creating an interesting scene, not waving your healing e-peen.

4) Most importantly: Go with what's dramatic.

Ultimately, we're here to create interesting stories, plots, and RP. Is it dramatically appropriate that you take weeks to heal after the random god-moder shot you repeatedly in the heart? Perhaps not. Is it dramatic that you instantly ping back to full health after a huge show down that's been building up for months? Again, perhaps not.

Talk to the people involved OOC, and go with a path that creates interesting development for everyone involved. Don't be afraid to make it a little more efficient sometimes and to require longer-term care at others. We're here to have fun, and running in to insta-heal someone takes away a huge amount of the sense of danger and the dramatic.

Gnapoleon, < Gnomish Gmusketeer >, Argent Dawn [This one is me]
* 35. Re: Healing in RP 17/05/2010 20:55:05 ADT

In general, during /emoted roleplay, the person being healed decides how effective the heal is - and trust me, I've seen some scenes with players refusing their charcter's successful healing to draw out "hospital" scenes with them in the limelight for over two hours. Well - I've seen PARTS of those two hours. That level of "oh, oh, worry about me" roleplay has never been able to hold my attention for two hours.

Similarly, someone whose character is being /emote hit in an /emote combat is, in the end, the person who decides how effective that hit is, regardless of the intentions of the healer/attacker.

They can be asked in whisper or in general chat, they can be left an opening and obvious invitation to add to the content.

On my end, 'though Hercule S. Gnapoleon has no healing skill beyond First Aid and bandages, Tsathoggua is a troll shaman. This means his healing is done through making bargains with spirits ["loa"], and appeasing said spirits to glean their aid. Bigger heals have more costly bargains. Sometimes those costs will be paid by Tsathoggua [in which case the healed owes HIM, because what goes around comes around], and sometimes the cost will be a ban [sometimes seemingly nonsensical] that he will pass on to the healed party. The spirits are strange, and their ways confusing.

It can be a ban like "salute every serpent you see for the next moon, that they might know you to be thankful," to "eat no feesh for a week," to "bring me a jug of the best wine in Stranglethorn." The Bargain is the thing.

For those roleplaying such healing classes, an /emote or speech macro-ed to your least-often-used spells [such as resurrection] might serve to get your style across. As mentioned in other threads, I use the BattleCry addon [which still works as of 3.3.x] to get the same effect but without always saying the same thing [it allows for a random choice between /emotes or sayings].

Warcraft is, after all, a High Magic setting. True, those characters with great destinies don't always seem to come back [except Kael'thas], but as Niars has well stated, "it was their time," and destiny caught up with them. According to the Spirit Healer, that's not true for us inconsequential heroes and villains. Resurrection is about as big a heal as healing can get. Other healing - even prayers - can magically re-knit flesh, re-bind bones, and cleanse of toxins.

Want something more approaching eighteenth-century medicine? Use First Aid and Alchemy. Oh, yes, Tsathoggua uses Alchemy too. The Bargains required are smaller in cost.

Bargains. Everything has a price.

Dalethas, < Apocalypse >, Argent Dawn
* 37. Re: Healing in RP 18/05/2010 01:42:44 ADT

Guidelines would be splendid because I'd be interested in what possible healthcare professionals have to say about magical healing. It's not something we all need to follow, but it'd be excellent and interesting to have their take on the matter.

@ The person using gnomish army knife: In real life, a asystolic heart (not beating) doesn't start beating with electricity. A heart beating at a wrong rhytm (ventricular tachycardia) stops, then returns to its original rhytm (or so they hope) with electricity. The trick is that neither of the above gives a pulse, so the person looks dead to the outside. Not saying you should alter your roleplay, only making a point about real life.

@ Yunaris: I have no knowledge of arrows, luckily, but I've seen a shotgun wound stiched up. I believe guns in WoW are rather similar to shotguns, firing several small projectiles rather than one that's 100% accurate. If it's one bullet, then it usually comes with such a force that it doesn't stay in the person getting hit but exits from the other side. If it's several small round metal slugs, they can be left inside the wound and start an antibiotic if necessary. They will be capsulated and then pushed out by the body in their own time. Again, this is how real life works, adapt it as you want.

I think Tsathoggua made a good point. I still detest performing miracles as a priest or a paladin though, because Light would hardly ask for a bargain. At most, it'd be some personal sacrifice from the healer. The moint, I believe, is not be just able to heal whatever you want without any consequences - ie. godmoding.

And as I've pointed out, I think many (me, at least) would do with some knowledge of how sword cuts, dislodged shoulders, arrow wounds etc. heal in real life, because it would help give them ideas. I'm not saying things should go 100% like real life - if a Tauren bashes your head with a mace, it doesn't have to squish like a melon. But when you know 'this is how it really goes' you can ponder 'this is how it could go with magic'.

Eustace, Argent Dawn
* 44. Re: Healing in RP 18/05/2010 08:57:21 ADT

I think there’s certainly something to be said for using real-world medical practices to bring some ideas into healing in RP, but I do tend to side with Hiero in that this is a fantasy setting and this stuff is indeed, magic. I’m not sure anyone in the thread has advocated the insta-heal approach, and all seem to agree to some extent that it’s no fun to just click your fingers and have someone up and about again in no time.

On the advice of a friend, I’ve actually begun to look into some alternative healing techniques in the real world to see if there’s anything I can use to guide my own healing in-game. I’ve only scratched the surface so far, but I hope it’ll give me some fresh ideas so that, as Surelle said, things don’t get too stale.

Tsathoggua, < Darkspear Tribe >, Argent Dawn
* 45. Re: Healing in RP 18/05/2010 09:55:15 ADT

And as I've pointed out, I think many (me, at least) would do with some knowledge of how sword cuts, dislodged shoulders, arrow wounds etc. heal in real life, because it would help give them ideas.

For those with an interest in historical medicine, specifically that of around 1690-1720, I put together a thread of resources and links for Hanazu and Underwood. You can find it at
http://thedarkspeartribe.forumcircle.com/viewtopic.php?t=1662
Hope you find it useful. I can try to answer some of the questions, as long as it relates to surgery and medicine of that period.

As for bullets and arrows, bullets in game are almost certainly like the musketry of this period, and the rifles of 100 years later. Surgery says that the entire bullet should come out, to avoid The Gangrene, even though lead bullets spatter quite a bit against bone, making a terrible mess. A bullet extractor is essentially a screw on the end of a long metal rod. You use a finger or a bullet probe [another kind of long metal rod] in the wound to first locate the spattered bullet [or not spattered, if you are lucky and it did not hit bone but is just embedded in the meat], then remove your finger and insert the bullet extractor into the wound until the tip touches the lead of the bullet, then twist it to screw the end into the bullet, then slowly pull, dragging the bullet out of the hole. Then the wound is stuffed with treated lint, and bandaged. Change bandages regularly.

Arrows are less common but simpler, as if the arrow cannot be pulled back out, it can usually be pushed through instead. Similarly, the wound is then packed with lint.

Bear in mind that the real fear was not sepsis but Gangrene. Antisepsis does not get invented 'til the middle of the 19th century, so don't worry about washing hands or tools between surgeries. Feel free to /emote gore and dried blood on your clothes. Heck, during the American Revolution, one German surgeon amongst the Americans was famous for his waist-coat being so soaked with dried blood that he would stand it up outside his tent - it would stand on its own - as an advertisement.

What we would term "infection" was considered to be a part of the healing process for many hundreds of years, being called the appearance of "laudible pus." In fact, if no signs of laudible pus appear, it is thought that healing is not going well, so the wound may be re-opened to encourage this element of healing.

Gangrene being the biggest fear, it was ragged wounds that were the big fear. Thus amputation. Which should get a whole chapter on its own. Anyhow, some good resources in said thread on the Darkspear Forums. My own goblin surgeon will be using a lot of 1700-to-1800-era medicine as well. Seems applicable to WoW, given their just-pre-steampunk or early-steampunk technological setting.

[Edit: the joys of teaching about period naval surgery at a Maritime Museum, and being a librarian. Heh! A fun and gory subject that always gets a good audience.]

Tsathoggua, < Darkspear Tribe >, Argent Dawn
* 47. Re: Healing in RP 18/05/2010 12:44:27 ADT

Started adding to the DST thread linked above, some information on venesection [bleeding]. Whilst specific tools had been invented by 1700 to assist with the bleeding of a patient [whilst leeches were still sworn to by some, most surgeons had moved on], the use of a scalpel to open a vein and bleed some into a bowl is likely your best example. Galen wrote extensively on venesection. Google books will allow you to browse some translation of Galen's writings on bleeding a patient:

http://books.google.com/books?id=DQY9AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://www.bcmj.org/history-bloodletting is not bad for a broad overview of the history of venesection. Bleeding a patient was generally done into a measuring bowl, and was measured in ounces. Yes, ounces. Venesection's purpose was to help balance one's humours, and was more for treating illness than injury.

Tsathoggua, < Darkspear Tribe >, Argent Dawn
* 49. Re: Healing in RP 18/05/2010 13:49:23 ADT

More on venesection. Want an idea of what a bleeding bowl could look like? This bowl dates to the early 1700s, by its design - a simple conversion of a porringer, with demarcations to show how many fuid ounces one has taken [the marks are most likely every 4 fluid ounces].

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/objects/display.aspx?id=6766

John Kirkup , in The Evolution of Surgical Instruments; An Illustrated History from Ancient Time to the Twentieth Century wrote that leeching was out of fashion in the early 18th century in Europe, but saw a resurgence during the 19th century again, briefly. Note of course that leeches are back in fashion today for the reduction of hemmhorage and bruising.

Leeching was an alternative to venesection and generally safer for children and the very ill, although blood oozing due to the anticoagulant effect of leech bites were often difficult to stop. Their application reached a zenith in Europe during the 1830s when demand outstripped the supply of leeches available. Thereafter leeching declined in parallel with venesection, although leeches are still occasionally used by some British plastic surgeons for aspirating fluid collections beneath skin grafts. (Kirkup, p. 407)

Stopping bleeding at the time had a few variations, depending on who was your surgeon, where, and when. Heated irons applied to the ends of veins and arteries [held under tourniquet] after amputation were likely, but so also were hot oil on the wound, to "singe" them closed, and of course the much kinder-and-surprisingly-effective tying off of each vein and artery by hand. Remember, when performing any surgery on limbs, tourniquet first, cut after. This goes for venesection too.

Edit: Oh, and stay away from Goldshire:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2009/oct/12/mary-rose-treasures

Tsathoggua, < Darkspear Tribe >, Argent Dawn
* 55. Re: Healing in RP 18/05/2010 18:35:01 ADT

My other IC healer is a surgeon, and almost by default this kind of healing does take a lot of time. I have enough first aid knowledge to be able able to more or less realisticly patch together most normal damages, and light surgery stuff.

It being a fantasy setting, it is really up to each set of players in any given "scene" what period of midicine to use. I choose to use around 1700. Whilst medicine has changed fundamentally around the middle of the 1800s, to the point where that 200 years difference makes them sometimes seem entirely unrelated, 20th and 21st century medicine [First Aid] may seem right for your players in your scene.

Again, it is most up to the one playing the healed, not the one playing the healer.

Anyhow, some interesting questions from Dalethas, that I thought others might be interested in too. If the look at historical medicine does not interest, I apologize.

1) I do not understand all of the ingredients Medicinal Experiments refers to. I realize things of that age had different names than in the modern era. Are there any specific different meanings I should look out for (as in, does Earth Worm indicate an actual worm etc.) ? I'm familiar with the names of the diseases, only not the remedies, and wonder where I should start googling for them.

Most of the ingredients in that volume, and for that matter most of the lists of materials in any surgeon's medicine chest, will be (a) abbreviations from (b) latin for obscure compounds that are (c) rarely used any more. There is an excellent glossary in the book Rough Medicine by Joan Druett, and I'll endeavour to pull some of those definitions from my research files later tonight.

An excellent resource that I recently discovered has been reprinted in a cheap edition is Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physitian. Well worth a look at your local book-sellers.

2) Do you think the said remedies would translate to ingame herbalism variants? Or simply pretend plants on Earth grow on Azeroth as well? Yes, I'm looking for an opinion *grin*

Many would be equivilants, and many equivilants are very viable.

Look at what is used in what alchemical skills/abilities in the game for an idea.

Opiates, for example, are handily covered by the many, many variations of Lotus in the game, and are used as such in most potions and elixirs. Well, not Frost Lotus, but the rest of them at any rate. When I do the glossary list of SOME of the ingredients for a medical chest, I'll try to suggest equivilants based on the alchemy skill's use of them, but really anyone could make up things based on their own judgement, without anyone feeling misuse, I think.

3) Do you personally use any of this knowledge, since healing spells can cure gangrene and stop an infection anyway? If yes, how?

Well, Tsathoggua is a brewmaster, so alchemically prepares Saptas [in real life, a "sapta" is what the English language calls just a condensed fruit juice, but in WoW saptas are drugs with perception-altering properties, probably because of the use of the word in Sanscrit (where it means "seven")], which uses herbalism, 'though not much of this "real world medicine" stuff. Trolls regenerate anyhow, so I suspect that their medical interventions are minimal in comparison.

"Scurvy" Fyler Dibblee is no ship's surgeon, though as a quartermaster he likely was pressed to service as surgeon's assistant by times.

Gnapoleon bandages things, but has no skill with drugs.

My coming goblin will be a surgeon, however, and I'll get to run rampant with my "history of medicine" stuff. Yay!

Tradton, < Azeroths Fury >, Argent Dawn
* 57. Re: Healing in RP 18/05/2010 19:22:34 ADT

I use herbs, bandages, water, whiskey, hot pieces of metal etc to clean and heal wounds. I very rarely if ever use the light. I just feel a bit... stupid, using it to heal large wounds. It feels unrealistic! But then, this game isn't meant to be realistic...

Taroth, < Farmers of Westfall >, Argent Dawn
* 63. Re: Healing in RP 19/05/2010 04:41:06 ADT

Drawback for healing:
If you want/need to have some kind of drawback when you're magically healed, you might consider being very tired. Perhaps the magical healing works by activating your own natural healing process with greater multitudes, making you very, very tired after being healed. You need some serious rest to recover your vitality. This is often way better than just hopping up healty as an ox and going for another beer.

Resurrection:
Consider it a critical healing spell. Ok, the guy who just dropped dead as per game mechanics isn't instantly dead. Dying is hardly ever instantenous. He has suffered a mortal wound, and your most powerful healing spell can still stabilize it, saving his life. It's not brining back the soul per se. The soul is still there, even though the guy would be unconscious and has lost all signs of life.

Thalendrios, Argent Dawn
* 68. Re: Healing in RP 19/05/2010 10:56:56 ADT

Orcish pigmentation is due to fel...

And that's exactly what we're talking about here. Have you seen a guy have his character's head cleaved with an axe and only laugh, claiming it's possible because blood elves are different than human in physiology. No?

No, I'd claim that is possibly due to magical enchantments woven into gear, including gems, as well as powers derived from a particular path (class), greatly blunting the effect of the blow. If we're talking about an ordinary elf, well /wave I suppose. But we're -not- talking about the real world, we're talking about one where magic is omnipresent. And it is true we know precious little about blood elven - or any other race's - physiology. I've no problem with requesting a guide - just the notion that medical knowledge is going to make you any more knowledgeable about spells, governed as they are by the world's own laws... It won't. But it will possibly add some flavour.

I think Dale is to be commended for trying to base your RP / ideas on something other than the blind subjective nonsense that [name deleted] seems to advocate.

You mean the actual functioning of magic in the world? Perhaps you should be less harsh in your words when criticising someone for being correct...

Tsathoggua, < Darkspear Tribe >, Argent Dawn
* 97. Re: Healing in RP 20/05/2010 16:11:14 ADT

what the possible relevance [...] other than describing

Exactly. Useful for non-magical healing scenes [which do exist, according to the quests from the First Aid trainers in game], for the creation of more interesting descriptive /emotes, which are more entertaining for both participants and observers. For more info on magical healing, I recommend one source above all.

Not WoWwiki, not the comics, not the pen-and-paper RPG, but WoWhead. Yep, actual quest texts.

For those unfamiliar with how to browse quest texts in game or on wowhead.com, here are some select thoughts on magical healing and the healing classes by NPCs:

Priestess Josetta, human priest:

Normally I put forth a small challenge to followers of the Light to test their skill. I
want to see if they are worthy of wearing their first robes--a sign that the church
outwardly approves of the <priest/priestess> and supports <him/her>.

But this situation is a bit different. One of Goldshire's citizens saw an injured guard
near the lake to the east of here. His name is Roberts. Find him, heal him, fortify his
body and return here. If you can do that for me, then I will consider your test complete.

Excellent, <name>. With one more healthy guard out there to help the town, we'll be that
much safer. I'm glad to see you're already learning to use your abilities wisely. If you
feel you are ready for more training at any time, please come back to me. But for now,
take this robe. It will let others know that you are one of our order. If you don't want
to wear it, that's fine. Later there will be more tests and this robe isn't necessary for
those.


Ken'jai, troll priest:

Da spirits tol' me you be comin' to see Ken'jai soon enough.

As ya test yeself, ya'll find ya have better an' better control o'er da spirits--ya'll be
callin' on dem fer greata an' greata tings... dat's where ol' Ken'jai come in. You come
talk to ole Ken'jai when ya feel yer ready. If da spirits agree, den we see 'bout
teachin' ya more powerful abilities... but only if da spirits agree.

Aye, mon. Our kind have joined the Horde because they be good for us. They loyal, and
they teach us much 'bout tings like honor. But our old ways die hard. The orcs may not
approve of all our traditions, but that not mean we can't continue to practice some them
in secret.

You know this, an' that's why I send you to Tai'jin in Razor Hill. She teach you more
'bout our history. She teach you the ways of our tribe.

Tai'jin, troll priest:

You already know that we are not da same tribe that once joined with the Horde. We be
much stronger now. We stronger 'cause we adapt--the Horde teach us that much. We no
longer defeat our enemies and gain strength from them; now we gain strength, and then
defeat our enemies.

The difference be subtle, but you will learn. You will see. The tribe count on you to
learn such things.

South of Razor Hill, just outta town, one of our grunts be hurt fightin' off some o'
Proudmoore's old troops. She not doin' too well, an' she benefit much if one of our kind
could help her. Find her--her name be Kor'ja--heal her wounds, an' give her the blessin'
of our ancestors.

I often wish to remember days of battle; where power was shown in combat and it was the
wise who often destroyed those who relied on just their strength.

There are lots more. For those who are not-at-all-curious-about-non-magical-healing, and who want more info solely on magical healing, I can dig more out, just let me know. Doing so will not of course, stop me from also looking into the non-magical end of healing, 'though, too. As physician Nissa Firestone says:

Doctor <name>, I presume. It is a pleasure to see you.

I have some wonderful news for you! Gustaf VanHowzen, chief physician of Alliance Trauma
has made a personal request for you to join him at Theramore. This could be the
opportunity of a lifetime! I would give anything to be given a chance to study under the
great doctor, Gustaf VanHowzen! Do not squander this opportunity, doctor!

[And no, I am not a doctor, nor do I make any pretense to be. I leave modern medicine to those who study it. I'm just a librarian and museum educator, who lectures on naval medicine during the Great Age of Fighting Sail. This gives me absolutely no formal training in "Azeroth magic," unlike some, but I know how to use WoWhead....] [grins]

Tsathoggua, < Darkspear Tribe >, Argent Dawn
* 98. Re: Healing in RP 20/05/2010 16:27:09 ADT

Rather than my usual use of primary sources, I'm going to post some interesting secondary sources. I know, secondary sources actually then rely on the knowledge and integrity of the interpreter moreso than do my favoured primary sources, but these could be useful. They all come from WoW.com's enjoyable and often interesting "All The World's A Stage" series.

http://wow.joystiq.com/2009/02/22/all-the-worlds-a-stage-so-you-want-to-be-an-alchemist/ - alchemy, one of the game's pseudo-magical-and-pseudo-non-magical nethods of healing. And many other chemical effects.

http://wow.joystiq.com/2009/03/15/all-the-worlds-a-stage-so-you-want-to-be-an-herbalist/ - the herbalist of course deals with medicinal herbs, providing them to the professional alchemist.

http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/12/14/all-the-worlds-a-stage-so-you-want-to-be-a-priest/ - the predominant and archetypal magical healer in the setting, the priest class has varying views on why, how, and about healing, depending amongst other things on race. See those WoWhead quest texts for example in the post above.

http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/11/23/all-the-worlds-a-stage-so-you-want-to-be-a-paladin/ - another iconic class with healing and resurrection abilities through magic, the paladin deserves a look at too. Again, race makes a huge difference, as can other factors.

And of course, shamans and druids deserve a look, but were I to include those, I suspect that shouts of "bias" might ensue. Hope those looking to add depth to their healing roleplay, magical or no, find some bits of interest in the above.

Gnapoleon, < Gnomish Gmusketeer >, Argent Dawn
* 100. Re: Healing in RP 21/05/2010 08:59:37 ADT

This thread is still going?

Yep. Another couple of thoughts from NPCs on healing magically in the setting:

Gornek, orc shaman:
You will be the conduit in which our ancestors communicate. You will have the power of the elements at your beck and call. Sundering your enemies will be child's play; healing your allies as easy as breathing.

Ponaris, blood elf priest:

Hurry to the Dead Scar just south of the city where Jaela and her rangers stand ready. Fill them with the power of the Light through your blessings.

Already the rangers speak of your blessings with awe and respect. Now you can see how the Light serves us, allowing us to help others, but only after we have helped ourselves.

Matron Arena, blood elf priest:

I am Matron Arena. I offer my services to those who seek to learn the ways of the priest. Such a path is often misconstrued as a path of pacifism; for we blood elves, this couldn't be further from the truth. While we do mend both bone and spirit, we also act as a fist of vengeance for those who would transgress against us.

I will train you, but all I ask is that you cover any training costs that may come up.

Dark Cleric Duesten, forsaken priest:

There are many lessons that the Forsaken have learned through experience--things that some races can only begin to fathom. And although our path lies in darkness, you will find that a great many things rely on both the light and the dark. Your lessons shall teach you to use both... and with discretion. But heed my words: never forget we were forged in corruption and left to rot like so much carrion. The Darkness is our home.

Gnapoleon, < Gnomish Gmusketeer >, Argent Dawn
* 100. Re: Healing in RP 21/05/2010 08:59:37 ADT

As for more information on non-magical healing, a gross bit of actual surgery, from Wiseman's Of Wounds, Of Gunshot Wounds, Of Fractures and Luxations, 1676. This is a reduction of a terrible "green break," wherein the broken bone bursts from the flesh. I would imagine that in Warcraft, this sort of terrible wound might be treated with surgery, but only at first until a magical healer can arrive. It is not something easily covered by either the first aid profession or by alchemy. They are fixing a VERY broken shin-bone.

"...taking off the Dressings, we saw the Bone distorted, the lower Stitches broken, and the Wound of an ill aspect, as it were tending to Mortification; also the Bone thrust out so far, that there was no hopes of its being any more reduced by a new Extension. Upon which consideration we resolved to saw off the end of it: and to that purpose having prepared all things ready, we cut out the remaining Stitches, and turned the Foot on one Side towards the Small of the leg, thrusting the Bone more out; the one sawing the end off, while the other with a Spatula defended the Tendonous flesh underneath from being wounded by the Saw. That done we cleansed the Wound from the Saw-dust, as also from the Shivers of little Bones which we had not discovered in our first dressing, they laying pricking the Periofleum, between the fractured Bones and Membranes, by which those sad Accidents had been hastened. The Wound thus cleansed, we turned the Foot right into its natural place, there being no need of Extension: which being done, we scarified, with a little Ægyptiac, dissolved in it, and applied to the ends of the Bones Pledgits dipt in the same, and prest out. We also drest the rest of the Wound !@# unguent basilic, with a little ol. terebinth, warm, and applied a Mixture of an Emplastrum Paracels, and diachalcit. over the Wound and Parts about, and then a Compress and Bandage over that, as in Compound Fractures.

The great work was now, how to support the Foot, and keep it even with the rest of the Leg, there being so great a distance between them without any Bone. But we having placed the Leg upon a quilted Pillow, laid him again in his Bed, and fitted it with a Wainscot-case, where it was kept steady and equal, and lay conveniently for our daily dressing him. This done, we committed him to the care of his Friends to keep him there quiet, and ordered him cordial Juleps &c. After some hours we let him blood again. From this time his Pains lessened, and his Fever and other ill Symptoms went off as the wood digested.

Mortification: starting to blacken and rot.
Extension: using tension on the leg [pulling] to set the broken ends back into place against each other, and keep them there.
Periofleum: the lining of the bones, which carries blood to the bones - kind of like an extra skin, just for bones.
Scarified: made many small cuts to encourage "clean" bleeding. See remark on bleeding elsewhere in this thread and in the thread on the DST forum. Whilst there is no reference to the humours theory of bodily health in the game explicitly, balance is something much discussed and so such a view of the living body would fit thematically. As such, bleeding a patient to help "balance" them would fit the prevailing style of thought amongst many of the races in the game.
Pledgits: absorbant pads, often made of lint.
ol. tereblinth: "Oil Turpentine." The turpentine would help to encourage the formation of "laudible pus," which was seen as an essential part of the healing process, showing that the body was fighting the injury. Of course, today, we call that "infection"....
Emplastrum Paracels: "Plaster of Paracelsus." A plaster or plaister is a treated bandage, able to be either a cast or more often, a poultice. The Paracelsus plaster used ingredients recommended by Paracelsus [supposedly]: turpentine, egg yolk, and honey.
Cordial Juelps: Alcoholic cordial. Sweet, sweet, sweetened cordial.

Gnapoleon, < Gnomish Gmusketeer >, Argent Dawn
* 101. Re: Healing in RP 22/05/2010 20:57:22 ADT

It has been the custom, as far back as we know, to allow seamen the use of some sort of fermented liquor. We need hardly inquire if this is salutary or not ; for it would be impossible at any rate to withold it, since it is an article of luxury, and a gratification which the men would claim as their right. There is a great propensity in seamen to intoxicating liquors, which is probably owing to the hardships they undergo, and to the variety and irregularity of a sea life. But there is reason to think that all sorts of fermented liquors, except distilled spirits, are conducive to health at sea. There is no doubt that malt liquor is extremely wholesome and antiscorbutic. The common quantity of small beer allowed daily is so liberal that few men make use of their whole allowance ; and there is no objection to the constant use of it ; except that it is apt to spoil in the course of a few weeks and that upon foreign stations the stock can seldom be renewed. One of the greatest improvements that could be made in the victualling of the navy would be the introduction of porter, which can be preserved in any climate for any length of time that may be necessary.
[...]
The most salutary kind of drink next to malt liquor and spruce beer is wine, The benefit which the fleet derived from it at different times, and the advantage it has over spirits has been often taken notice of.
[...]
It seems to be owing to this that the French fleet sometimes enjoys superior health to ours, and is less subject to the scurvy.

- Gilbert Blane, physician, 1789 Observations on the diseases of seamen.

NOTE first that the suggestions of the antiscorbutic properties of malt liquor, small beer, and wine are all entirely incorrect. Do not assume that booze will really prevent scurvy. For that, eat your fresh greens. Antiscorbutic simply means "things which prevent the scurvy." This bit of medical history seems to have in-game relevance thanks to Captain Rumsey, who being an obviously nautical individual, promotes both rum and lager, by times. It also helps to show that not all medical theories are, or were, accurate.

Tsathoggua, < Darkspear Tribe >, Argent Dawn
* 102. Re: Healing in RP 01/06/2010 13:53:36 ADT

For those in the U.K., happy Shannon versus Chesapeake day! Relating to in-game combat, the naval engagement in question [Shannon v. Chesapeake, 1 June 1813] was fifteen minutes end-to-end, with only eleven minutes of actual fighting. Every minute saw twenty men down as casualties.

With over two hundred casualties total, very few were actually struck by cannon shot - this is unsurprising. In real life even more than in game, aiming a cannon shot for a direct hit is difficult on any target, much less a distant person. That said, those who were struck by cannon shot died, and did not need the surgeon's attentions.

What makes this look at cannon of note is one strange bit of "realism" in the game. Years later in the late nineteenth century, a great debate raged amongst the medical community of Europe about deaths reported to be by "wind of the ball." Those who argued against its existence were generally physicians, either teaching at universities or else practicing on civilians. Those who argued for it were generally surgeons, mostly practicing amongst the army or navy. Wind of the ball occurs when a cannon shot passes very close to the body - within a couple of feet or so - but does not touch the person. Despite this, the victim usually collapses, and generally would die within hours. It turns out that "wind of the ball" is death by internal hemhorrage caused by the passing of the ball close to the victim. And all without Warlock DOTs.

Those green circles showing the "splash" from cannon would be "wind of the ball zone." [grins]

Anyhow, happy Shannon day!

Tsathoggua, < Darkspear Tribe >, Argent Dawn
* 103. Re: Healing in RP 20/07/2010 12:09:25 ADT

Another intriguing note regarding the fight between Shannon and Chesapeake and casualties. The fighting was less than a quarter-hour, involving cannon, small arms, and hand-weapons [pikes, axes, and swords]. The engagement had lasted just eleven minutes. Shannon had lost 23 killed, and had 56 wounded. Chesapeake had about 60 killed, including her four lieutenants, the master and many other of her officers, and about as many wounded. Even with the medical services offered as noted in the posts above, the proportion of casualties who actually died is quite low.

And that, without the ressurrection or magical healing as are available in WoW.