Surgeon Prestige Class

Despite the abundance of magical healing in a fantasy world, there are still those who try to learn how to heal using mundane means. Their services are sometimes cheaper than those of clerics, and unlike magical healers they never run out of power. Wherever magic is scare, persecuted or unknown, surgeons are the only available healing.

Depending on their religion, clerics can make excellent surgeons, but as they already have miraculous healing powers, they seldom take the class. Many religions also prohibit the shedding of blood, even for medicinal purposes. Even bloodthirsty cults may prohibit bloodletting outside of battles or religious services. Barbers often serve as doctors and surgeons of modest skill. Their talent with blades accounted in part for this medical bent. Thus, surgeons were often barbers earlier in their careers, and many still practice that profession as a sideline. In fact, the barber prestige class is a companion class to the surgeon; many of their abilities and qualifications mesh.

Surgeons do quite well as adventurers. There is an old adage; to become a surgeon, you can either go to the university, or you can follow an army on campaign. Adventuring parties create almost as many patients as armies do. But many surgeons will want to save any life and try to minimize bloodshed; the party will often have to face the fact that the surgeon will try to treat every wound inflicted and save every lift that can be saved. In the long run, this will often save the party many unnecessary conflicts. A few surgeons will demand a peaceful solution whenever possible, but most leave the fighting to the warriors and keep their mouths shut.

Surgeons require medical knowledge. In a culture where medicine is poorly developed (such as medieval Europe), this class is simply not available. Surgeons may also be persecuted by clergy for providing services the gods demand a monopoly on.

Requirements

To qualify as a surgeon, the character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Skills:
Heal: 6 ranks

Weapon Proficiency:
Dagger

Feats:
Weapon Finesse (dagger)

Hit Die: d6

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Skills: Alchemy (Int), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Read Lips (Int, restricted skill), Sense Motive (Wis).

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Surgeons are not proficient with any weapons or armor.

First Aid (ex): You can try to patch up someone once after each time he takes damage. This is a full action (help other) that provokes an attack of opportunity and requires your patient to remain absolutely still (Dexterity bonus to AC set at -5). It restores a number of hit points equal to your class level. You can only restore hit points lost in the last five minutes, and you can only do First Aid on a particular patient every five minutes.

Anatomist (ex): Your expertise in anatomy allows you to strike lethal blows with small, precise weapons. With a weapon you have the Weapon Finesse feat for, you gain a bonus of 1d6 damage added to your normal damage roll. Combat Surgery only works against living or formerly living creatures with discernible anatomies. Most creatures that are immune to critical hits (constructs, oozes, plants, and incorporeal creatures) are not vulnerable to a combat surgery, and any item or ability that protects a creature from critical hits (such as armor with fortification) also protects a creature from combat surgery. The exception to this is that a surgeon can still use combat surgery against corporeal undead and constructs made out of corpses or cadavers.

Surgery (ex): The surgeon can use the Heal skill to perform surgery. You cannot use surgery on yourself. Surgery takes fifteen minutes, during which both you and the patient are flat-footed. This exceptional ability can be used any number of times in a day (time permitting), but only once per day on a particular target.

Creatures of intelligence 3 or more will not wish to interfere with a surgeon while he is working; this takes the form of a sanctuary effect on you and your patient. The Will Saving Throw DC against this effect is 10 + your class level.

If you abort your surgery to do anything else (such as defending yourself from an attack), the patient takes an immediate 1d6 temporary constitution damage.

After completed surgery, the patient is fatigued.

From the SRD: Fatigue

Characters who are fatigued cannot run or charge and suffer an effective penalty of -2 to Strength and Dexterity. A fatigued character becomes exhausted by doing something else that would normally cause fatigue. After 8 hours of complete rest, fatigued characters are no longer fatigued.

Minor Surgery: Make a heal skill roll, the patient recovers this many hit points.

Major Surgery: You can use surgery to heal temporary attribute damage. Make a Heal roll and divide the result by five, this is the number of temporary attribute points that you restore.

Great Surgery: You can use surgery to heal permanent attribute damage. Make a Heal roll and divide the result by ten, this is the number of permanently lost attribute points that you restore.