Is it a requirement for a request to be put into the Requests forum for an academic/medical title (for instance, Doctor) in a similar vein to noble titles, or is this left largely up to common sense on character creation?

EDIT: Incidentally, even if it's not, any hints towards what sorts of institutions in the Forgotten Realms could award that kind of distinction would be helpful.

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Dathavon Aerlias - "Is that all you've got? I've done worse to family."
Dios Sehenesphar - Mulhorandi Mentor & Bloody Old Priest.

When in doubt, just ask.

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It isn't listed as a requirement, but hit us with what you've got and we'll vet you if we think it is solid. You can just do it right here if you want.

In short; a properly trained physician with a small capacity for magic (2nd level wizard upon arrival, naturally). He has a particular interest in matters of the mind, mental problems and such, but remains an entirely competent physician. A troubled upbringing leads him to an unbalanced state of mind himself, which triggered the interest in the mind to begin with. That plus mage-in-training lead to hypotheses on the use of magic and mundanity in tandem to cure (or manipulate) the mind.

Where he was trained is relatively unimportant and I'm open to suggestions, but I've already got him down to be Halruaan (a pretty damn educated country). I've got a fair bit of it worked out but there's a summary.

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Dathavon Aerlias - "Is that all you've got? I've done worse to family."
Dios Sehenesphar - Mulhorandi Mentor & Bloody Old Priest.

Where he was trained is actually not relatively unimportant, it is very important. That lends to the verisimilitude of not only being able to call yourself a doctor (anyone can), but to be recognized as one. Toril doesn't have a formal doctoral program model, mostly owing due to the fact that education has not been widely institutionalized (the notion is novel and progressive!), and so all you have to rely on is where you received your training and who trained you. If your mentor is seen as a professional, then you probably will, too.

I meant relatively unimportant as in I don't have any particular preferences at the moment, mostly owing to a lack of knowledge of what few establishments/areas where mentors would exist would be regarded as "professional".

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Dathavon Aerlias - "Is that all you've got? I've done worse to family."
Dios Sehenesphar - Mulhorandi Mentor & Bloody Old Priest.

If you make them up good enough, they might work.

There is an option , theoretically if you wanna be local and don't mind a religious slant in the teaching.

Specifically, the Salandrans are an order of Healers whom are regarded regionally as the most professional.

However, they are far from the only Healers professionally in the region if not Toril.

Totally aware and I'll probably find 'em - when the character actually gets played. This is solely for background, off-island, I tend not to play locals as I'm (somewhat) newish and not overly familiar with Amia's lore.

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Dathavon Aerlias - "Is that all you've got? I've done worse to family."
Dios Sehenesphar - Mulhorandi Mentor & Bloody Old Priest.

Fair enough fair enough xD I figured i'd offer the thought all the same.

Right. Rather than a straight IC story I've decided to plan out the character's backstory with a series of journal segments, pieces of paperwork and book extracts compiled by an unknown curator. I don't want to reveal all of them just yet, and will do so in the proper forum later. Here are the two pieces I wrote out with regards to his education.

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Internal Memorandum, Kythorn 17th 1377

Curator’s Note: This message was secretly acquired from the prestigious Paeon Hypokratos School of Medicine, located within one of Halarahh’s more modest wizard’s towers. The school is run by Paeon Hypokratos, a physician of some note for his school’s non-profit status. This gives the students a rather unparalleled learning environment, leading the few who are accepted under Paeon’s mentorship to be well-respected as doctors, physicians and apothecaries in their own right.

Regarding Graduation

The following students will hereby graduate this year having performed four years of apprenticeship under Doctor Hypokratos and his associates and the creation of new knowledge in their chosen fields.

Ageucia, L - Doctor of Botany for her Pharmacopœia Halruaa, a guide to growing medicinal herbs normally unsuited to our climate
Archem, C - Doctor of Medicine for From Case Study to Cure, a treatise on a number of ‘hopeless’ cases turned around by revolutionary mind-magic therapies
Lacios, G - Doctor of Herbalism for Chinchona & Willow Bark: Painkillers for Free, a treatise investigating the ease with which one can prepare medicinal substances at a low cost
Reameos, D - Doctor of Medicine for Rats: Our Overlooked Nemesis, a study into the management of plague outbreaks

Graduation will proceed on the 27th of Kythorn in the Asklepian Tower.

- Vizier [redacted], House Jordain

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Curator’s Note: I shall append thusly an extract from I. Laeman’sThe Promethean Alchemist Vol. VII: Primum non Nocere (1370). His series of monographs is an excellent historical and philosophical record and approach to the Art of Alchemy. This volume presents a look at the Apothecary’s role in combining alchemy and medicine. Readers take note that his esoteric quasi-religious philosophies are not those of myself.

On the Paeon Hypokratos School of Medicine, Halarahh, Halruaa

Of particuar regard in the magocracy of Halruaa is that High Alchemy is little acknowledged by even the best in that secluded nation-state. Though the same can be said of all over the world, it is particularly perplexing that a country so blessed by magical might and open-minded approaches to almost anything, Philosophical Alchemy has yet to particularly catch on. In spite of, or perhaps because of, this, a thriving teaching and medical institution catches one’s eye in Halruaa.

Doctor Paeon Hypokratos is a man of local renown for his charitable yet productive demeanour towards teaching: he provides free, largely mundane healthcare for those too poor to afford the donations to temples, and in exchange he uses their cases to teach a select number of apprentices. Within his School of Medicine - an imposing round tower in central Halarahh bearing sculptures of serpents draped around its columns, a clear sign of a rare individual who understands the imagery behind his art - Dr. Hypokratos provides expert care and teaching to the few that he allows into his purview. Rather than focusing solely on one aspect of medicine, his institution teaches and practices all in some manner or another. Botany and herbalism for the Apothecary’s own brand of panacaeic alchemy, anatomy and surgery for physical studies and a small asylum wing for the observation and treatment of psychotic patients.

Even though he practices and teaches methods that are largerly non-magical in nature, he is himself a wizard of some potency, reportedly serving as one of the four hundred or so Elders on Halruaa’s ruling council. This inter-disciplinary polymath clearly recognises the virtues of a balance of knowledge and ability, a virtue that is of primary concern to the Philosophical Alchemist. He attepts to instill these same virtues on the few who pass through his halls, along with a moral education based on the Ancient Loross saying, “Primum non nocere” - first, do no harm. […]

- I. Laeman’s “The Promethean Alchemist Vol VII: Primum non Nocere” (1370), pg. 39-41

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Dathavon Aerlias - "Is that all you've got? I've done worse to family."
Dios Sehenesphar - Mulhorandi Mentor & Bloody Old Priest.

I personally handled it two way.

You can claim whatever you want. ("Of course I am a real Doctor!")

But, if you want the official title you have to earn it via Roleplay (X the dragonslayer gets his name only though doing just that) or by making a request beforehand and get DM sanction.

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"Most assume that all the followers of Lathander are great morning people. They're very wrong."
"I think we are the only group where AD&D stands for Attention Deficit Disorder."