Update on my amputation job:
After switching bodies and attempting to force surgery on my dwarf without his explicit consent, I went through a number of companions all of whom died from mysterious face-stabbing related injuries.
Clearly, I had grown too powerful for my own good.
I kept my adventurer up for three days straight, dehydrated and starved to near-death, then took an unsuspecting companion with me to a nice quiet deserted patch of wilderness. I removed my adventurers trusty sword and armor and had him lie prone on the ground. Then, after switching bodies with my companion, I calmly strangled my dworf until he passed out, and then, with the utmost surgical precision, swung a blunt copper ax at his head. The ear flew off into the sunset, dripping pus as it "sailed off in an arc!"
I then waited for the strangling anesthesia to wear off and, after making sure my companion was a fair distance away, switched back into my dworf and redressed.
Sadly, due to some friend/foe loyalty mumbo jumbo, my companion was killed as he attempted to perform other unwarranted surgeries over various parts of my body. But now Urist McOneear is alive and well, and resuming his campaign to rid the world of all various unsavory beasts.
tl;dr, yeah it worked.
If they're your companion, you can use adv-bodyswap. If not, use "adv-bodyswap force." You can continue playing after your adventurers death, but be careful that you switch into the body of a historical figure. Becoming some unknown peasant/random animal can cause complications.