Key Attribute: Intelligence
This skill represents training in the medical sciences.
Rank 1 Ability
You may use either your Intelligence or Wisdom modifier as the key ability for the Heal skill, whichever is higher.
Rank 2 Ability
As a swift action, you may make a skill check to increase your melee attack damage with a slashing or piercing weapon.
Base DC: 10 + the targeted creature's HD
Success: You deal an additional +1d6 damage with melee attacks against the creature until the start of your next turn. If you exceed the DC by 10 or more, you deal an additional +1d6.
Failure: You deal no additional damage. If you fail the check by more than 5, your damage rolls against that creature are made at a -3 penalty for the remainder of the round.
Rank 3 Ability
Harvest Spell Components
If you have at least 3 ranks in Profession (butcher), you may harvest spell components from a creature. This skill is not needed for items such as blood, hair, or teeth, since they require very little skill to harvest, but all other components must be harvested using this skill to make sure that they are undamaged and useable for spells. A creature may only be harvested once.
Components that can be removed from a living target without killing him (such as an eye, fingers, or a tongue) can be harvested using this skill, but the target must be helpless or pinned by a grapple in order to harvest components from him. Harvesting components from a living creature forces the creature to make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 15). The creature suffers a -2 penalty on this roll for each component harvested. If he fails the check, he dies and the harvested components are useless.
Base DC: 15 (20 if the target is alive)
Success: You may harvest an amount of individual components up to your Intelligence modifier. For every 5 points that your skill check exceeds the DC, you may harvest an additional +1d4 components.
Failure: You harvest 1 component of your choice from your target. If you fail the check by more than 5, you harvest no useable components.
Rank 6 Ability
If you have at least 4 ranks in the Heal skill, whenever you fail a Heal check, you may immediately roll a second check at a -5 penalty.
Rank 7 Ability
You can use your skill at surgery to repair otherwise permanent damage to a body.
Base DC: 23
Success: You convert 1 point of ability drain into ability damage. If you exceed the DC by 5 points, you covert an additional 1d4 points of [[[ability drain]].
Failure: You fail to heal any ability damage this round, but don't make things worse either. You may try again on subsequent rounds, but this failure still counts as an attempt.
Rank 8 Ability
Dissection
You may spend an hour to dissect a creature that has been dead for no longer than 5 days (or a corpse that has been preserved in some way to keep it from decomposing), learning what you can about them.
Base DC: 15
Success: You gain knowledge of the creature's type, subtype, physical ability scores, special abilities/attacks, special qualities, vulnerabilities and resistances. You may also determine the cause of death of any creature you dissect.
If you exceed the DC by 10 or more, you know where their organs or weaknesses are, and gain a +1d6 bonus to all damage rolls made against the all similar creatures when it is flanked or denied its Dexterity bonus to Defense (dissecting a wolf would grant this bonus against all wolves, for example). This bonus is permanent.
If you exceed the check by more than 15, any slashing weapon used by you against a creature similar to one you dissected (all wolves, in the previous example), has its critical hit range doubled. This bonus is permanent.
Failure: You learn nothing of value. For every 5 points below the DC, you suffer a -2 penalty on the next similar creature you dissect.
Rank 9 Ability
Vivisection
You have learned to operate on a living creature, and learn much about the nature of life. To vivisect a creature it must be rendered unconscious or helpless.
Base DC: 20
In the first 1d4 minutes after a successful skill check, the creature's HP total is reduced to 0 as you cut into it, and it suffers enough Constitution damage to reduce their score to 1. Every five minutes, you must succeed on a Knowledge (surgery) check (DC 25) to keep the subject stable. If you fail a check they take 1 point of damage and are dying. You may attempt to stabilize them by making a Heal check (DC 15). Even after the vivisection, you may attempt to keep the subject alive through continued Knowledge (surgery) checks, though these only need to be done every 10 minutes since you are not continuing to prod and poke at them. The subject can only be kept alive for up to 12 hours before succumbing permanently. At any time, the subject may be stabilized by making a Heal check (DC 15), and you do not need to make any additional Knowledge (surgery) checks.
Success:
