As illustrated in yesterday’s two examples, equipment options for “healer”-type characters can be extremely limited compared to the plethora of choices offered to “fighters”.
That means fewer opportunities to engage with the theme (or themes) based on equipment options, fewer hooks for own thoughts, questions, material, less room for decision making, less detailed and less concrete setting information and accordingly less detailed and concrete settings.
However, as the titles of this and the previous article with the examples already imply, this can and does go beyond simply presenting a generic as a stand-in for, an example of a wider range of comparable options available within the game’s setting and which have merely been streamlined in presentation. Instead, a true panacea of sorts is implied, a something that is not a mere symbol for a multitude of other things, but a something that combines all of these things, combines them, and thus replaces same. With the multitude thus not existing, there no longer is any reason or motivation to flesh out said multitude.
To give a third example, this
Sample products to illustrate the range of handguns: Eight, each under its own heading, with individual descriptive text and full stats profile (in addition to four generic profiles with accompanying text)
Sample products to illustrate the range of immunomodulators: Two, under a single heading with a common text including a paragraph each with some individual characteristics followed by a generic profile
might not be ideal for putting stress on medical themes, but at least it offers something to work with on the description level (even though rules-wise, there differentiation remaines lacking).
Yesterday’s initial examples do not even have that going for them. As soon as there is a miracle syringe able to cure all diseases, the diseases chapter can be considered pretty much closed.