The Leech
A New Rogue Class for Ravenloft
Introduction
he door of the Starless Night Tavern flew open with a force and suddenness that startled the bartender and his single patron. Lantern flames guttered as a stiff wind swirled through the room. The companions darted inside, carrying the limp and bloodied form of Tiberius.
The barkeep was quick to bellow a wordless sound of disapproval at their recklessness with his front door. His annoyance turned to thinly veiled contempt when he saw Gadrriata.
"Hey," he shouted, "We don't serve Vistani in here!" His brow darkened even further when he noticed Allaroth's pointed ears. "And get that changeling devil out of here!"
If the companions heard his growls, they didn't respond. Instead they heaved the massive form of their wounded comrade onto a nearby table.
The man who had been sipping brandywine quietly at the bar turned urgently towards the companions, shooting the barkeep a cold glare. "Do all you Borcans have such cold hearts? Can't you see their friend is injured?" He approached the group of newcomers, who huddled closely around Tiberius.
"What has happened here?" the stranger asked crisply.
Cassa, her face streaked with dirt, blood and tears, simply responded, "Please, sir. Is there a healer or church somewhere nearby? Say it is so!"
The stranger shook his head blankly, "I can't say, my lady. I'm a stranger to this region myself."
"You can't bring that fellow in here!" insisted the barkeep, stepping from the behind the bar.
"Damn you filthy giorgio!" screamed Gadrriata. She lunged towards him, drawing a thin, gleaming dagger. "Answer the question! A healer or a temple! Where?!"
The barkeep's eyes grew wide, and he shuffled backwards awkwardly. "There's nothing nearby!" he stammered, visibly frightened. "It's two miles to the outskirts of Levkarest!"
Allaroth, his lips pale and tight, glanced at his companions. "I might be able to make it with him in time. If I rode alone."
"Not a chance." The stranger spoke quietly, his eyes studying the ragged wounds in Tiberius's throat, watching the warrior's almost imperceptible breathing. "This man will die in minutes without proper attention. He should already be dead."
"Then he is surely doomed," spat Gadrriata, tears in her eyes, "Our mystic has sapped her holy power this night already."
"No," replied the stranger calmly, removing his coatjacket. "He will not die, not if you do exactly what I tell you."
The companions stared wordlessly as the gentleman produced a black case. He rapidly removed a selection of gleaming tools and carefully labeled vials. "Strip him to the waist," the stranger barked, "But move him as little as possible. Cut and tear through that armor and clothing. One of you ladies take this cloth and soak up the blood as I work…"
***
"Will he be alright?" asked Gadrriata. Tiberius lay pale and unmoving, but his breathing was steady.
"He'll live," replied the stranger, "At least long enough for your mystic to heal his wounds at tomorrow's first light." The man carefully cleaned Tiberius' blood from his hands and instruments with a stained piece of cloth.
"Are you a physician, sir?" asked Cassa politely, "I've never seen such methods used. Did you attend university in Lamordia or Dementlieu?"
The stranger almost seemed to smile. "Not quite, my lady. My name is Arthur Folkstone. And if you don't mind, I'd like to discuss my fee."
The companions glanced at one another, uncertain that they had heard the man correctly. Allaroth was incredulous. "Fee, sir? Do you intend to extort our gold from us now that you have saved our comrade's life?"
"Surely you don't think such miracles come freely, do you?" replied Arthur with equal incredulity. "And it is not gold that I require, but your assistance. I am in need of a stalwart group such as yourselves to help me procure some materials from the Ezran hospice in Levkarest..."
Leeches
Ability Requirements: Dexterity 13, Intelligence 13.
Prime Requisites: Dexterity, Intelligence.
Races Allowed: Human.
The leech is a mercenary physician, a scientist in pursuit of fortune and research opportunities. His medical skill is as profound as his reputation is questionable. His controversial methods differ wildly from the simple first aid and herbalism practiced by folk healers and traditional physicians. The leech is no angel of mercy, however. He is devoted to biological knowledge, not service. The leech's presence in an adventuring party is often a convenience, and his need for experimentation sometimes necessitates grave-robbing and other sinister practices.
Ability Requirements
A leech must have nimble, steady fingers for the delicate procedures she undertakes on the living and the dead. Because of her occasional clandestine activities, she must also be as stealthy as any burglar or cutpurse. Accordingly, a leech is required to have a Dexterity of at least 13. Rigorous academic study is required for a leech to absorb and synthesize the vast corpus of medical knowledge. Therefore, she must also have an Intelligence of 13. If a leech's Dexterity and Intelligence scores are both 16 or better, she receives a 10% bonus to her experience points.
Alignment
Many of Ravenloft's physicians are tradesman with an established shop, where they practice first aid, dentistry, barbering and herbalism. The leech is a shadier character, without any immediate desire to serve the masses. Rather, he is obsessed with furthering his understanding of life, and could justifiably be called self-interested. Player character leeches must be lawful neutral, true neutral, chaotic good or chaotic neutral. Leeches of evil alignment do exist, and often become mad scientists of the likes of Victor Mordenheim and Frantisek Markov.
Arms and Armor
Most leeches come from the upper classes, and have at least a gentlemanly training in the arts of war. Additionally, a leech often must tangle with dangerous individuals and unnatural creatures in their unsavory pursuits. Still, a leech views herself as a scientist first and foremost, and combat as a necessary hazard of last resorts. Accordingly, the weapon and armor selections of a leech resemble those of a thief. A leech may wear any nonmetal armor, with the exception of elven chain mail. She may not employ a shield, and her thieving abilities (see below) are hindered by any armor other than leather. Weapons to which a leech has access include the hand axe, club, crossbow, short bow, dagger, dart, knife, sling, staff, broad sword, long sword, rapier, and short sword.
Spells and Magical Items
Perhaps the greatest restriction imposed on leeches is their inability to use any magical items. Despite the esoteric quality to his methods, the leech is a servant of science—at least in his own mind—and there is no place for magic in his studies. Most leeches have at best a neutral view of the magical arts, regarding them as anything from an unrelated field of study to downright hokum. Some simply consider magic to be an outdated craft which does little to advance humanity's understanding of the universe. A leech who outright denies the existence of magic often constructs elaborate theories to explain away his wizard companion's fireballs. Leeches may still benefit (and suffer) from the spells and magical items of others, however.
Thieving Skills
Though most leeches would balk at the suggestion that they are criminals, their profession often requires them to employ the skills of the underworld. Table 1: Leech Thieving Skill Base Scores indicates the base percentage chance of success in these skills for a 1st-level leech.
Table 1: Leech Thieving Skill Base Scores
| Pick Pockets | |
| Move Silently | |
| Hide in Shadows | |
| Read Languages |
The thieving skills of the leech are subject to modifiers based on race, Dexterity and armor, just like thieves (see Tables 98-100 on pages 268-269 of Domains of Dread). After all adjustments have been made, a starting leech's player may allocate twenty points to his character's skills in any manner he sees fit. Each time a leech increases in experience level, he also gains fifteen points to further improve his skills. No skill may ever be raised beyond 95%.
Pick Pockets: Normally this ability reflects the cutpurse's talent for filching an unwary victim's purse. The leech, on the other hand, derives his skill with such deft manipulations from his experience with operation, vivisection and other delicate procedures where precision and efficiency are essential.
Move Silently and Hide in Shadows: The leech who finds himself slinking through a graveyard or morgue at midnight, dodging local constabulary, irate villagers and shambling undead learns to appreciate these skills.
Read Languages: A leech's studies in medicine often bring him into contact with the research and theory of numerous cultures. Unlike traditional physicians, leeches are equally interested in the humour theory of the Core, Pharazian models of respiration, and the energy meridians of Rokushima Táiyoo. Thus, a leech is often skilled at puzzling out the rough meaning of writing with which he is unfamiliar.
Backstab: In addition to the above skills, leeches possess a talent for the quick, silent kill. This is based primarily on their knowledge of anatomy and their perchance for stealth, but many evil leeches become practiced at backstabbing for the purpose of gathering fresh cadavers... Regardless, a leech may backstab in a manner identical to a thief of the same level, and uses the standard damage modifiers (see Table 103 on page 271 of Domains of Dread).
Expert Diagnosis
If the leech's medical skills have an immediate application, it is surely the analysis of human illness, injury and death. By making a simple Intelligence check, modified by circumstances as the DM deems appropriate, the leech can make just about any medical diagnosis. Most diseases, poisons, injuries, conditions, parasites and causes of death can all be determined through a leech's diagnosis. Magical diseases and afflictions can even be determined, if a leech has prior experience or accurate knowledge of the symptoms. Such an analysis assumes that the leech can perform a careful, deliberate study to arrive at a logical conclusion, and if the leech is pressed for time, the DM should feel free to impose penalties. Conversely, if the leech has access to superior medical equipment and supplies, the DM could award a bonus to the roll. Though such diagnoses are useful in determining a course of action, it does not immediately provide detailed information on a cure.
The Healing Arts
The leech practices bizarre techniques for healing injury that confound orthodox physicians and folk healers alike. Some sages whisper that it is the Mists themselves that grant curative properties to the leech's unconventional practices. Leech healing techniques include not only basic first aid, but also application of needles, synthetic chemicals, metal clamps, vibrations, and even electrical current. Regardless of the nature of the leech's abilities, the results are impressive, as wounds heal with almost supernatural speed under their ministrations.
A leech's healing ability functions much like a superior version of the healing proficiency. A successful Intelligence check is required for the leech to successfully utilize his healing arts. The leech must also have access to his medical kit (see Tools of the Art, below). If a leech can tend to another character's injuries within one round of wounding, he can heal 1d4+2 points of damage. Older wounds can also be tended, but in this case the leech only heals 1d3+1 points of damage. In both cases, the leech also heals an additional amount of damage based on his level (see Table 2: Leech Healing Bonus). A single individual can only be tended by a leech once per day, but a leech's ability to tend to others is unlimited (or, more realistically, limited only by materials and time).
| Leech's Level | |||||
| Extra Hit Points Healed |
Bleeding
Leeches have a peculiar method for dealing with diseases and poisons, from which their appellation is derived. They employ living leeches—or, more rarely, a simple scalpel—to drain a small amount of blood from critical points on the body. The process is slow, however, and is not easily carried out under duress. The patient must remain lying down and motionless while bleeding is carried out. In order to begin, the leech must make a successful Intelligence check and then inflict 1 point of damage on the patient. Every three rounds, the patient takes one additional point of damage. At the end of each round, the patient can make a 1d100 curative check, with a chance of success equal to 1% multiplied by twice the number of rounds spent bleeding. For example, if the patient is bled for 14 rounds, the chance of sucess is 28%. Success means that the disease or poison has been completely purged from the patient's system. The leech can stop the bleeding at any time. A character who loses more than 50% of her hit points (rounded down) to bleeding must save vs. death magic or faint for 1d12 turns. A character who loses more than 80% of her hit points must save vs death magic or slip into an anemic coma for 1d4 days. Bleeding cannot cure magical diseases such as lycanthropy or mummy rot, but can cure the effects of a cause disease spell and magical viruses (see "Virus" in the Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix Vol. III). A leech cannot cure damage done through bleeding with his healing ability.
Surgery and Transplants
In addition to healing injury and curing disease, a leech is capable of undertaking invasive surgery to heal conditions, or even to replace lost organs. A leech must have at least her medical kit and a lightning flask (see Tools of the Art, below) to perform such complex procedures. Access to a fully equipped laboratory provides a +2 bonus to the leech's Intelligence rolls (see below).
Blindness and Deafness: It is possible for a leech to actually cure physical blindness or deafness through surgery. First, the leech must make a successful Intelligence check. The roll's result indicates the number of hours that the surgery requires. Each hour of surgery requires that the leech make a successful Dexterity check. A failure indicates that the leech has botched the operation; he may not attempt to operate on that particular patient again until he increases in level. A 20 on a Dexterity roll indicates that the leech has forever ruined any chance of the patient being cured. If the leech manages to successfully negotiate all his Dexterity checks, the patient's vision or hearing is fully restored! The patient receives anesthesia for the procedure, but must make a Constitution check or lose 1d6x10% of her hit points. These hit points can only be healed through time or magic. Surgery cannot cure magical blindness or deafness.
Transplants: This procedure in much more difficult and carries greater risk. Fingers, toes, feet, hands, eyes, legs or arms may all be reattached to an unfortunate individual who has had such an organ removed or destroyed. The transplanted organ can even come from another individual, as long as that individual is the same gender and species. Regardless, the organ must have been removed from a living being less than twenty-four hours, and it must be packed in cold, moist cloth (or ice if possible). The patient, however, need not have lost the organ recently, if one from another individual is being used in the transplant.
The system is similar to that described above. The leech must make an Intelligence check, with appropriate modifiers as described in Table 3: Transplant Intelligence Check Modifiers. The difference indicates the number of hours the surgery will require, and the leech must make a successful Dexterity check every hour. The patient must make a Constitution check or lose 1d6x10% of her hit points, modified as shown in Table 4: Transplant Damage Modifiers (yes, she might die)! Finally, the patient must make a save vs. death magic and fail. A successful save indicates that the patient's body has rejected the organ. If this occurs, the attached organ is useless. If the save vs. death is failed, however, the new organ functions just as the patient's originally did! This procedure must be undertaken independently for each organ being replaced. Thus, a patient who has lost both his eyes would have to undergo two separate surgeries.
| Every three hours since organ was removed (rounded up) | |
| Organ packed in cold, moist cloth | |
| Organ packed in ice | |
| Organ from another individual |
Table 4: Transplant Damage Modifiers
| Organ Transplanted | |
| Finger or Toe | |
| Hand or Foot | |
| Eye | |
| Leg or Arm |
Trepanning
Most leeches believe that insanity is not itself a condition, but a symptom of internal cranial pressure resulting from mental trauma. The direct and rather horrifying solution to such a malediction is a process known as trepanning. For those who are willing to take the risks, trepanning can be a rapid cure for even the most debilitating madness. The possible consequences, however, are severe, as the patient can become an imbecile, or even descend further into dementia.
In trepanning, the leech physically drills into the skull of the afflicted individual. The intent is to relieve the swelling or drain the fluid that is believed to be causing the madness. The drilling process inflicts 1d2 points of damage each round. It has a cumulative percentage chance of immediately curing the madness equal to 5% multiplied by the number of rounds spent drilling. Unfortunately, there is an equal chance that the patient loses 1d6 points of Intelligence. Both percentage rolls are performed at the end of each round of drilling. The curative roll is modified by +1% per level of the leech and three points of the victim's Constitution (rounded down). The brain damage roll is likewise modified by -1%. The possibility of brain damage can never decrease below 1%.
Example: Nicholai, a 3rd-level leech, is attempting to use trepanning on Anthony, who is suffering from schizophrenia. Anthony has a Constitution of 13. Nicholai begins drilling, and at the end of the first round Anthony makes a curative roll and a brain damage roll. The curative roll has a base chance of 5%, modified by +3% for Nicholai's level and +4% for Anthony's Constitution, for a total of 12%. The brain damage roll has a base chance of 5%, modified by -3% for Nicholai's level and -4% for Anthony's Constitution, for a total of 1%. The drilling inflicts two points of damage on Anthony, but both rolls fail. Nicholai decides to continue the trepanning process. The next round, the curative roll is 17% (10+3+4=17) and the brain damage roll is 3% (10-3-4=3). Again, Anthony takes damage and both rolls fail. Nicholai elects to keep drilling...
Regardless of the outcome, the patient always loses one permanent point of Intelligence when the procedure is complete. He must also make a percentage roll with a chance of failue equal to 1% multiplied by the number of rounds spent drilling. A failure indicate that the patient suffers the effects of a failed madness check (see Table 9: Failed Madness Check Results in Domains of Dread).
The Necessity of Research
A leech does not cease her explorations of the human body when she ventures out into the world. On the contrary, leeches lead the life they do in order to discover unique research opportunities. In order to advance in level, a leech must vivisect a number of fresh adult humans cadavers equal to her current level. Thus, a 3rd-level leech must perform three vivisections in order to advance to 4th-level. These autopsies may be conducted at anytime, but the leech will not advance in level until she has performed them, no matter how many experience points she has obtained. This is more of a logistical and roleplaying challenge than an actual hindrance to level advancement, but a leech character may quickly discover that procuring fresh cadavers is quite difficult. The beliefs and practices of the local domain, as well as the willingness of the leech's companions, determine just how difficult. Powers checks may even be appropriate if the leech is particularly amoral about obtaining her "research materials"...
Tools of the Art
The physician's path requires not only an extensive education, but also a significant amount of wealth for basic supplies. Thus, most leeches are from the upper or noble classes. Poorer folk simply cannot afford to follow such a calling. Leeches, despite their somewhat outcast status from the orthodox medical world, have at least some initial financing for their education and tools. To reflect this, regardless of their starting wealth, a leech character always receives a leechcraft kit at character creation. The character need not spend any money to purchase this kit. Nonetheless, many of the kit's components will need to be replenished. A good rule of thumb is that a leechcraft kit requires 50 gp worth of additional supplies once per month.
The items below are rare in the extreme, and will not normally be available even in healer's shops or apothecaries. Other leeches must be sought out to purchase such goods, or the leech must have the skills and facilities necessary to construct them himself.
Leechcraft Kit
Cost: 1,000 gp
The leechcraft kit consists of a large black leather case, equipped with sturdy handles and a metal clasp. It contains normal medical supplies, such as scalpels, knives, saws, bandages, lenses, ether, needles and thread, and mundane salves and ointments. It also has stranger tools with purposes running from the obvious to the unimaginable: jars of live leeches, long golden needles, wooden funnels and cups, tuning forks, drills and augers, vials of distilled chemicals, clamps, tubes and hoses, alcohol lamps, and all manner of strange things.
Lightning Flask
Cost: 75 gp
This curious device is often used by leeches to heal injuries more rapidly, and is essential in surgery or transplants. The flask resembles a thick glass bottle attached transversely to a metal rod, terminating in a heavy metal sphere two inches in diameter. An extendable probe is encased in the sphere, and the sphere is normally kept covered with a rubber sheath. The flask contains glands extracted from electric eels, coils of metals wire and a precisely calibrated electrolyte solution. The flask requires daily maintenance to function correctly, and a weekly change of solution. Additionally, the flask become useless in three months, and the tissue and mechanics must all be replaced at a cost of 40 gp.
The flask functions by creating a mild electrical current in the metal sphere. If the sphere (or the probe for particularly delicate procedures) is applied to a wound in a precise manner, it speeds up regeneration of the tissues. A leech working with a lightning flask has a +2 bonus to his Intelligence check when healing, and restores an extra point of damage with each application. The flask is useless in the hands of anyone but a leech, however.
Plaguemask
Cost: 10 gp.
A plaguemask is often utilized by leeches working in areas with a high risk of disease, such as villages struck by plagues. They are also useful in places like crypts and sewers, where interlopers might contract diseases from the surroundings. The mask consists of a close-fitting leather hood with a long, hollow "nose" protruding from the front. This chamber is filled with aromatic and medicinal herbs that must be replaced daily (1 sp), and is perforated with tiny holes at the end for ventilation. The wearer sees through large eyeholes covered in thick glass. Though many mock leeches for employing such a ridiculous piece of attire, the reality is that a leech rarely becomes ill while wearing it (85% "resistance" to airborne infectious diseases before any applicable saving throw). An individual wearing a plaguemask has a -4 penalty to her surprise rolls, however, as her hearing and peripheral vision are severely impaired.
