[Gullivers] Scurvy, a fact of life

[Carl Brown]

Hi Lev is right. I actually used the Wiki as a starting point for the
scurvy encounter.
Perhaps i should have called the advanced aspect 'Practically erradicate
scurvy'. A character can certainly use his knowledge to help his
shipmates, but on a global scale of navies and merchant fleets scurvy
remains a problem. There is no commonly agreed cure that actually works
and can be stored for a long period in a ship's hold. Finding a
practical ship-board treatment and having it commonly accepted in an
achievement on par with other advanced aspects such as Solving
Longtitude. 
My referee's notes for the ongoing scurvy encounter included this
guidence should a PC draw on a medical skill:
 

There is no widely accepted treatment for scurvy at this time. Any
medical skill roll of Average will reveal scurvy has long been known, it
was describes by Hippocrates

Surgeon skill: A surgeon may make a Fair test to treats the wounds ,
bleeding etc of a Taken Out result reducing it to merely Injured and but
can do little else. This does not allow further healing nor stop the
need for further rolls.

Physic skill: An Average roll brings to mind that it is an acidic
principle in the diet that is missing in scurvy sufferers.
Unfortunately, it is not known at this time that acids common aboard
ship are of no use. This does not allow further healing nor stop the
need for further rolls.

Apothecary Skill: A Fair apothecary roll indicates that there are
numerous proposed herbal cures from tribal cultures. For example tea of
the arbour vitae tree's needles described by the explorer Jaques Cartier
in 1536. None of these are available aboard ship nor do they store well.
An apothecary cannot help.

The real cure: the only real cure at this time is to find land and get
fresh food. Once this is done healing resumes at the normal rate (the
persistent wounds become regular ones). Once on land an Average Physic
or roll can aid healing in the usual way. In wild areas survival rolls
may be needed to find acidic foods. Similarly, a Good apothecary roll
can find a useful and foul tasting local plant that is effective.



<-----Original Message----->
From: Lev Lafayette [gullivers at rpgreview.net]
Sent: 3/10/2009 7:08:17 PM
To: Gullivers Trading Company
Subject: Re: [Gullivers] Scurvy, a fact of life

On Mon, 2009-03-09 at 22:28 -0700, Carl Brown wrote:
> Scurvy is a fact of life among sea-farers at the time of GTC. Want to
> do something about it?
> The rule would be an advanced aspect and look something like this:
> 
> Treat Scurvy
> Historically no one person had this Aspect, it was achieved by
> numerous people over the coarse of over a hundred years. The character
> needs Great understanding of Physic to determine that the specific
> kind of acidic principle in citrus fruits and other foods prevents and
> cures scurvy. This is best done by formally proving the hypothesis on
> a long sea voyage and presenting your results as a book or at the
> Royal Academy. A Great breadth of Logistics knowledge is needed to
> find some method of storing the foods with the acidic principle
> intact. Finally, you need to spread the word of your discovery. A
> Great persuasion skill is needed to have a large maritime
> organisation, such as the Royal Navy, to adopt your proposals as
> standard procedure.
> 

>From Wikipedia article on 'Scurvy'.

Herbal cures for scurvy have been known in many native cultures since
prehistory. In 1536, the French explorer Jacques Cartier, exploring the
St. Lawrence River, used the local natives' knowledge to save his men
who were dying of scurvy. He boiled the needles of the arbor vitae tree
(Eastern White Cedar) to make a tea that was later shown to contain 50
mg of vitamin C per 100 grams.[1][2] Such treatments were not available
aboard ship, where the disease was most common. It was a Scottish
surgeon in the British Royal Navy, James Lind who first proved it could
be treated with citrus fruit in experiments he described in his 1753
book, A Treatise of the Scurvy

Before it was written in a textbook, one can be certain that it would
have been known at least among some sailor's folklore for at least a
generation prior - especially considering that treatment had been known
to at least some Europeans since the mid-sixteenth century. Rather than
Physician I would suggest a skill or aspect in knowing "old native's
tales" and the like is more appropriate at this stage. Perhaps in the
mid-18th century a more systematic knowledge is developed; but prior to
that it's simply a case of being fortunate enough to hear about people
were cured...




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