Here is the next entry in my irregular series of NPCs who can confound, obstruct and annoy the heck out of the PCs.
Doctor
Hiram Califrax 787789 Age 38 Doctors, 5 terms
Medical-3,
Liaison-1, Carousing-1, Computer-1
Dr.
Califrax is the chief/only physician on the colony world of Somerset,
[F-353393-9] a subordinate world of Mavramorn (Holtzmanns Corridor
0605).
Dr.
Califrax has delusions of grandeur. He believes that he is wise,
intelligent, super-competent and generous. The community around him
tells him so. His medical skill is accurate; he is a competent
physician. The problem is that he needs everyone to recognize it, and
needs constant affirmation of his self-image. His clinic staff
consists of several nurses (Medical-2) and orderlies (Medical-1)
chosen more for their adoration of the doctor than for medical
competence.
He is
unaware that he over-diagnoses patients, claiming they are far more
ill than they actually are. He then persuades the patient that only
he can save them. He prescribes expensive medications and surgeries.
He owns the only pharmacy so he makes quite a tidy profit, twice. The
money also contributes to his delusion.
People
of the settlement either adore or dislike him. With so little other
medical advice at hand, he remains accepted. Those who like him come
near to worshiping him. Those who are skeptics have learned to keep
it to themselves.
He has
performed many unnecessary surgeries, including amputations and organ
removals. The doctor's staff pressures patients to be grateful to be
alive, and downplay the effects of missing limbs or organs. He is a
skilled surgeon so deaths on the table are rare. When someone does
die, he remains blameless. He explains that the disease or condition
was 'the most severe he'd ever heard of'. Dr. Califrax always
positions himself as the helpful hardworking doctor doing 'everything
he can'.
Non-medical
people have questioned him before. He responded with venom,
leveraging his reputation and social position to silence the
critics. On rare occasions Dr. Califrax has hired thugs to
assault people who have questioned him. He then dosed the thugs with
mind-altering drugs so that they could not reveal who hired them.
Other
medical PCs are not welcome in Dr. Califrax's office, except as
patients. In other settings, he will be Mister Congeniality, and talk
at length about his experience. All the while he will try to persuade
the medical PC that he's the superior physician. He will trash talk
other (absent) medical people. For example, the TAS Mercy Ships are
terrible, unsupervised, unqualified lone wolves. The TAS Wardens are
dangerous loose cannons.
The
doctor should not be the main villain of an adventure on
Somerset, a low-gravity world with a thin atmosphere and arid
climate. The referee should introduce him as an important NPC in the setting. If anything exciting or important
happens while the PCs are around, Dr. Califrax will make things worse
by inserting himself so that he can look important.
Characters
with Medical skill should be the first to notice the good doctors'
tendency to overstate medical necessity. The urgency and severity of
the doctor's reaction depends on they respond to him. If the PCs keep
it to themselves and avoid him, he will use 'pressure sales' tactics
to persuade them to use his services. If they meet with him in
private and question his diagnoses, he will become hostile and show
them out. He will start a smear campaign to discredit the group and
their objections.
If they confront him before witnesses outside of
his practice, it's war. He will use all his social power to harass
and drive off those who do not support his delusion. Dr. Califrax can
cause the PCs a lot of trouble, without a direct confrontation.
Photo is public domain, courtesy of www.pixabay.com
Photo is public domain, courtesy of www.pixabay.com
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