A party walks into a tavern...

[Malkav]

A Cleric, an Egoist, and a Bard walk into a tavern. They are clearly in need of some warriors to complement their long-standing party. They are hoping to attract some young adventurers with the Bards tales of high-adventure and enriching exploits.

There is a fledgling Sorcerer at a nearby table listening to them share their stories. He is impressed by their tales and goes and sits with them to better hear the stories.

At that exact moment...

A meteor falls on the tavern and nearly kills everyone sitting near the door. The Bard(winning initiative) quickly dashes over to use his minor healing abilities on the barkeep. The Egoist, being quite alert himself, jumps over the bar and manifests empathic transfer to help save the bartender. The Cleric struts over to the bartender and heals him to full health. The Egoist then manifests body adjustment to heal the damage he transferred to himself.

The enterprising young Sorcerer becomes insane with curiosity and lusts for the power to heal like the three seasoned adventurers he just witnessed using a variety of healing abilities to bring a dying man back to full health.

The Sorcerer leaves the tavern, through the gaping hole in the front of the building, to retreat to his cabin in the woods. He tirelessly practices until he finally...

Is able to cast a healing spell?
Explodes from frustration?
Gives up and becomes a Sorcadin?
Eats cake?

I really want to hear the thoughts of the community regarding the text in the Sorcerer class description regarding learning new spells and being able to come up with their own spells. Plenty of classes can heal, those mentioned above and monk, paladin, and many others...Thoughts?

[Moriato]

Technically there aren't rules saying that a Sorcerer can't use a healing spell, there just aren't any healing spells on the Sorcerer/Wizard spell list. You'd have to research a new spell capable of doing so. The only thing standing in your way is time, gold, and DM approval. That last part might be hard to get as many people feel that healing goes against the "flavor" of arcane magic.

[Winds]

Gains a touch/range version of False Life, maybe? Beyond that, it would be a problem of rules as intended vs. RAW-while it says that a sorc could learn that way, it doesn't give any clear method for determining what they can actually get.

[Fable Wright]

Read the sorcerer description carefully. "A sorcerer casts arcane spells which are drawn primarily from the sorcerer/wizard spell list." There is no written limitation on what lists he can learn spells from. In fact, the text seems to encourage the sorcerer learning a smattering of spells from other lists. This is easily missed, but honestly, you can easily make a heal-bot sorcerer.

[Absol197]

Read the sorcerer description carefully. "A sorcerer casts arcane spells which are drawn primarily from the sorcerer/wizard spell list." There is no written limitation on what lists he can learn spells from. In fact, the text seems to encourage the sorcerer learning a smattering of spells from other lists. This is easily missed, but honestly, you can easily make a heal-bot sorcerer.

Technically, I think the RAW with the "primarily" there is alluding to the possibility of researching your own spells, not that sorcerers should be able to draw from any list.

That being said, I hardly ever listen to RAW, and I usually both allow sorcerers in my group to draw from spells that fit their concept even if they're not on the Sorcerer spell list, as well as ask my DMs if I can do the same. The rules are there for fun, and as long as you're not going cherry picking the very best spells from every single spell list, and are generally picking such spells for character reasons, then I would say go for it!

[Cog]

Technically, I think the RAW with the "primarily" there is alluding to the possibility of researching your own spells, not that sorcerers should be able to draw from any list.
The text for Cleric, Druid, and Wizard is much less vague, and arguably Wizards would be most deserving of an exception for research reasons.

[Analytica]

Light of Venya is on the sor/wis list and can heal. Also one which I can't remember that transfers wounds to you, combined with false life. Dragon Magic has a self-heal sorcerer-only spell.

Then there is an ACF to get a domain, like the healing domain, as well as the Arcane Disciple feat. Rainbow Servant allows cleric spells, and silver pyromancer paladin spells.

Also, summons with healing abilities.

EDIT: In my opinion, people make too much of that "primarily". YMMV.

[Divide by Zero]

Honestly, would sorcerers be too powerful if you gave them access to other class lists? Cleric still has the advantage of being able to switch out their selection every day, after all. It might partially obsolete some of the other Tier 2 casters, but I could see it working.

[HunterOfJello]

He tirelessly practices until he finally realizes that he has become a badass and powerful sorcerer who can just hire a cohort to do that sort of thing instead of wasting his own time healing weakling bartenders. He also goes and creates a construct bartender to make drinks for him who he can easily Repair on a normal basis instead of an annoying fleshy bartender who will make foolish mistakes like trying to tell a Sorcerer when he's drank too much.

[The Glyphstone]

I like to use a houserule where Sorcerers can choose at chargen if they use the Wizard list or the Cleric list...basically making them either standard sorcerers or non-gimped Favored Souls.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I think he should be able to cast healing spells at two spell levels higher. Cure minor wounds would be a 2nd level spell, cure light wounds would be a 3rd level spell, cure moderate wounds would be 4th level, and so on.

[Analytica]

I like to use a houserule where Sorcerers can choose at chargen if they use the Wizard list or the Cleric list...basically making them either standard sorcerers or non-gimped Favored Souls.

How are Favored Souls gimped compared to Sorcerers? Sure, they require some Wisdom as well, but they also get more spells known, better saves, better bab, and actual class features. Of course, once you prestige out, most of that no longer helps, but...

[The Glyphstone]

How are Favored Souls gimped compared to Sorcerers? Sure, they require some Wisdom as well, but they also get more spells known, better saves, better bab, and actual class features. Of course, once you prestige out, most of that no longer helps, but...

This mainly. Favored Souls aren't so much gimped compared to sorcerers as they are gimped on their own merits - the class features you get aren't really worth sticking with the class in favor of the over nine thousand awesome Clerical PrCs out there, and when you do, you're still stuck with the split stat dependency.

[Marnath]

This mainly. Favored Souls aren't so much gimped compared to sorcerers as they are gimped on their own merits - the class features you get aren't really worth sticking with the class in favor of the over nine thousand awesome Clerical PrCs out there, and when you do, you're still stuck with the split stat dependency.

They do get a much larger spell known pool than sorcerors though. It wouldn't break anything to let the sorc have that many spells known though, no matter which choice they make.

[Divide by Zero]

I think he should be able to cast healing spells at two spell levels higher. Cure minor wounds would be a 2nd level spell, cure light wounds would be a 3rd level spell, cure moderate wounds would be 4th level, and so on.

Nobody would ever use them. It's debatable whether they're even worth using spells known on as it is.

[Flickerdart]

Limited Wish is a very nice spell. So is Anyspell. Both are definitely worth a spell known.

[Malkav]

Wizards would be most deserving of an exception for research reasons.

I disagree. Wizards specifically cast spells taken exclusively from the "weave" or arcane tapestry.

Sorcerers on the other hand, draw their power from within. Given the option of having Celestial, Infernal, Draconic, Elemental or some other blood coursing through their veins, they have options of adapting a wider variety of spell-types to their repertoire.

Another point worth mentioning in regards to the "blood of dragons" theory is that in the description of Dragon from the MM under "Spells" is states that dragons casts arcane spells like a sorcerer and some dragons cast cleric spells as arcane spells.

Healing spells are available to Bards who are arcane casters as well. Hence it being mentioned to begin with.

[AngelisBlack]

I would also give sorcerers some spells on other lists depending on their bloodline. It makes sense that if your powers come from celestial origins, then a healing spell isn't too far fetched. I would only give this stuff though if they took feats like Celestial/Infernal Sorcerer Heritage or Draconic Heritage.

[Malkav]

I would only give this stuff though if they took feats like ...
My thought was creating a feat to completely cover any spell creation that they wanted to do that doesn't pigeon-hole them into a particular heritage so the mystery can remain. Something with a clever name that just allows you to take spells from wherever you want, so long as you have been exposed to them first hand.

[Feytalist]

Off-topic, but I honestly thought the first sentence of the OP was the set-up for a joke...

[Malkav]

...I honestly thought the first sentence...was the set-up for a joke...

And the Egoist looks at the Bard and says "Can I tune your Mandolin?"

[dextercorvia]

Limited Wish is a very nice spell. So is Anyspell. Both are definitely worth a spell known.

Anyspell would be useless to a Sorcerer.

[HalfDragonCube]

Why be a sorcerer when you can be a Wizard with the Alacritous Cogitation feat? A Blessed Book costs 12,500gp. Get scribing. At low levels this can be devastating. Just pull some money-making shenanigans.

[Telonius]

Read the sorcerer description carefully. "A sorcerer casts arcane spells which are drawn primarily from the sorcerer/wizard spell list." There is no written limitation on what lists he can learn spells from. In fact, the text seems to encourage the sorcerer learning a smattering of spells from other lists. This is easily missed, but honestly, you can easily make a heal-bot sorcerer.

This interpretation is at least mildly backed up by the Sorcerer fluff. Sorcerers' main schtick is that they claim to be related to Dragons in their distant ancestry. And regarding Dragons (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dragonTrue.htm):

Some dragons can also cast spells from the cleric list or cleric domain lists as arcane spells.

This can actually open up a few PrC's to the Sorcerer that he otherwise wouldn't have had, or otherwise would have been much weaker. (Thaumaturgist and Geomancer come to mind).

[Analytica]

Oh, and synostodweomer from spell compendium also heals.

[Feytalist]

Oh, and synostodweomer from spell compendium also heals.

By burning more spell slots. And it's a 7th level spell.