Let's Talk About Cure Wounds (1st Level)

 

This doesn’t go the way you think.

My Assumptions

- Magic has not always existed.

- Magic was discovered last year.

- 1 out of every 1000 people are naturally gifted with magic.

- Spells are being discovered all the time.

- Magic breaks the laws of physics in ways we don't understand.

- This is not the only spell in the world.

CURE WOUNDS

1st-level evocation

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Touch

Components: V, S

Duration: Instantaneous

A creature you touch regains a number of hit points equal to 1d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier. This spell has no effect on undead or constructs.

What it Changes

This spell might be the most world-changing one so far. Being able to repair a damaged body is a huge change for our world, and would likely change healthcare as we know it. If you want to pick a spell that gives you infinite money, this is a decent choice, but Teleportation Circle is still better. However, this one would bankrupt the medical industry.

I've not had to address this yet, but in D&D, magic comes from somewhere. For your garden variety wizard, they tap into powers that already exist in the universe, underlying constants that are unknown and not widely understood. In a way, they're almost like scientists; they're not inventing new things: They're discovering and perfecting them.

Divine magic is different. It comes from a deity that the player chooses during character creation. There is a level of commitment to follow and obey a specific set of rules to receive access to these spells. How might this work in the real world?

I have two thoughts. One, magic would be exactly like I described for wizards. Or maybe X-Men-style mutant powers. Or we discover there are actually powerful beings that can be "tapped into" by individuals for these gifts. This sounds like aliens, or demons, gods, or something equally mysterious. But that’s a rabbit trail for another day.

Does this spell really mean what we think it means? Forget free health care, we have magic!

Think about this: A person can simply wave their hands and your wounds close up. Whether this means it would simply heal wounds or actually extract bullets and/or debris from a wound is unknown. Since the game is describing an abstract form of a healing for an abstract form of injury, we need to define what hit points are.

The Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook describes hit points as follows on page 196:

Hit points represent a combination of physical and mental durability, the will to live, and luck. Creatures with more hit points are more difficult to kill. Those with fewer hit points are more fragile.

We learn that hit points are not purely physical, but a combined abstraction of mental and physical wellbeing, and morale. In fact, being that most people will die (or at least be incapable of fighting) after one good hit from a sword or arrow, it stands to reason that hit points lean more heavily toward being mental damage than physical. Sounds like I've been playing D&D wrong!

With that in mind, it kind of takes the wind out of the sails of those Elysium-loving folks who were hoping to have all ailments cured by a nap in a machine. If anything, this spell would be more useful in mental hospitals, or potentially by psychiatrists.

BUT WAIT! The spell is called Cure WOUNDS. Wounds? Aren't wounds something that was caused by an external trauma? What kinds of mental traumas are there? Abuse, near-death experiences, and long-term illness come to mind. Obviously there are more.

I didn't expect to get here when I started this series.

Technological Applications

This spell seems most useful in a clinical setting for mental trauma. And what happens when you get "treated?" If you have a painful memory, is the memory simply forgotten? Or is the pain somehow lessened? I can think of many terrible memories that couldn't possibly be "lessened" without total erasure. Would this lead to an Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-like scenario where people start seeking healing for things like bad breakups? What if there are other, smaller, frustrating issues with family or friends? Could you have a whole family go in for treatment to "help" relationships? Would the end result be a kind of collective numbing or forgetfulness?

Imagine a society that doesn't like to dwell on painful things, and erases every bad memory. What would happen to that society? Could they continue to function AS a society?

And I've hardly mentioned the actual physical healing this spell provides. The spell does heal wounds after all. Any injury counts as a wound.

When magic appears in the world, people get these powers and start discovering spells. The people who learn how to heal others become Jesus-like figures, sought out by locals at first, and later, hordes of people seeking healing. If they're smart, these individuals start charging for their services. Before long, the government would find out and shut that crap down. This would likely take the form of military arrest (made because of "public danger," see the entry on Magic Missile) or the FDA, or health care companies, or drug companies. You see, being able to completely heal a person is great for individuals, but TERRIBLE for business. A person with diabetes will spend $55,000 to $130,000 on treatment during their lifetime. A person cured of diabetes will pay, well, nothing.

All of this results in the healer being arrested, imprisoned, fined, and in some countries, executed. Some of these people would be hired by private individuals or companies and kept on retainer for any and all healing needs. Drug and health companies might eventually co-opt these healers and lock them into similar systems that modern-day doctors are in (insurance-ly speaking). This would DRAMATICALLY reduce the need for doctors, especially if 1 in 1000 people have magical abilities. It would devastate the health care markets, even with corporate control, because doctors are no longer the most powerful voice in the medical community. It would harm every aspect of medical care, from schooling to drugs to recovery centers.

Frankly, it would be discouraging to go to school for most of your life to be a doctor, only to be completely outdone by an amateur.

Military medics would become second-fiddle to someone who can close up wounds in seconds. All medical research would eventually divert to practices involving magic, and training. As mentioned in the Magic Missile entry, people would try to find ways to manufacture healing in consumable or injectable forms. This considerably impacts the pharmaceutical industry, but they’d find a way to make it work for them, I’m sure.

In short, it would forever change medical industries, and probably destroy a select few.

Does It Change Life As We Know It?

Yes. For everyone, everywhere. Hopefully, you don't work in the medical industry. If you are receiving long-term care, you would likely be cured. Note that there are other spells such as Remove Disease and others that would solve every aspect of sickness and disease. Must be nice.

Other Thoughts

I really never know where these things are gonna go when I start writing, but I always have fun.

If you're enjoying this series, let me know. I've been writing these on and off for the better part of 2017. This is the last one I had in the hopper, so if you want more, give me some ideas in the comments!