Quellian-dyrae
2013-09-22, 09:46 PM
The Healer
"You guys are going to get yourselves killed, you know. But not today!"
Adventures: Many healers prefer to avoid the dangerous life of an adventurer, setting up in temples and clinics to provide healing to those in need. However, a fair share do travel, seeking out the injured and sick to tend, and naturally these travels have a tendency to land them in dangerous locales. When great harm is being caused on a large scale, a particularly devout healer may join with a band of heroes as they seek to neutralize the threat. Even when the danger is done, many healers feel uncomfortable allowing their friends to go into danger without their curative magic on hand to protect them.
Characteristics: The healer class does what it says it does. It heals, well and often. Where the rest of the party tries to cause as much damage as possible or neutralize as many enemies as they can, the healer is all about removing damage. Depending on its Rites, a healer can also provide some measure of augmentation and protection, but even that is through the filter of healing. Healers also make very good diplomats, and have some tricks for securing a peaceful solution to problems (typically by making a violent solution too difficult to attempt).
Alignment: The overwhelming majority of healers are good aligned, driven by compassion and devoted to peace, but it's important to note that they don't have to be. The power to heal may not be as flashy as the ability to call forth extraplanar minions or hurl fire and lightning, but it is undeniably valuable. There are healers out their who use their powers to make a profit...or even exploit them to take advantage of those in need. Along the ethical scale, healers have a slight tendency towards lawful. Chaotic Neutral, Neutral Evil, and especially Chaotic Evil healers are exceedingly rare.
Religion: While a healer need not have any ties to religion, many do, learning their gifts in much the same way as clerics. Regardless, most healers naturally favor deities of peace, light, and life. Nature-oriented deities also make up a substantial group, especially those with an affinity to the water element.
Background: The healer's art is more often trained than not. Given the state of mundane medicine in a typical D&D world, it is not uncommon for a medic or doctor to study the curative arts to better do their job. Some clerics feel a particular affinity for healing magic and never develop their broader range of spellcasting. Even some apprentice mages turn their studies to the oft-unappreciated powers of healing. It is also possible for a healer to come into its power innately, as a form of sorcery or divine blessing.
Races: Healers are not really any more or less common among any of the races, given equivalent access to magical knowledge. Naturally, a race's overall aptitude for magic will create variances, making elves and gnomes somewhat more common for example. Aasimar and water genasi might have a bit of a stronger connection to forces related to the healing arts.
Other Classes: Warriors of all stripes are always happy to have a healer around - and if they sit back and do their job rather than filling themselves with divine power and stealing all the glory, well, more power to them! Naturally, those clerics who resent having to burn half their spells on keeping their companions' bodies in proper working order are also welcoming to a healer. While few classes would really resent the addition of a healer to a party, some - such as more tactically oriented rogues and wizards - might say that they would prefer there to be no need of one.
Role: The whole point of this class is to make healing into an actual worthwhile role. Removing damage can be just as valuable as dealing damage, and it is to this that the great majority of the healer class is dedicated. Outside of combat, the healer does make a capable party face, and with the right skills can even serve as the "nature guy" for a group that lacks a druid or ranger.
Adaptation: The healer class is fairly fluff-neutral. Its powers can easily be arcane, divine, natural, or even psionic in nature. It could even be possible to play a more mundane healer by making most of the abilities Exceptional, and perhaps toning down the recovery options of Ward of Peace to compensate.
GAME RULE INFORMATION
Healers have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Charisma drives most of a healer's supernatural powers, making it their most important ability score. Wisdom also has value, as it drives the Will saves that are important for Ward of Peace, as well as Heal checks. Consitution is also nice, for Concentration checks and overall durability, and to improve your Healing Pool.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d8.
Starting Age: As cleric.
Starting Gold: As druid.
Class Skills
The Healer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are...
Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (Arcana, Nature, Planes, Religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (N/A), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Points at First Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier
THE HEALER
LevelBase Attack BonusFort SaveRef SaveWill SaveSpecial
1st
+0
+2
+0
+2Healing Hands, Ward of Peace, Rites.
2nd
+1
+3
+0
+3Healing Pool, Herbalist.
3rd
+1
+3
+1
+3Rite.
4th
+2
+4
+1
+4Armored in Peace.
5th
+2
+4
+1
+4Rite.
6th
+3
+5
+2
+5Self Healing I.
7th
+3
+5
+2
+5Rite.
8th
+4
+6
+2
+6Ritual of Revival.
9th
+4
+6
+3
+6Rite.
10th
+5
+7
+3
+7On Angel's Wings.
11th
+5
+7
+3
+7Rite.
12th
+6
+8
+4
+8Self Healing II.
13th
+6
+8
+4
+8Rite.
14th
+7
+9
+4
+9Ritual of Resurrection.
15th
+7
+9
+5
+9Rite.
16th
+8
+10
+5
+10Spirit of Life.
17th
+8
+10
+5
+10Rite.
18th
+9
+11
+6
+11Self Healing III.
19th
+9
+11
+6
+11Rite.
20th
+10
+12
+6
+12Outpouring of Life.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Healer. The DC for the Healer's abilities is equal to 10 + 1/2 level + Cha modifier.
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: The healer is proficient with simple weapons, light armor, and shields (except tower shields).
Healing Hands (Su): You have the ability to lay hands on others to soothe pain and restore vigor. This ability is usable at will as a standard action. You touch a target, who receives temporary hit points equal to 1d6 per odd-numbered healer level, plus your Charisma modifier. Alternately, you can spend these temporary hit points to remove nonlethal damage on a one-for-one basis. Temporary hit points provided by this ability are treated as healing for purposes of effects that modify healing.
Temporary hit points received from this ability do not stack with other temporary hit points. Additionally, they cannot exceed the target's maximum hit points minus its current hit points; a character with 30/50 hit points could receive no more than 20 temporary hit points from this ability.
If the character receives actual healing while it possesses these temporary hit points, each point of healing received also converts one of these temporary hit points into another point of healing (this effect is not recursive). For example, a character with 30/50 hit points, and 16 temporary hit points from this ability, who receives five points of healing, would be left with 40/50 hit points and 11 temporary hit points (which would then be reduced to 10, since the extra point overflows the character's maximum).
Normally, these temporary hit points last for one minute. If you wish, however, you may maintain up to two instances of temporary hit points per point of your Charisma modifier. If you do so, the temporary hit points last for an hour, and at the end of the hour, any that remain are converted to actual healing. If you wish to maintain an instance of temporary hit points when you are at your limit, you can end maintenance on another instance, which then lasts for one minute and does not provide healing when it expires. Maintenance ends if the temporary hit points being maintained fall to zero.
Healing Hands is a positive energy effect, and so can be used to damage undead.
The core point of being a healer. If you're going to dedicate your whole contribution to healing, you have to be able to heal regularly. However, not all DMs are fond of the idea of infinite out of combat healing. This provides a reasonable balance. You can functionally heal every round, as long as your allies are taking damage. Once the damage stops, you can maintain the temporary hit points and they become real healing after an hour, substantially speeding up recovery over the course of the day, but not during a more fast-paced mission.
The limit to the maintained hit points is more a verisimilitude thing, so a single Healer can't just heal every injured person in the city or something.
Ward of Peace (Su): You can use your powers to erect a ward that discourages violence. Creating a ward, or modifying its parameters, requires performing a five-minute ritual. You can only maintain one Ward at a time, but the Ward affects yourself and two other characters (who must be in Close range while the ritual is being performed) per point of your Wisdom modifier.
The first time that any character protected by the ward is intentionally attacked (that is, subject to any action that would break an Invisibility spell), takes damage, or suffers a negative condition, your Essence (see the Rites ability) resets to full. This only happens once per Ward, regardless of how many characters are affected by it. To renew this capability, you can recreate the Ward.
Thereafter, if a character protected by the ward takes damage or suffers a negative effect or condition, you regain one Essence. This can only occur once per round per character, and each point of Essence you regain in this way lowers your maximum Essence expenditure for that round by 1 (if you have spent all the Essence you can that round, you don't regain any, and you may choose to forego recovery if you wish). Initially, you can only regain a maximum of one Essence per round, but this increases by one at every tenth level.
The Essence recovery only triggers in response to attacks, damage, and conditions by legitimate threats. It cannot be intentionally triggered for the purpose of restoring Essence (after all, the point of the Ward is to discourage violence). It also only triggers for actual damage or conditions suffered; if an attack is entirely negated by defenses, absorbed by temporary hit points, or instantly healed upon being inflicted, it does not restore Essence.
Additionally, you may target a character with your ward twice. Any character so protected is placed under the influence of a Sanctuary spell until it attacks or the ward expires. The DC to resist the Sanctuary effect is 10 + 1/2 your class level + your Wisdom modifier. The result of the save applies to all characters who have the Sanctuary upon them. If you make an attack, the Sanctuary ends for everyone affected (even if you were not, yourself, protected by the Sanctuary). You may always choose to consider yourself targeted twice if you wish.
If, prior to combat, you made a sincere attempt to resolve the encounter peacefully (with a member of the party rolling a Diplomacy check to do so), and actual hostilities were initiated by an enemy, the DC to resist the Sanctuary becomes equal to the Diplomacy check result. You do not have to be the one who rolled the Diplomacy check, but whoever did has to be protected by the Ward (it does not need to have a Sanctuary itself, however).
The main point of the Ward of Peace is as a recovery mechanic. With Ward of Peace, Essence is functionally a per-encounter resource; you place the ward on yourself and your whole party (which should be easy enough even at low level), and the first time one of you gets attacked, your Essence refreshes and you're ready to go. Thereafter, you gain Essence as your allies are hurt, letting you better tend to them - but if you're burning a lot of Essence, it limits your recovery. Then at the end of the encounter, you can burn some or all of your remaining Essence to heal everyone up, recreate the Ward, and move on.
The Sanctuary is typically for you, since you won't be attacking much anyway. However, if you have other allies that tend to avoid direct attack (such as a wizard who specializes in buffing, summons, or battlefield control), it's a worthwhile protection for them as well. And when you have enough available targets, you can always ward your whole party, giving an extra defense against surprise rounds or poor initiative rolls if nothing else.
Rites (Su): As you advance, you will learn a number of additional options for channeling positive energy. These options are collectively called Healing Rites. When using Healing Hands, you can add Rites you know to the action to improve the effect. You begin knowing two Healing Rites, plus True Healing, and learn an additional Rite at every odd-numbered class level.
A single use of Healing Hands and the Rites that modify it is referred to as a Gift. When a Rite mentions "this Gift" it means the healing itself as modified by any other Rites used.
Healing Rites are powered by Essence. Your Essence pool is equal to 1 + your Charisma modifier. Unless otherwise stated, each Rite costs one Essence to add to a Gift, and many Rites can be made more powerful by spending more Essence. In any given round, you can spend a maximum of one Essence, plus one Essence per four class levels beyond first (so, two Essence at fifth level, three at ninth, and so on).
The modifications Rites can apply to Gifts are classified as follows:
EFFECT: These modify the core Effect of the Gift (by default, providing temporary hit points as explained in Healing Hands).
RESULT: By default, the result of a Gift is "the target instantly receives the temporary hit points provided by the Gift". Rites that affect the result change that to whatever is specified by the Rite. As such, Rites that modify the Result do not provide the normal Effect of the Gift - at least, not immediately. Most do, however, trigger the Gift's Effect in some way. Since a Result modification changes the Result of the Gift entirely, multiple such Rites are mutually exclusive.
EXTRAS: These modifications add additional special effects to the Gift. They always apply instantly to the target of the Gift, regardless of any Result modifications, and in addition to the Gift's core Effects (note that a Result modification that triggers the Effect of the Gift will not trigger any Extras).
PARAMETERS: These modifications change the basic rules for using the Gift - range, targets, action, and so on. By default, using a Gift is a Full Round action (not a Standard action like normal Healing Hands), targeting a single creature with a range of touch.
PERMANENT: These modifications automatically apply to any Gift or any normal use of Healing Hands, at no cost in Essence or increase in action cost. They permanently change how you heal, although you may selectively forego their benefits if you wish.
Some Rites cause the healing to be minimized. This means that only one hit point is healed per d6 normally rolled.
Your Essence naturally replenishes at the rate of one Essence per hour. The time required is divided by the maximum Essence you can spend per round (a 9th level healer, for example, would recover one Essence every twenty minutes). Your Ward of Peace also allows you to recover Essence quickly in the midst of battle.
Augmented Healing: You provide more healing. EFFECT: For each point of Essence spent on this Rite, you provide two additional temporary hit points per level or per point of your Charisma modifier, whichever is higher. If the Gift is minimized, you only provide additional temporary hit points equal to half your Charisma modifier.
Contingent Healing: You are able to prepare healing to activate later. RESULT: The target receives one trigger per point of Essence spent on this Rite. For each trigger, choose either a hit point total, or a single negative effect or condition. When the target's hit points fall below this number, or when the target suffers the chosen effect or condition, the target receives the Effect of the Gift. This can prevent secondary negative effects (for example, if the healing heals the target above -10 hit points it doesn't die, or if it heals poison as it is inflicted no ability damage is sustained, etc). Each trigger can activate once per target, and then is discharged for that target. For each trigger currently active on one or more targets, your maximum Essence is reduced by 1. Triggers last until discharged or until you choose to end them to recover maximum Essence.
Curse of Life: You curse your targets to provide healing to those they would harm. RESULT: Each target must make a Will save DC 10 + 1/2 class level + Cha modifier. If the save fails, any harmful effects it inflicts are delayed until the end of its turn, at which point everyone it attacked since the end of its last turn receives the Effect of this Gift, which goes to negate the damage or negative effects applied. The Effect can only serve to heal damage or remove effects that were inflicted by the attacker; they do not spill over to heal other injuries or remove other effects or conditions. The Curse lasts for one minute per level. For two Essence, this becomes ten minutes per level. For three Essence, one hour per level. For four Essence, one day per level. For five Essence, the Curse is permanent unless removed (as a Supernatural ability, it cannot be dispelled, but Remove Curse, Break Enchantment, and similar effects will work). Multiple Curses of Life can stack, but successive Curses have their Effect minimized.
If you wish, you may set a condition that suppresses the curse (though its duration continues to count down) for a set amount of time, or that ends the curse. This makes the curse harder to remove. Extremely difficult (for ending) or uncommon (for suppressing) conditions increase the DC to remove the curse by 2. Moderately difficult or uncommon conditions increase it by 5. Reasonably easy or common conditions increase it by 10. Extremely easy or common conditions increase it by 20. This does not affect the DC to resist the curse, only to remove it.
Healing Aura: Your healing powers radiate out in an aura. PARAMETERS: Instead of affecting a single target, your healing affects any number of chosen targets within 5' per two points of your Charisma modifier of your initial target. For each extra point of Essence spent, the radius is doubled.
Healing Word: You can heal nearby targets with a word. PERMANENT: The range of your Healing Hands becomes Close. PARAMETERS: By spending one Essence, the range changes to Medium. By spending two Essence, the range changes to Long.
Invigorate: Your healing fills your allies with vigor. EXTRA: Allies may sacrifice temporary hit points provided by your healing to get a bonus on an attack roll, saving throw, or damage roll (whether with weapons, spells, or other abilities). Each 5 temporary hit points sacrificed provides +1 on an attack roll or saving throw, or each 2 temporary hit points sacrificed provides +1 on a damage roll. An ally may spend no more than your class level + your Charisma modifier worth of the temporary hit points on any one roll.
Forked Healing: You can heal multiple targets simultaneously. PARAMETERS: Rather than affect a single target, your healing affects up to one target per point of your Charisma modifier within range. Each extra point of Essence spent doubles the number of targets. This Rite can be combined with Healing Aura (each target of the Forked Healing gives off an aura), but no character can be affected by the Gift more than once.
Lifebound Rune: You create a glowing rune that can heal nearby allies. PARAMETERS: This Gift targets squares, rather than creatures. RESULT: Any character who is protected by your Ward of Peace and is within or adjacent to a targeted square with the rune may take a standard action to receive the Effect of this Gift. For two Essence, this requires a move or swift action. For three Essence, this requires a free action. A given recipient cannot benefit from this Gift more than once per round. The rune remains for one round per point of your Charisma modifier.
Lifebound Spirit: You summon up a spirit of life in a body of positive energy. PARAMETERS: You summon a single spirit at any point within range, rather than targeting creatures; Rites that let you affect multiple targets do not summon multiple spirits. RESULT: You summon a spirit of life that has the statistics of a Small fire elemental, which remains for one minute. Each extra point of Essence spent increases the elemental's size by one step. The spirit can attack normally, or can provide healing equal to the damage it would normally cause by "attacking" allies (no attack roll is required to hit willing targets). Additionally, anyone affected by your Ward of Peace receives Fast Healing equal to twice the Essence spent on this Rite while within the elemental's reach.
Lifeguard: This Gift also staves off death. EXTRA: The target receives one trigger per point of Essence spent on this Rite. For each trigger, if the target is subject to an effect or situation that would kill it, it becomes immune to death for one round. That trigger then discharges. The ability to ignore death provides immunity to instantaneous Death effects and other situations that would instantly kill the character (such as a Coup de Grace or Death from Massive Damage). However, if the character is still in a fatal situation (for example, below -10 hit points) when the round ends, it dies normally unless it has another trigger to consume. Your maximum Essence is reduced by the highest number of triggers any individual target has remaining. Triggers do not expire over time; they end only if discharged or if you choose to end them to recover maximum Essence.
Mending: You can mend unliving matter as easily as living flesh. PERMANENT: The Effect of your Healing Hands can also apply to objects and constructs. You may even heal undead if you wish, rather than harming them. EFFECT: Any formerly magical items targeted by this Gift within one minute per Essence spent of destruction or disjunction has its magic restored. This doesn't restore magic lost to normal use (such as expended charges or consumed single-use items), even if that use technically involves breaking or destroying the item.
Persistent Healing: You speed your targets' recovery. EXTRA: Targets of this Gift receive Fast Healing. The Fast Healing provided is equal to the minimized temporary hit points provided by the Effect of the Gift, and lasts for one round per two points of your Charisma modifier (rounded up) per Essence spent on this Rite. Multiple Persistent Healing Gifts don't stack.
Purging: You purge harmful magic from your targets. EFFECT: Targets of this gift are subject to a targeted Dispel Magic that only removes detrimental spell effects. For two Essence, this also carries with it a Remove Curse. For three Essence, a Break Enchantment, and it can remove effects subject to Greater Dispel Magic. For four Essence, it can also remove effects that can only be removed by Limited Wish. For five Essence, it can also remove effects that can only be removed by Wish or Miracle.
Any caster level checks required by the spells indicated have their maximums removed, always using your full caster level.
Purification: You purify the targets of detrimental effects. EFFECT: Your healing also removes one of the following conditions from the target, per point of Essence spent: Asleep, Blinded, Charmed, Confused, Cowering, Dazed, Dazzled, Deafened, Diseased, Entangled, Exhausted, Fascinated, Fatigued, Flat-Footed, Frightened, Immobilized, Nauseated, Panicked, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Shaken, Sickened, Slowed, Staggered, Stunned, or Unconscious.
Alternately, you can heal one point of ability damage per two points of your Charisma modifier, as one condition. You can heal one Negative Level per three points of your Charisma Modifier as two conditions. You can heal one point of Ability Drain per four points of your Charisma Modifier as three conditions.
If this Gift affects multiple allies, they are all purified of the same conditions.
Quickened Healing: You can heal others incredibly quickly. PERMANENT: If you wish, you may use a Gift that would normally require a full-round action by spending a standard and a swift action. PARAMETERS: For one Essence, a Gift that is normally a full-round action becomes a standard action, or a Gift that is normally a swift action becomes an immediate action. For two Essence, a Gift that is normally a standard action becomes a swift action. You may apply this Rite multiple times to further alter the action required. If this Rite is the only Rite applied to the Gift, the base action is Standard rather than Full Round.
Rejuvenation: You can restore your allies' energy. EXTRA: This Rite also restores one use of an ability with limited uses, or expended spellcasting. Generally, this restores a single available use of the ability, although some DM discretion may be required for abilities with unique resource systems (for example, Psionics would recover PP appropriate to the spell level you can restore, while Truespeech would reduce one instance of the Law of Resistance for the affected power, etc). If this Gift affects multiple targets, the Essence cost of the entire Rite doubles.
You can only rejuvenate ability uses within five minutes of use. Abilities with daily uses are only temporarily refreshed; the restored use is again lost after five minutes, if not used before-hand.
The Essence spent determines the resource you can renew:
For 1 Essence, you can renew an ability with at least three per-encounter uses, a refresh time of three rounds or less, at least ten daily uses, or a level 0-1 spell.
For 2 Essence, you can renew an ability with at least one per-encounter use, a refresh time of more than three rounds, five daily uses, or a level 2-3 spell.
For 3 Essence, you can renew an ability with at least three daily uses, or a level 4 spell.
For 4 Essence, you can renew an ability with at least two daily uses, or a level 5 spell.
For 5 Essence, you can renew an ability with at least one daily use, or a level 6 spell.
Each additional point of Essence can restore a spell one level higher.
Shield of Life: You create a barrier of healing energy around your targets, shielding them from harm. RESULT: You shield the target of this Gift with an aura of life for one minute. Every time the target takes damage, it receives the Effect of this Gift, albeit minimized. This never results in actual healing or temporary hit point gain, but the damage can be reduced to 0. If the damage is reduced to 0, no other special effects from the attack are delivered. Multiple Shield of Life Gifts do not stack.
Sword of Life: You imbue pure positive energy into your allies' weapons. PARAMETERS: You target weapons with this Gift rather than characters. RESULT: Targeted weapons are imbued with life energy for one minute. Attended items can make a Will save to resist. This has two effects; first, when used against living targets, all damage caused by the weapon becomes nonlethal (unliving targets take normal damage). Second, whenever someone takes damage from the weapon, the wielder receives the Effect of this Gift, albeit minimized and halved. If the target of the attack is undead or otherwise takes damage from positive energy, any healing or temporary hit points the wielder receives is also applied as bonus damage. At the wielder's option, it may also lower the damage done to its target to increase the temporary hit points received on a one-for-one basis, though this cannot more than double the temporary hit points provided. If this Gift also possesses the Invigorate Rite, the ally can directly spend any temporary hit points or healing received from this Gift to fuel Invigorate bonuses.
True Healing: The most basic Rite, known to all Healers. EFFECT: The Gift now provides actual hit point healing, rather than temporary hit points.
Vitalization: Your healing power clings even to fully healthy targets. PERMANENT: The temporary hit points provided by your Healing Hands can exceed the target's maximum hit points minus damage taken. If you use the True Healing Rite, healing in excess of the target's maximum hit points spills over as temporary hit points.
Wall of Life: You conjure up a translucent barrier of positive energy. PARAMETERS: You create a single wall rather than targeting creatures; Rites that let you target multiple creatures do not let you create multiple walls. The wall is one inch thick, 10' high +5' per three points of your Charisma modifier, and 10' long per class level. RESULT: Any attack that passes through the barrier conveys the Effect of this Gift to the target. The Effect only serves to instantly heal the damage or other negative results of the attack; they cannot leave the target of the attack in a better condition than it was before the attack. This effect is not selective, and will offer protection to people on either side of the wall (undead, as always, suffer horribly).
If a character passes through the wall, all of its attacks are treated as having passed through the wall for one round, plus one round per three points of your Charisma modifier, unless it succeeds a Will save.
For two Essence, the wall instead becomes a sphere, with a radius of 10' + 5' per three points of your Charisma modifier. For three Essence, the effects of the wall fill the entire sphere, rather than simply the outside. By spending one additional Essence, characters affected by your Ward of Peace can move through the wall without having to save against it (their attacks are still subject to it if launched through the wall, however).
The wall lasts indefinitely, but your maximum Essence is reduced by the Essence spent on this Rite while it remains.
What's the age-old complaint about playing a healing-focused character? It's boring. Especially when your allies aren't taking a lot of damage. Now, a good option for dealing with that is giving them other things to do, like protection and buffing. Rites do a little of that, but mainly it's all through the filter of healing. They let you have some startegic options - heal a lot of damage, or heal multiple targets, or prepare for incoming damage, or create persistent sources of healing, etc. And as you level, you can mix and match your Rites to get quite a bit of versatility in how you apply your healing.
Healing Pool (Su): Your spirit is a wellspring of positive energy, but starting at second level, you can gather and stoke that power. You gain a Healing Pool capable of containing a number of points of positive energy equal to your Constitution score plus your maximum hit points. Your Healing Pool begins empty. Every time you receive temporary hit points, healing, or positive energy damage from any source, you can convert it to points in your Healing Pool on a point-for-point basis, if you wish. Any positive energy in your Healing Pool is consumed when your Essence refreshes to full, resetting the pool to 0.
Whenever you provide healing or temporary hit points, you may spend points from your Healing Pool to increase the healing or hit points provided on a point-for-point basis, though this cannot more than double any instance of healing. If you heal multiple targets, this bonus healing must be divided among them.
While some Rites give you ways to spend actions on future healing, not everyone will have them, and they cost Essence. This gives you something to do even when the whole party is at full health; just pump healing into yourself, and be ready to heal more damage in the future. Since the Healing Pool resets when Essence refreshes, it's not generally something you can fill up pre-combat (I mean, you could forego your Ward of Peace if you really want the extra healing available, but I expect that losing the Essence recovery would hurt).
Herbalist (Ex): Starting at second level, you are capable of using herbal lore to produce potent healing potions. Producing a healing potion takes an hour of work. By default, the potions only remain potent for one day. However, a number of times per day equal to your Wisdom modifier, you can invest one of your potions with some magical energy (which requires touching the potion and taking a standard action), extending its duration by twenty-four hours. You may also purchase rare herbs and reagents which, when used in the potion-brewing process, greatly extend the potion's shelf life (while they might eventually spoil, it won't happen in any meaningful time frame). These reagents cost 5 gold pieces per hit point the potion heals.
Your healing potions restore hit points equal to your total Heal check modifier plus the higher of your Knowledge (Nature), Survival, or a relevant Craft or Profession (such as Herbalist, Medic, Cooking, Alchemy, etc) check modifier. These potions are particularly potent and generally stored in small, easily-quaffed vials. Resultantly, it is possible to drink the potion in the same action as drawing it, to a minimum of a swift action.
Your healing potions also allow an immediate new saving throw against poison or disease, with a +1 bonus per five hit points the potion heals.
Your herbal knowledge and basic medical skill also allows you to provide the benefits of one of your healing potions directly to an injured character. This takes half an hour of work, during which the character being treated must remain still and at rest.
Herbalist makes sure that the skills of mundane healing have value to you, as well as giving your party some emergency healing. While not quite as efficient as wands for pure gold-piece-to-hit-point conversion, they are decent burst healing, you can have a few to spread around without burning WBL on perishables, and most importantly, you can typically drink one as a move or swift action, which makes them, you know, potions that are actually worth drinking in combat.
Armored in Peace (Su): Your Ward of Peace manifests as a protective halo, warding off enemy attacks and harmful spells. Any character under the Sanctuary effect of your Ward of Peace adds your Wisdom modifier as a Sacred bonus to all saves. This bonus does not stack with any ability that adds an ability modifier to saves, such as Divine Grace. Such characters also gain your Wisdom bonus as a bonus to AC. This can stack with either armor or with a single ability that adds an ability modifier to AC, but not both. The bonus is lost along with the Sanctuary if the character attacks.
Additionally, you may restore the Sanctuary (and thus the Armored in Peace benefit) to an ally who has lost it as a full-round action that costs a point of Essence. Attacks that are made against enemies who resisted a given target's Sanctuary do not break the Sanctuary for that target, so long as the attack is entirely nonlethal and does not cause permanent harm or great trauma (persistent mental control and ability damage both count as great trauma, as do any effects that specifically involve pain or carry the [Evil] descriptor). However, if anyone affected by the Ward of Peace kills a character rendered helpless by protected targets, this ability no longer applies to your Wards of Peace for one day. Finally, your Healing Hands ability is never considered an "attack" for any purposes, even when using it to harm undead or using Rites such as Curse of Life.
This is a powerful personal defense, basically on par with a swordsage's AC bonus and Divine Grace as far as you're concerned, since you'll almost always have the Sanctuary on. The fact that it can also protect allies (albeit, often only until the first round of combat, unless you burn turns and Essence keeping it going) is also helpful.
Allowing you to hurt undead while they will have huge trouble hurting you is simply unfair. Which is fine, because they're undead horrors and deserve to be cleansed in the purifying light of Life.
Self Healing (Su): Your healing powers have become strong enough that there is a constant charge of positive energy radiating out from your spirit, allowing you to heal at a rapid rate. Starting at sixth level, as long as you are below 50% of your normal maximum hit points, you gain Fast Healing equal to your Wisdom modifier. At twelfth level, this applies regardless of your hit point total, as long as you are alive. At eighteenth level, this becomes Regeneration, overcome by negative energy damage (even if you are immune to negative energy damage, each point of it that you would receive converts one point of nonlethal damage into lethal damage).
Basic, but fits the theme and helps to keep you upright when enemies go after you to try and stop the constant stream of healing to your allies.
Ritual of Revival (Sp): An eighth level healer is able to restore life to the dead, with a short timeframe. This requires a short but complex ritual with a one-round casting time (not a full-round action). You must touch the target's body as part of the ritual, and the body must be sufficiently in-tact that it could be restored by Raise Dead. At the start of the ritual, you must spend a number of points of Essence equal to the number of rounds that have passed since the target's death (this is subject to your normal per-round Essence limit). If you complete the ritual, the target is returned to life as if from a Raise Dead spell, but with no loss of level or Constitution. If the ritual is interrupted, the Essence is wasted.
Essence spent on a successful Ritual of Revival does not rejuvenate naturally or through a Ward of Peace. Rather, you recover one point after a number of days have passed equal to the total such points spent (so if you've spent four Essence on Rituals of Revival, it will take ten days to recover it all). Essence wasted on a failed ritual recovers normally.
Coming in a level before Revivify and having a somewhat-longer window and no component cost, this is a potent life-restoring ability, though it has its costs with the one-round cast time and long-term Essence depletion. On one hand, Essence is passively renewable. On the other, you can't just buy up 25,000 gold worth of diamonds and be fine even if every member of your party is killed in every encounter of a standard adventuring day.
On Angel's Wings (Su): At tenth level, your devotion to the forces of Life is rewarded by the upper planes. You grow a pair of white, feathered wings that allow you to fly at twice your base land speed with Good maneuverability.
Mobility is good, and wings are cool. Nothing more really needs to be said here.
Ritual of Resurrection (Sp): A fourteenth level healer is even more adept at restoring life to the dead. When using a Ritual of Revival, you can work with remains sufficient to be affected by Resurrection, and can revive characters killed by Death effects. Characters you revive are treated as restored to life by Resurrection rather than Raise Dead, though still with no loss of level or Constitution. Additionally, you can perform a full-fledged Ritual of Resurrection. This functions as a Ritual of Revival, but the ritual is an elaborate, eight-hour affair, the Essence expenditure is two Essence, plus once Essence per full day the target has been dead (minimum one), and you are not limited to your per-round Essence cap.
Little tangent? The way resurrections work in D&D kinda annoy me. It's a conventient power to have, but too easy in a lot of ways, and the costs (level loss in particular) are annoying. And being able to perform multiple resurrections on a daily basis is just kinda insane when you think about it. Don't get me wrong; if a healer is the only survivor of a TPK by virtue of Sanctaury or something, yeah, you can probably bring back your whole party, but it'll likely be over a month before your Essence has fully recovered from such a stunt. At three Essence minimum per resurrection, you're looking at about one per week unless you want a significant Essence loss for a prolonged period.
Spirit of Life (Su): The positive energy within your spirit allows it to sustain itself without a body weighing it down. You may become Incorporeal as a full-round action once per day, but your Essence does not recover while you are incorporeal, even with Ward of Peace. While incorporeal, you shed light as if from a Daylight spell, your Fly speed is doubled, and your maneuverability increases to perfect. By moving through a creature's space, that creature is affected by your Healing Hands ability with no additional action required on your part. This applies once per round per character, and you cannot improve the effect with Essence (but you can use Healing Hands normally). You may not attack in any way while incorporeal (although as always, your Armored in Peace ability means Healing Hands is not treated as an attack).
If you wish, you can enter another character's body. You gain no control over that character, and may still take your normal actions, but your powers can only affect your host (though area powers can emanate out from the host). Your host receives the benefits of your Armored in Peace bonuses to AC and saves (even if it is not protected by your Sanctuary), as well as your On Angels Wings and Self Healing abilities. Any time your host makes a Fortitude or Will save, you may make one as well, and your host uses the best results. Any effects that provide lasting mind control over the target are suppressed as if by Protection from Evil while you occupy its body. You may leave that character's body at any time, and suffer no harm from damage it takes.
Effects that forcibly eject you from the target immediately return you to corporeal form and leave you Stunned for 1d4 rounds.
This lets you easily heal your whole party round after round by just moving among them, or invest a single ally with not only a continual source of healing, but all your best defensive abilities and a strong save boost. While you aren't strictly limited in time you can spend incorporeal, you will likely want to return to normal eventually to recover Essence. Or maybe just touch something.
Outpouring of Life (Su): A twentieth level healer can command vast amounts of positive energy, and even unleash them in a massive wave of healing power. The Essence cost for performing a Ritual of Revival or Ritual of Resurrection is halved, and the temporary hit points provided by your Healing Hands is maximized. Minimized healing is increased by half your Charisma modifier instead.
Additionally, once per day, you can loose the full force of an Outpouring of Life as a full-round action. Positive energy radiates out in a 120' radius from you. Everyone within receives a Healing Gift of your choice with an amount of Essence worth of Rites equal to one-third your class level, and anyone who has been killed in the past one round per point of your Charisma modifier is revived as if by a Ritual of Revival. Anyone who receives healing from this ability becomes unable to attack anyone under the protection of your Ward of Peace for one day per point of your Wisdom modifier (though a character may forego the healing if it does not wish to be subject to this limitation). Using this ability sets your current Essence to 0, but your Essence recovers normally.
Honestly, not too much to say here. Healing capstone. Big boom. Except healing doesn't really go boom. Big hallelujah? Whatever.
Epic Healers
Epic Healers continue to gain Rites at every odd level. Essence use per round and other effects that scale with class level continue to increase normally. They get a bonus epic feat at 22nd level and every four levels thereafter. At 24th level and every four levels thereafter, they get an extra daily use of Spirit of Life and Outpouring of Life.
Supplemental Rules (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=16079196&postcount=3)
"You guys are going to get yourselves killed, you know. But not today!"
Adventures: Many healers prefer to avoid the dangerous life of an adventurer, setting up in temples and clinics to provide healing to those in need. However, a fair share do travel, seeking out the injured and sick to tend, and naturally these travels have a tendency to land them in dangerous locales. When great harm is being caused on a large scale, a particularly devout healer may join with a band of heroes as they seek to neutralize the threat. Even when the danger is done, many healers feel uncomfortable allowing their friends to go into danger without their curative magic on hand to protect them.
Characteristics: The healer class does what it says it does. It heals, well and often. Where the rest of the party tries to cause as much damage as possible or neutralize as many enemies as they can, the healer is all about removing damage. Depending on its Rites, a healer can also provide some measure of augmentation and protection, but even that is through the filter of healing. Healers also make very good diplomats, and have some tricks for securing a peaceful solution to problems (typically by making a violent solution too difficult to attempt).
Alignment: The overwhelming majority of healers are good aligned, driven by compassion and devoted to peace, but it's important to note that they don't have to be. The power to heal may not be as flashy as the ability to call forth extraplanar minions or hurl fire and lightning, but it is undeniably valuable. There are healers out their who use their powers to make a profit...or even exploit them to take advantage of those in need. Along the ethical scale, healers have a slight tendency towards lawful. Chaotic Neutral, Neutral Evil, and especially Chaotic Evil healers are exceedingly rare.
Religion: While a healer need not have any ties to religion, many do, learning their gifts in much the same way as clerics. Regardless, most healers naturally favor deities of peace, light, and life. Nature-oriented deities also make up a substantial group, especially those with an affinity to the water element.
Background: The healer's art is more often trained than not. Given the state of mundane medicine in a typical D&D world, it is not uncommon for a medic or doctor to study the curative arts to better do their job. Some clerics feel a particular affinity for healing magic and never develop their broader range of spellcasting. Even some apprentice mages turn their studies to the oft-unappreciated powers of healing. It is also possible for a healer to come into its power innately, as a form of sorcery or divine blessing.
Races: Healers are not really any more or less common among any of the races, given equivalent access to magical knowledge. Naturally, a race's overall aptitude for magic will create variances, making elves and gnomes somewhat more common for example. Aasimar and water genasi might have a bit of a stronger connection to forces related to the healing arts.
Other Classes: Warriors of all stripes are always happy to have a healer around - and if they sit back and do their job rather than filling themselves with divine power and stealing all the glory, well, more power to them! Naturally, those clerics who resent having to burn half their spells on keeping their companions' bodies in proper working order are also welcoming to a healer. While few classes would really resent the addition of a healer to a party, some - such as more tactically oriented rogues and wizards - might say that they would prefer there to be no need of one.
Role: The whole point of this class is to make healing into an actual worthwhile role. Removing damage can be just as valuable as dealing damage, and it is to this that the great majority of the healer class is dedicated. Outside of combat, the healer does make a capable party face, and with the right skills can even serve as the "nature guy" for a group that lacks a druid or ranger.
Adaptation: The healer class is fairly fluff-neutral. Its powers can easily be arcane, divine, natural, or even psionic in nature. It could even be possible to play a more mundane healer by making most of the abilities Exceptional, and perhaps toning down the recovery options of Ward of Peace to compensate.
GAME RULE INFORMATION
Healers have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Charisma drives most of a healer's supernatural powers, making it their most important ability score. Wisdom also has value, as it drives the Will saves that are important for Ward of Peace, as well as Heal checks. Consitution is also nice, for Concentration checks and overall durability, and to improve your Healing Pool.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d8.
Starting Age: As cleric.
Starting Gold: As druid.
Class Skills
The Healer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are...
Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (Arcana, Nature, Planes, Religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (N/A), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Points at First Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier
THE HEALER
LevelBase Attack BonusFort SaveRef SaveWill SaveSpecial
1st
+0
+2
+0
+2Healing Hands, Ward of Peace, Rites.
2nd
+1
+3
+0
+3Healing Pool, Herbalist.
3rd
+1
+3
+1
+3Rite.
4th
+2
+4
+1
+4Armored in Peace.
5th
+2
+4
+1
+4Rite.
6th
+3
+5
+2
+5Self Healing I.
7th
+3
+5
+2
+5Rite.
8th
+4
+6
+2
+6Ritual of Revival.
9th
+4
+6
+3
+6Rite.
10th
+5
+7
+3
+7On Angel's Wings.
11th
+5
+7
+3
+7Rite.
12th
+6
+8
+4
+8Self Healing II.
13th
+6
+8
+4
+8Rite.
14th
+7
+9
+4
+9Ritual of Resurrection.
15th
+7
+9
+5
+9Rite.
16th
+8
+10
+5
+10Spirit of Life.
17th
+8
+10
+5
+10Rite.
18th
+9
+11
+6
+11Self Healing III.
19th
+9
+11
+6
+11Rite.
20th
+10
+12
+6
+12Outpouring of Life.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Healer. The DC for the Healer's abilities is equal to 10 + 1/2 level + Cha modifier.
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: The healer is proficient with simple weapons, light armor, and shields (except tower shields).
Healing Hands (Su): You have the ability to lay hands on others to soothe pain and restore vigor. This ability is usable at will as a standard action. You touch a target, who receives temporary hit points equal to 1d6 per odd-numbered healer level, plus your Charisma modifier. Alternately, you can spend these temporary hit points to remove nonlethal damage on a one-for-one basis. Temporary hit points provided by this ability are treated as healing for purposes of effects that modify healing.
Temporary hit points received from this ability do not stack with other temporary hit points. Additionally, they cannot exceed the target's maximum hit points minus its current hit points; a character with 30/50 hit points could receive no more than 20 temporary hit points from this ability.
If the character receives actual healing while it possesses these temporary hit points, each point of healing received also converts one of these temporary hit points into another point of healing (this effect is not recursive). For example, a character with 30/50 hit points, and 16 temporary hit points from this ability, who receives five points of healing, would be left with 40/50 hit points and 11 temporary hit points (which would then be reduced to 10, since the extra point overflows the character's maximum).
Normally, these temporary hit points last for one minute. If you wish, however, you may maintain up to two instances of temporary hit points per point of your Charisma modifier. If you do so, the temporary hit points last for an hour, and at the end of the hour, any that remain are converted to actual healing. If you wish to maintain an instance of temporary hit points when you are at your limit, you can end maintenance on another instance, which then lasts for one minute and does not provide healing when it expires. Maintenance ends if the temporary hit points being maintained fall to zero.
Healing Hands is a positive energy effect, and so can be used to damage undead.
The core point of being a healer. If you're going to dedicate your whole contribution to healing, you have to be able to heal regularly. However, not all DMs are fond of the idea of infinite out of combat healing. This provides a reasonable balance. You can functionally heal every round, as long as your allies are taking damage. Once the damage stops, you can maintain the temporary hit points and they become real healing after an hour, substantially speeding up recovery over the course of the day, but not during a more fast-paced mission.
The limit to the maintained hit points is more a verisimilitude thing, so a single Healer can't just heal every injured person in the city or something.
Ward of Peace (Su): You can use your powers to erect a ward that discourages violence. Creating a ward, or modifying its parameters, requires performing a five-minute ritual. You can only maintain one Ward at a time, but the Ward affects yourself and two other characters (who must be in Close range while the ritual is being performed) per point of your Wisdom modifier.
The first time that any character protected by the ward is intentionally attacked (that is, subject to any action that would break an Invisibility spell), takes damage, or suffers a negative condition, your Essence (see the Rites ability) resets to full. This only happens once per Ward, regardless of how many characters are affected by it. To renew this capability, you can recreate the Ward.
Thereafter, if a character protected by the ward takes damage or suffers a negative effect or condition, you regain one Essence. This can only occur once per round per character, and each point of Essence you regain in this way lowers your maximum Essence expenditure for that round by 1 (if you have spent all the Essence you can that round, you don't regain any, and you may choose to forego recovery if you wish). Initially, you can only regain a maximum of one Essence per round, but this increases by one at every tenth level.
The Essence recovery only triggers in response to attacks, damage, and conditions by legitimate threats. It cannot be intentionally triggered for the purpose of restoring Essence (after all, the point of the Ward is to discourage violence). It also only triggers for actual damage or conditions suffered; if an attack is entirely negated by defenses, absorbed by temporary hit points, or instantly healed upon being inflicted, it does not restore Essence.
Additionally, you may target a character with your ward twice. Any character so protected is placed under the influence of a Sanctuary spell until it attacks or the ward expires. The DC to resist the Sanctuary effect is 10 + 1/2 your class level + your Wisdom modifier. The result of the save applies to all characters who have the Sanctuary upon them. If you make an attack, the Sanctuary ends for everyone affected (even if you were not, yourself, protected by the Sanctuary). You may always choose to consider yourself targeted twice if you wish.
If, prior to combat, you made a sincere attempt to resolve the encounter peacefully (with a member of the party rolling a Diplomacy check to do so), and actual hostilities were initiated by an enemy, the DC to resist the Sanctuary becomes equal to the Diplomacy check result. You do not have to be the one who rolled the Diplomacy check, but whoever did has to be protected by the Ward (it does not need to have a Sanctuary itself, however).
The main point of the Ward of Peace is as a recovery mechanic. With Ward of Peace, Essence is functionally a per-encounter resource; you place the ward on yourself and your whole party (which should be easy enough even at low level), and the first time one of you gets attacked, your Essence refreshes and you're ready to go. Thereafter, you gain Essence as your allies are hurt, letting you better tend to them - but if you're burning a lot of Essence, it limits your recovery. Then at the end of the encounter, you can burn some or all of your remaining Essence to heal everyone up, recreate the Ward, and move on.
The Sanctuary is typically for you, since you won't be attacking much anyway. However, if you have other allies that tend to avoid direct attack (such as a wizard who specializes in buffing, summons, or battlefield control), it's a worthwhile protection for them as well. And when you have enough available targets, you can always ward your whole party, giving an extra defense against surprise rounds or poor initiative rolls if nothing else.
Rites (Su): As you advance, you will learn a number of additional options for channeling positive energy. These options are collectively called Healing Rites. When using Healing Hands, you can add Rites you know to the action to improve the effect. You begin knowing two Healing Rites, plus True Healing, and learn an additional Rite at every odd-numbered class level.
A single use of Healing Hands and the Rites that modify it is referred to as a Gift. When a Rite mentions "this Gift" it means the healing itself as modified by any other Rites used.
Healing Rites are powered by Essence. Your Essence pool is equal to 1 + your Charisma modifier. Unless otherwise stated, each Rite costs one Essence to add to a Gift, and many Rites can be made more powerful by spending more Essence. In any given round, you can spend a maximum of one Essence, plus one Essence per four class levels beyond first (so, two Essence at fifth level, three at ninth, and so on).
The modifications Rites can apply to Gifts are classified as follows:
EFFECT: These modify the core Effect of the Gift (by default, providing temporary hit points as explained in Healing Hands).
RESULT: By default, the result of a Gift is "the target instantly receives the temporary hit points provided by the Gift". Rites that affect the result change that to whatever is specified by the Rite. As such, Rites that modify the Result do not provide the normal Effect of the Gift - at least, not immediately. Most do, however, trigger the Gift's Effect in some way. Since a Result modification changes the Result of the Gift entirely, multiple such Rites are mutually exclusive.
EXTRAS: These modifications add additional special effects to the Gift. They always apply instantly to the target of the Gift, regardless of any Result modifications, and in addition to the Gift's core Effects (note that a Result modification that triggers the Effect of the Gift will not trigger any Extras).
PARAMETERS: These modifications change the basic rules for using the Gift - range, targets, action, and so on. By default, using a Gift is a Full Round action (not a Standard action like normal Healing Hands), targeting a single creature with a range of touch.
PERMANENT: These modifications automatically apply to any Gift or any normal use of Healing Hands, at no cost in Essence or increase in action cost. They permanently change how you heal, although you may selectively forego their benefits if you wish.
Some Rites cause the healing to be minimized. This means that only one hit point is healed per d6 normally rolled.
Your Essence naturally replenishes at the rate of one Essence per hour. The time required is divided by the maximum Essence you can spend per round (a 9th level healer, for example, would recover one Essence every twenty minutes). Your Ward of Peace also allows you to recover Essence quickly in the midst of battle.
Augmented Healing: You provide more healing. EFFECT: For each point of Essence spent on this Rite, you provide two additional temporary hit points per level or per point of your Charisma modifier, whichever is higher. If the Gift is minimized, you only provide additional temporary hit points equal to half your Charisma modifier.
Contingent Healing: You are able to prepare healing to activate later. RESULT: The target receives one trigger per point of Essence spent on this Rite. For each trigger, choose either a hit point total, or a single negative effect or condition. When the target's hit points fall below this number, or when the target suffers the chosen effect or condition, the target receives the Effect of the Gift. This can prevent secondary negative effects (for example, if the healing heals the target above -10 hit points it doesn't die, or if it heals poison as it is inflicted no ability damage is sustained, etc). Each trigger can activate once per target, and then is discharged for that target. For each trigger currently active on one or more targets, your maximum Essence is reduced by 1. Triggers last until discharged or until you choose to end them to recover maximum Essence.
Curse of Life: You curse your targets to provide healing to those they would harm. RESULT: Each target must make a Will save DC 10 + 1/2 class level + Cha modifier. If the save fails, any harmful effects it inflicts are delayed until the end of its turn, at which point everyone it attacked since the end of its last turn receives the Effect of this Gift, which goes to negate the damage or negative effects applied. The Effect can only serve to heal damage or remove effects that were inflicted by the attacker; they do not spill over to heal other injuries or remove other effects or conditions. The Curse lasts for one minute per level. For two Essence, this becomes ten minutes per level. For three Essence, one hour per level. For four Essence, one day per level. For five Essence, the Curse is permanent unless removed (as a Supernatural ability, it cannot be dispelled, but Remove Curse, Break Enchantment, and similar effects will work). Multiple Curses of Life can stack, but successive Curses have their Effect minimized.
If you wish, you may set a condition that suppresses the curse (though its duration continues to count down) for a set amount of time, or that ends the curse. This makes the curse harder to remove. Extremely difficult (for ending) or uncommon (for suppressing) conditions increase the DC to remove the curse by 2. Moderately difficult or uncommon conditions increase it by 5. Reasonably easy or common conditions increase it by 10. Extremely easy or common conditions increase it by 20. This does not affect the DC to resist the curse, only to remove it.
Healing Aura: Your healing powers radiate out in an aura. PARAMETERS: Instead of affecting a single target, your healing affects any number of chosen targets within 5' per two points of your Charisma modifier of your initial target. For each extra point of Essence spent, the radius is doubled.
Healing Word: You can heal nearby targets with a word. PERMANENT: The range of your Healing Hands becomes Close. PARAMETERS: By spending one Essence, the range changes to Medium. By spending two Essence, the range changes to Long.
Invigorate: Your healing fills your allies with vigor. EXTRA: Allies may sacrifice temporary hit points provided by your healing to get a bonus on an attack roll, saving throw, or damage roll (whether with weapons, spells, or other abilities). Each 5 temporary hit points sacrificed provides +1 on an attack roll or saving throw, or each 2 temporary hit points sacrificed provides +1 on a damage roll. An ally may spend no more than your class level + your Charisma modifier worth of the temporary hit points on any one roll.
Forked Healing: You can heal multiple targets simultaneously. PARAMETERS: Rather than affect a single target, your healing affects up to one target per point of your Charisma modifier within range. Each extra point of Essence spent doubles the number of targets. This Rite can be combined with Healing Aura (each target of the Forked Healing gives off an aura), but no character can be affected by the Gift more than once.
Lifebound Rune: You create a glowing rune that can heal nearby allies. PARAMETERS: This Gift targets squares, rather than creatures. RESULT: Any character who is protected by your Ward of Peace and is within or adjacent to a targeted square with the rune may take a standard action to receive the Effect of this Gift. For two Essence, this requires a move or swift action. For three Essence, this requires a free action. A given recipient cannot benefit from this Gift more than once per round. The rune remains for one round per point of your Charisma modifier.
Lifebound Spirit: You summon up a spirit of life in a body of positive energy. PARAMETERS: You summon a single spirit at any point within range, rather than targeting creatures; Rites that let you affect multiple targets do not summon multiple spirits. RESULT: You summon a spirit of life that has the statistics of a Small fire elemental, which remains for one minute. Each extra point of Essence spent increases the elemental's size by one step. The spirit can attack normally, or can provide healing equal to the damage it would normally cause by "attacking" allies (no attack roll is required to hit willing targets). Additionally, anyone affected by your Ward of Peace receives Fast Healing equal to twice the Essence spent on this Rite while within the elemental's reach.
Lifeguard: This Gift also staves off death. EXTRA: The target receives one trigger per point of Essence spent on this Rite. For each trigger, if the target is subject to an effect or situation that would kill it, it becomes immune to death for one round. That trigger then discharges. The ability to ignore death provides immunity to instantaneous Death effects and other situations that would instantly kill the character (such as a Coup de Grace or Death from Massive Damage). However, if the character is still in a fatal situation (for example, below -10 hit points) when the round ends, it dies normally unless it has another trigger to consume. Your maximum Essence is reduced by the highest number of triggers any individual target has remaining. Triggers do not expire over time; they end only if discharged or if you choose to end them to recover maximum Essence.
Mending: You can mend unliving matter as easily as living flesh. PERMANENT: The Effect of your Healing Hands can also apply to objects and constructs. You may even heal undead if you wish, rather than harming them. EFFECT: Any formerly magical items targeted by this Gift within one minute per Essence spent of destruction or disjunction has its magic restored. This doesn't restore magic lost to normal use (such as expended charges or consumed single-use items), even if that use technically involves breaking or destroying the item.
Persistent Healing: You speed your targets' recovery. EXTRA: Targets of this Gift receive Fast Healing. The Fast Healing provided is equal to the minimized temporary hit points provided by the Effect of the Gift, and lasts for one round per two points of your Charisma modifier (rounded up) per Essence spent on this Rite. Multiple Persistent Healing Gifts don't stack.
Purging: You purge harmful magic from your targets. EFFECT: Targets of this gift are subject to a targeted Dispel Magic that only removes detrimental spell effects. For two Essence, this also carries with it a Remove Curse. For three Essence, a Break Enchantment, and it can remove effects subject to Greater Dispel Magic. For four Essence, it can also remove effects that can only be removed by Limited Wish. For five Essence, it can also remove effects that can only be removed by Wish or Miracle.
Any caster level checks required by the spells indicated have their maximums removed, always using your full caster level.
Purification: You purify the targets of detrimental effects. EFFECT: Your healing also removes one of the following conditions from the target, per point of Essence spent: Asleep, Blinded, Charmed, Confused, Cowering, Dazed, Dazzled, Deafened, Diseased, Entangled, Exhausted, Fascinated, Fatigued, Flat-Footed, Frightened, Immobilized, Nauseated, Panicked, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Shaken, Sickened, Slowed, Staggered, Stunned, or Unconscious.
Alternately, you can heal one point of ability damage per two points of your Charisma modifier, as one condition. You can heal one Negative Level per three points of your Charisma Modifier as two conditions. You can heal one point of Ability Drain per four points of your Charisma Modifier as three conditions.
If this Gift affects multiple allies, they are all purified of the same conditions.
Quickened Healing: You can heal others incredibly quickly. PERMANENT: If you wish, you may use a Gift that would normally require a full-round action by spending a standard and a swift action. PARAMETERS: For one Essence, a Gift that is normally a full-round action becomes a standard action, or a Gift that is normally a swift action becomes an immediate action. For two Essence, a Gift that is normally a standard action becomes a swift action. You may apply this Rite multiple times to further alter the action required. If this Rite is the only Rite applied to the Gift, the base action is Standard rather than Full Round.
Rejuvenation: You can restore your allies' energy. EXTRA: This Rite also restores one use of an ability with limited uses, or expended spellcasting. Generally, this restores a single available use of the ability, although some DM discretion may be required for abilities with unique resource systems (for example, Psionics would recover PP appropriate to the spell level you can restore, while Truespeech would reduce one instance of the Law of Resistance for the affected power, etc). If this Gift affects multiple targets, the Essence cost of the entire Rite doubles.
You can only rejuvenate ability uses within five minutes of use. Abilities with daily uses are only temporarily refreshed; the restored use is again lost after five minutes, if not used before-hand.
The Essence spent determines the resource you can renew:
For 1 Essence, you can renew an ability with at least three per-encounter uses, a refresh time of three rounds or less, at least ten daily uses, or a level 0-1 spell.
For 2 Essence, you can renew an ability with at least one per-encounter use, a refresh time of more than three rounds, five daily uses, or a level 2-3 spell.
For 3 Essence, you can renew an ability with at least three daily uses, or a level 4 spell.
For 4 Essence, you can renew an ability with at least two daily uses, or a level 5 spell.
For 5 Essence, you can renew an ability with at least one daily use, or a level 6 spell.
Each additional point of Essence can restore a spell one level higher.
Shield of Life: You create a barrier of healing energy around your targets, shielding them from harm. RESULT: You shield the target of this Gift with an aura of life for one minute. Every time the target takes damage, it receives the Effect of this Gift, albeit minimized. This never results in actual healing or temporary hit point gain, but the damage can be reduced to 0. If the damage is reduced to 0, no other special effects from the attack are delivered. Multiple Shield of Life Gifts do not stack.
Sword of Life: You imbue pure positive energy into your allies' weapons. PARAMETERS: You target weapons with this Gift rather than characters. RESULT: Targeted weapons are imbued with life energy for one minute. Attended items can make a Will save to resist. This has two effects; first, when used against living targets, all damage caused by the weapon becomes nonlethal (unliving targets take normal damage). Second, whenever someone takes damage from the weapon, the wielder receives the Effect of this Gift, albeit minimized and halved. If the target of the attack is undead or otherwise takes damage from positive energy, any healing or temporary hit points the wielder receives is also applied as bonus damage. At the wielder's option, it may also lower the damage done to its target to increase the temporary hit points received on a one-for-one basis, though this cannot more than double the temporary hit points provided. If this Gift also possesses the Invigorate Rite, the ally can directly spend any temporary hit points or healing received from this Gift to fuel Invigorate bonuses.
True Healing: The most basic Rite, known to all Healers. EFFECT: The Gift now provides actual hit point healing, rather than temporary hit points.
Vitalization: Your healing power clings even to fully healthy targets. PERMANENT: The temporary hit points provided by your Healing Hands can exceed the target's maximum hit points minus damage taken. If you use the True Healing Rite, healing in excess of the target's maximum hit points spills over as temporary hit points.
Wall of Life: You conjure up a translucent barrier of positive energy. PARAMETERS: You create a single wall rather than targeting creatures; Rites that let you target multiple creatures do not let you create multiple walls. The wall is one inch thick, 10' high +5' per three points of your Charisma modifier, and 10' long per class level. RESULT: Any attack that passes through the barrier conveys the Effect of this Gift to the target. The Effect only serves to instantly heal the damage or other negative results of the attack; they cannot leave the target of the attack in a better condition than it was before the attack. This effect is not selective, and will offer protection to people on either side of the wall (undead, as always, suffer horribly).
If a character passes through the wall, all of its attacks are treated as having passed through the wall for one round, plus one round per three points of your Charisma modifier, unless it succeeds a Will save.
For two Essence, the wall instead becomes a sphere, with a radius of 10' + 5' per three points of your Charisma modifier. For three Essence, the effects of the wall fill the entire sphere, rather than simply the outside. By spending one additional Essence, characters affected by your Ward of Peace can move through the wall without having to save against it (their attacks are still subject to it if launched through the wall, however).
The wall lasts indefinitely, but your maximum Essence is reduced by the Essence spent on this Rite while it remains.
What's the age-old complaint about playing a healing-focused character? It's boring. Especially when your allies aren't taking a lot of damage. Now, a good option for dealing with that is giving them other things to do, like protection and buffing. Rites do a little of that, but mainly it's all through the filter of healing. They let you have some startegic options - heal a lot of damage, or heal multiple targets, or prepare for incoming damage, or create persistent sources of healing, etc. And as you level, you can mix and match your Rites to get quite a bit of versatility in how you apply your healing.
Healing Pool (Su): Your spirit is a wellspring of positive energy, but starting at second level, you can gather and stoke that power. You gain a Healing Pool capable of containing a number of points of positive energy equal to your Constitution score plus your maximum hit points. Your Healing Pool begins empty. Every time you receive temporary hit points, healing, or positive energy damage from any source, you can convert it to points in your Healing Pool on a point-for-point basis, if you wish. Any positive energy in your Healing Pool is consumed when your Essence refreshes to full, resetting the pool to 0.
Whenever you provide healing or temporary hit points, you may spend points from your Healing Pool to increase the healing or hit points provided on a point-for-point basis, though this cannot more than double any instance of healing. If you heal multiple targets, this bonus healing must be divided among them.
While some Rites give you ways to spend actions on future healing, not everyone will have them, and they cost Essence. This gives you something to do even when the whole party is at full health; just pump healing into yourself, and be ready to heal more damage in the future. Since the Healing Pool resets when Essence refreshes, it's not generally something you can fill up pre-combat (I mean, you could forego your Ward of Peace if you really want the extra healing available, but I expect that losing the Essence recovery would hurt).
Herbalist (Ex): Starting at second level, you are capable of using herbal lore to produce potent healing potions. Producing a healing potion takes an hour of work. By default, the potions only remain potent for one day. However, a number of times per day equal to your Wisdom modifier, you can invest one of your potions with some magical energy (which requires touching the potion and taking a standard action), extending its duration by twenty-four hours. You may also purchase rare herbs and reagents which, when used in the potion-brewing process, greatly extend the potion's shelf life (while they might eventually spoil, it won't happen in any meaningful time frame). These reagents cost 5 gold pieces per hit point the potion heals.
Your healing potions restore hit points equal to your total Heal check modifier plus the higher of your Knowledge (Nature), Survival, or a relevant Craft or Profession (such as Herbalist, Medic, Cooking, Alchemy, etc) check modifier. These potions are particularly potent and generally stored in small, easily-quaffed vials. Resultantly, it is possible to drink the potion in the same action as drawing it, to a minimum of a swift action.
Your healing potions also allow an immediate new saving throw against poison or disease, with a +1 bonus per five hit points the potion heals.
Your herbal knowledge and basic medical skill also allows you to provide the benefits of one of your healing potions directly to an injured character. This takes half an hour of work, during which the character being treated must remain still and at rest.
Herbalist makes sure that the skills of mundane healing have value to you, as well as giving your party some emergency healing. While not quite as efficient as wands for pure gold-piece-to-hit-point conversion, they are decent burst healing, you can have a few to spread around without burning WBL on perishables, and most importantly, you can typically drink one as a move or swift action, which makes them, you know, potions that are actually worth drinking in combat.
Armored in Peace (Su): Your Ward of Peace manifests as a protective halo, warding off enemy attacks and harmful spells. Any character under the Sanctuary effect of your Ward of Peace adds your Wisdom modifier as a Sacred bonus to all saves. This bonus does not stack with any ability that adds an ability modifier to saves, such as Divine Grace. Such characters also gain your Wisdom bonus as a bonus to AC. This can stack with either armor or with a single ability that adds an ability modifier to AC, but not both. The bonus is lost along with the Sanctuary if the character attacks.
Additionally, you may restore the Sanctuary (and thus the Armored in Peace benefit) to an ally who has lost it as a full-round action that costs a point of Essence. Attacks that are made against enemies who resisted a given target's Sanctuary do not break the Sanctuary for that target, so long as the attack is entirely nonlethal and does not cause permanent harm or great trauma (persistent mental control and ability damage both count as great trauma, as do any effects that specifically involve pain or carry the [Evil] descriptor). However, if anyone affected by the Ward of Peace kills a character rendered helpless by protected targets, this ability no longer applies to your Wards of Peace for one day. Finally, your Healing Hands ability is never considered an "attack" for any purposes, even when using it to harm undead or using Rites such as Curse of Life.
This is a powerful personal defense, basically on par with a swordsage's AC bonus and Divine Grace as far as you're concerned, since you'll almost always have the Sanctuary on. The fact that it can also protect allies (albeit, often only until the first round of combat, unless you burn turns and Essence keeping it going) is also helpful.
Allowing you to hurt undead while they will have huge trouble hurting you is simply unfair. Which is fine, because they're undead horrors and deserve to be cleansed in the purifying light of Life.
Self Healing (Su): Your healing powers have become strong enough that there is a constant charge of positive energy radiating out from your spirit, allowing you to heal at a rapid rate. Starting at sixth level, as long as you are below 50% of your normal maximum hit points, you gain Fast Healing equal to your Wisdom modifier. At twelfth level, this applies regardless of your hit point total, as long as you are alive. At eighteenth level, this becomes Regeneration, overcome by negative energy damage (even if you are immune to negative energy damage, each point of it that you would receive converts one point of nonlethal damage into lethal damage).
Basic, but fits the theme and helps to keep you upright when enemies go after you to try and stop the constant stream of healing to your allies.
Ritual of Revival (Sp): An eighth level healer is able to restore life to the dead, with a short timeframe. This requires a short but complex ritual with a one-round casting time (not a full-round action). You must touch the target's body as part of the ritual, and the body must be sufficiently in-tact that it could be restored by Raise Dead. At the start of the ritual, you must spend a number of points of Essence equal to the number of rounds that have passed since the target's death (this is subject to your normal per-round Essence limit). If you complete the ritual, the target is returned to life as if from a Raise Dead spell, but with no loss of level or Constitution. If the ritual is interrupted, the Essence is wasted.
Essence spent on a successful Ritual of Revival does not rejuvenate naturally or through a Ward of Peace. Rather, you recover one point after a number of days have passed equal to the total such points spent (so if you've spent four Essence on Rituals of Revival, it will take ten days to recover it all). Essence wasted on a failed ritual recovers normally.
Coming in a level before Revivify and having a somewhat-longer window and no component cost, this is a potent life-restoring ability, though it has its costs with the one-round cast time and long-term Essence depletion. On one hand, Essence is passively renewable. On the other, you can't just buy up 25,000 gold worth of diamonds and be fine even if every member of your party is killed in every encounter of a standard adventuring day.
On Angel's Wings (Su): At tenth level, your devotion to the forces of Life is rewarded by the upper planes. You grow a pair of white, feathered wings that allow you to fly at twice your base land speed with Good maneuverability.
Mobility is good, and wings are cool. Nothing more really needs to be said here.
Ritual of Resurrection (Sp): A fourteenth level healer is even more adept at restoring life to the dead. When using a Ritual of Revival, you can work with remains sufficient to be affected by Resurrection, and can revive characters killed by Death effects. Characters you revive are treated as restored to life by Resurrection rather than Raise Dead, though still with no loss of level or Constitution. Additionally, you can perform a full-fledged Ritual of Resurrection. This functions as a Ritual of Revival, but the ritual is an elaborate, eight-hour affair, the Essence expenditure is two Essence, plus once Essence per full day the target has been dead (minimum one), and you are not limited to your per-round Essence cap.
Little tangent? The way resurrections work in D&D kinda annoy me. It's a conventient power to have, but too easy in a lot of ways, and the costs (level loss in particular) are annoying. And being able to perform multiple resurrections on a daily basis is just kinda insane when you think about it. Don't get me wrong; if a healer is the only survivor of a TPK by virtue of Sanctaury or something, yeah, you can probably bring back your whole party, but it'll likely be over a month before your Essence has fully recovered from such a stunt. At three Essence minimum per resurrection, you're looking at about one per week unless you want a significant Essence loss for a prolonged period.
Spirit of Life (Su): The positive energy within your spirit allows it to sustain itself without a body weighing it down. You may become Incorporeal as a full-round action once per day, but your Essence does not recover while you are incorporeal, even with Ward of Peace. While incorporeal, you shed light as if from a Daylight spell, your Fly speed is doubled, and your maneuverability increases to perfect. By moving through a creature's space, that creature is affected by your Healing Hands ability with no additional action required on your part. This applies once per round per character, and you cannot improve the effect with Essence (but you can use Healing Hands normally). You may not attack in any way while incorporeal (although as always, your Armored in Peace ability means Healing Hands is not treated as an attack).
If you wish, you can enter another character's body. You gain no control over that character, and may still take your normal actions, but your powers can only affect your host (though area powers can emanate out from the host). Your host receives the benefits of your Armored in Peace bonuses to AC and saves (even if it is not protected by your Sanctuary), as well as your On Angels Wings and Self Healing abilities. Any time your host makes a Fortitude or Will save, you may make one as well, and your host uses the best results. Any effects that provide lasting mind control over the target are suppressed as if by Protection from Evil while you occupy its body. You may leave that character's body at any time, and suffer no harm from damage it takes.
Effects that forcibly eject you from the target immediately return you to corporeal form and leave you Stunned for 1d4 rounds.
This lets you easily heal your whole party round after round by just moving among them, or invest a single ally with not only a continual source of healing, but all your best defensive abilities and a strong save boost. While you aren't strictly limited in time you can spend incorporeal, you will likely want to return to normal eventually to recover Essence. Or maybe just touch something.
Outpouring of Life (Su): A twentieth level healer can command vast amounts of positive energy, and even unleash them in a massive wave of healing power. The Essence cost for performing a Ritual of Revival or Ritual of Resurrection is halved, and the temporary hit points provided by your Healing Hands is maximized. Minimized healing is increased by half your Charisma modifier instead.
Additionally, once per day, you can loose the full force of an Outpouring of Life as a full-round action. Positive energy radiates out in a 120' radius from you. Everyone within receives a Healing Gift of your choice with an amount of Essence worth of Rites equal to one-third your class level, and anyone who has been killed in the past one round per point of your Charisma modifier is revived as if by a Ritual of Revival. Anyone who receives healing from this ability becomes unable to attack anyone under the protection of your Ward of Peace for one day per point of your Wisdom modifier (though a character may forego the healing if it does not wish to be subject to this limitation). Using this ability sets your current Essence to 0, but your Essence recovers normally.
Honestly, not too much to say here. Healing capstone. Big boom. Except healing doesn't really go boom. Big hallelujah? Whatever.
Epic Healers
Epic Healers continue to gain Rites at every odd level. Essence use per round and other effects that scale with class level continue to increase normally. They get a bonus epic feat at 22nd level and every four levels thereafter. At 24th level and every four levels thereafter, they get an extra daily use of Spirit of Life and Outpouring of Life.
Supplemental Rules (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=16079196&postcount=3)