GUMSHOE Health Recovery

This is the basic rules for how Health is recovered in GUMSHOE. Find the GUMSHOE SRD here.


Once per mystery, if the characters are in a safe haven and Health is still positive then Health can be refreshed to maximum.

If they are Hurt, they need First Aid before they refresh this way.

If they are Seriously Hurt, they need a hospital to recover Health.

A First Aid roll against a Difficulty 4 (3 for doctors) allows a character to spend First Aid points to restore Health to Hurt characters. Each 1 point of First Aid recovers 2 points of Health (1 point spent recovers 3 points when performed by a doctor or nurse) to a maximum of one-third the character's normal Health maximum.

Points spent to succeed on the roll do not count.

Characters can only receive First Aid once per injury.

Seriously Hurt characters require a hospital stay in order to recover Health, but First Aid can stabilize them so they stop losing Health.

Daniel is at 2 Health. He is not yet Hurt so First Aid won't help him. 

Later, he is injured and taken to -3 Health. At this point he is hurt and Ming-Wen attempts to help him with her First Aid 8. She spends 2 points to succeed the roll and gets a total of 7. She then spends 3 points from her First Aid pool to restore 6 points to him. Daniel moves from -3 to 3 and is no longer Hurt.

At another point, Captain MacGuinness is injured at -2 and Daniel uses his First Aid to help to treat the injury. He spends 1 point to succeed and gets a 3, since he's a doctor that's enough for him to succeed. He then spends 2 of his First Aid pool points. Since he's a doctor, this heals 6 points. However, Captain MacGuinness's maximum Health is 12 so First Aid can't heal him past 4.

Later, Professor Mayven is reduced to -8 Health. Daniel performs first aid and successfully stabilizes her but because she's Seriously Hurt, he can't recover any of her Health until she spends several days in a Hospital.

Return to Loss of Life prep page.