Seeking Suggestions for Replacing the Heal-Bot

[tuesdayscoming]

My players are putting together a new party right now and, understandably, everyone is wary of being thrust in to the role of dedicated healer.

I am thinking that, somewhere in their early adventures, the party might just come across a sort of 'healing familiar'. It wouldn't have actions of its own; rather, any party member could use a Swift Action to make it move or a Move Action to have it use some form of healing spell.

I'm thinking the creature would have a flight speed of 30' (perfect). It would have limited health, construct traits, hardness 2, and fast healing while out of combat.

I'm thinking that it will 'level up' with the party – thereby granting it access to higher level healing. At the earliest levels, perhaps it would be able to cast Cure Light once every four rounds?

What do you guys think of this idea?

;tldr
What do you think of giving the party an NpC companion that any party member can make move as a Swift Action, or have cast some form of healing spell as a Move Action?

[Mystify]

Hint: You don't need a healbot.
All you need is someone who can use cure light wounds wands, possibly with UMD, and you are golden. Healing in combat is just not that effective in D&D, and another character acting to bring down the enemies is more useful. Using a heal wand allows you to fix everyone up between encounters in a very economical way.
Also get things like heal belts and hair shirts of suffering.

[Lord Il Palazzo]

I'm with Mystify. As long as someone has cure light wounds on their spell list or decent ranks in use magic device (and can thus use a wand) there's not a real need to have a dedicated healer. Another benefit is that a wand of cure light wounds is pretty cheap, especially if the party splits the cost four (or whatever) ways and is an easy item for a DM to work into some loot the PCs find early on to give them the idea.

The healing familiar is a neat idea, but I honestly can't see it getting much use unless its healing ability is really strong. You just don't need to heal in battle that often.

[subject42]

Wands of lesser vigor are even more effective in terms of hp/gp than CLW wands.

Healing Belts are 750gp a piece, recharge every morning, and don't have any restrictions on "attunement". This means you can carry a pile of them around with you.

Crusaders from the Tome of Battle have unlimited sporadic healing, but only in combat.


There are enough legit methods of "free" healing in 3.5 that I don't think you really need to go through the trouble of building a familiar.

[tuesdayscoming]

This is a very good point, Mystify. In practice, however, I've found that the theory breaks down somewhat. Sometimes, giving a downed hero that extra turn or two can be invaluable.

Several of the players in my group are better acquainted with 4e than with 3.5, and have expressed worry over the absence of class-agnostic healing. In 4e, this is handled through Healing Surges, and I thought it might be nice to give them something comparable.

[Linkscoolfriend]

Potion belt, potions of healing, free action heals in combat. That's what my party does when nobody wants to play the healer. Don't think I would ever give the party a heal-bot, though. Why not give them a free pass to auto kill my baddies, then?

Just my opinion.

[Lord Il Palazzo]

The thing about a wand is that, if someone really truely does need a little healing in battle, you can absolutely do that. Also, most of my players still keep a potion or two on hand even though the druid with his wand of cure light wounds does most of the healing.

If you really want to give them class-agnostic healing (an idea of which I'm not a huge fan, but that's another subject) I'd give them a Belt of Healing or two (as mentioned by subject42) and then give them the chance to buy more if they want. Each belt costs only 750 GP and has 3 charges per day. You can spend N charges as a standard action to heal N+1 d8s of damage.

[Mystify]

This is a very good point, Mystify. In practice, however, I've found that the theory breaks down somewhat. Sometimes, giving a downed hero that extra turn or two can be invaluable.

Several of the players in my group are better acquainted with 4e than with 3.5, and have expressed worry over the absence of class-agnostic healing. In 4e, this is handled through Healing Surges, and I thought it might be nice to give them something comparable.
And in-combat healing doesn't give them an extra 2 turns. It might eek out another turn... but if 1 more turn was enough, then you should have been able to handle it with your own options. An actual Heal spell or Mass heal can be useful, but that isn't relevant for a long time.

[tuesdayscoming]

I appreciate all of the feedback, guys. I'm surprised, though, that the idea is being universally panned. I had thought it was a somewhat elegant solution... :smallconfused:

Well, perhaps I shall try some of the more traditional methods before taking such, more drastic, measures...

[Palanan]

Not entirely universally. I actually like the idea, not least because it has good story potential. I'm sure that mechanically, what the others have said is completely true, but it's up to you whether this should be the only consideration.

If you like the concept, then let it take fire, and see where you can go with it. It's your game. Experiment and explore, and have fun with your ideas.

[Lord Il Palazzo]

Not entirely universally. I actually like the idea, not least because it has good story potential. I'm sure that mechanically, what the others have said is completely true, but it's up to you whether this should be the only consideration.

If you like the concept, then let it take fire, and see where you can go with it. It's your game. Experiment and explore, and have fun with your ideas.I agree. It has potential (especially story-wise), I just think that if you want it because you think your party "needs" it, there are less drastic measures you could take. If you've got an interesting storyline the heal-bot would fit into, go for it.

Mechanically, how strong a healing effect are you thinking it should have? As noted above, in-combat healing tends to be weak because devoting resources to defeating enemies (and thus preventing further damage) tends to work better. If it's just going to be using Cure Light/Moderate Wounds, I doubt it will see much use except early on. Whatever it does should probably scale with your players' levels so as not to simply become useless a couple sessions after it's introduced.

[Gavinfoxx]

Could you try reading this?

http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=2710

[grarrrg]

Take the Draconic Aura feat (Dragon Magic), use it to grab the Healing Aura.
Now everybody withing 30ft. of you has Fast Healing 1.
It only heals up to 1/2 Max HP, but it's entirely passive (well, Swift Action when you wake up, and you're good all day).

If you are Dragon-Blooded it will even scale!
DRAGON PUN! SCALE!

[hex0]

Take the Draconic Aura feat (Dragon Magic), use it to grab the Healing Aura.
Now everybody withing 30ft. of you has Fast Healing 1.
It only heals up to 1/2 Max HP, but it's entirely passive (well, Swift Action when you wake up, and you're good all day).

If you are Dragon-Blooded it will even scale!
DRAGON PUN! SCALE!

This is always in fashion, imho. Probably your best bet.

[imneuromancer]

Wands of CLW and Lesser Vigor (if you are playing non-CORE) are your friend.

Wands of lesser vigor run about 1 gp per hit point (750/(50*11)=1.36), so after combat you should heal up with those. You should keep 1-2 CLW wands for times when you need to heal up faster than 1 hp/round. This is more expensive (750/(50*5.5 average)=2.72), so this is only for combats where you know you will be going from one to another in less than a minute or so.

Clerics/Druids should NEVER have to cast a cure spell unless there is a dire situation in combat that demands it. They have too many other utility/buff spells that will prevent damage from ever occurring in the first place. Protection from Evil, Divine Favor, Resurgence, etc. even at first level are way better than a CLW.

[Person_Man]

If healing is not a fun part of your game that someone wants to take on, you could just remove it with a house rule. Hit points are just an abstraction. After combat, everyone is restored to full hit points after 5 minutes of not taking any other damage or stress. During combat, they just need to do their best to avoid damage, run/hide when wounded, and/or invest in healing items.

This also makes the game a lot easier for you as a DM. It's one less thing that you have to keep track of, and it makes balancing encounters much easier for you.

[DrDeth]

Right. Ok, guys wands of CLW (wands of lesser vigor are better, tho) are fine for after combat healing but they do burn resources like a drunken pirate. DURING combat, you need a healer who can bring someone back from the bring to the point where “one more hit” won’t drop him.- or worse kill him. It’s really expensive to raise PC’s.

Now sure, “topping off” during combat is boring and not all that productive. But a good cleric or other build can buff the party before combat, spend the first round or two buffing the party, save a PC with a well placed healing spell, then strike down a foe at the right moment.

Mature players realize that a good party does damage, but a great party works as a TEAM. It’s not important for everyone to max out doing damage, when a buffer can make two PC’s do more damage than two PC’s can. A controller should restrict the foes to a limited area, allowing your tank to keep them away from the squishies. Meanwhile the tank and skill monkey work as a team slaying foes. Meanwhile the controller lays down some area-effect fire, whilst the buffer healer is making everyone a great hero. Teamwork. Not just 4 strikers vying to see who can do the most damage.

Mind you auras are nice, too.

[Karoht]

My players are putting together a new party right now and, understandably, everyone is wary of being thrust in to the role of dedicated healer.

I am thinking that, somewhere in their early adventures, the party might just come across a sort of 'healing familiar'. It wouldn't have actions of its own; rather, any party member could use a Swift Action to make it move or a Move Action to have it use some form of healing spell.

I'm thinking the creature would have a flight speed of 30' (perfect). It would have limited health, construct traits, hardness 2, and fast healing while out of combat.

I'm thinking that it will 'level up' with the party – thereby granting it access to higher level healing. At the earliest levels, perhaps it would be able to cast Cure Light once every four rounds?

What do you guys think of this idea?

;tldr
What do you think of giving the party an NpC companion that any party member can make move as a Swift Action, or have cast some form of healing spell as a Move Action?
Give the party members each an item with a contingent effect, X times per day which triggers any time they are below Y hitpoints.
Give the players the ability to adjust the amount of hitpoints at which the contingent effect will trigger.
IE-It casts Cure Serious Wounds 1/day per 2 character levels, at a minimum of 1. Player A has 40 hit points. He can set it to cast any time he goes below 20 hit points. Player B is a squishy wizard who sets his to go off any time he hits zero hit points or less.
Just rule that the setting can only be changed once per day, it takes 10 minutes to make the adjustment.

If you're playing Pathfinder, an Oracle in the party or Cleric only need the feat Quicken Channel to use a Channel as a move action, and they still have their standard action. If you play an Oracle of the Life Mystery, you also get Combat Casting which allows you to burn two "Cure" spells of the same level to cast it as a Swift Action. Meaning you can cast a Cure (Single Target), Channel (AoE), and still get a utility/battlefield spell off in the same round.
Pathfinder also has the spell Blessing of Courage and Life. +2 Save VS Fear/Death, and leaves a healing charge on the target. The charge goes off dealing 1D8+Level for heal, it goes off when the target choses to or automatically at 0 HP. Incredibly handy, even at later levels, and a wand of this spell also goes very far.