[Base Class] Healer (new class)

[Blue_C.]

I'm getting sick of keeping track of NPC healers and their spells/day, so I decided to create this. Obviously, it's a rip off the Warlock, and I'm not sure what the effect would be in the hands of a player, but it might make random NPC healers a little easier to run. Certainly there is less to keep track of.

Also, since it is intended for NPC, and low level ones at that, I've not made more than the first five levels. Despite that, it's a Base class.

Attendants are what happens when a drive to heal couples with frustrated magical talent. No one sets out to become an attendant, it more or less just happens when someone of the right skills and talents does not already possess the ability to heal via magic. Rarely adventuring, attendants more often settle into village life, where they form the center of the community, or in armies, where desperate moments sometimes calls an attendant to her duty while fighting for the lives of herself and her comrades. Few serve deities directly, but they do exist, and when they do there is no rhyme or reason for their choice of god. After all, it is not the politics that defines an attendant, but her actions.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/Dragonmarked_Gallery/101312.jpg

Attendants have the following game statistics:
Abilities A high charisma score makes the attendant's knacks harder to resist. A high Constitution is useful for those moments when her knacks cannot get her out of a hostile situation. A decent wisdom score also may come in handy, as many of her class skills use Wisdom.
Alignment Any, but most tend towards neutrality regarding law versus chaos. Evil Attendants are rare, though they do exist. Like Good Necromancers, it is not their powers that define them, but how they choose to use them.
Hit Die d6.

Class Skills
The attendant's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (local) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Use Magical Device (Cha).
Skill Points at 1st Level (4 + Int Modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level 4 + Int Modifier.

The Attendant
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Known Knacks

1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Invigorate 1d6, knack (least)|1

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Practiced Healer|2

3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|Second Chances (initiative), Invigorate 2d6|2

4th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Deathwatch|3

5th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Invigorate 3d6|3

6th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|New knack (least or lesser)|4

7th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Second Chances (invigorate) Invigorate 4d6|4

8th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+6|Mettle|5

9th|
+4|
+3|
+3|
+6|Invigorate 5d6|5

10th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|Meditative Presence|6[/table]

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Attendant.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency Attendants are proficient with all simple weapons. They are proficient with light armor and shields (except tower shields).
Knacks (Sp) Attendants, beyond their ability to heal, have a knack for magic that isn't expressed through spells. Instead, an attendant has knacks, which are useful magical tricks and talents she has acquired through her study and experience. An attendant may use any knack at will, with the following qualifications:
A knack is a spell-like ability that takes a standard action to use. All the penalties and benefits that come from using spell-like abilities apply to a attendant's knacks, except that it invites Attacks of Opportunity. A attendant may use the concentration skill to use a knack defensively. The caster level for an attendant's knacks is equal to her healer level.
If a knack allows a save, the save DC is 10 + equivalent spell level + the attendant's charisma modifier. Since a knack is not a spell, taking a Spell focus feat does not improve a knack's DC. However, the Ability Focus feat, as well as feats such as Maximize Spell-like ability, can apply to an attendant's knacks.
An attendant starts at first level knowing one knack. The number of knacks she may know are listed on the table above. At any level she gains a new knack, she may also swap an old knack for a new one of the same rank.
Invigorate (Sp) The defining ability of an attendant is Invigorate. Simply, it is a knack granting the ability to heal a creature a certain number of hit points. The amount of healing that can be done with this ability improves over time, and is listed on Table: The Attendant. It has a range of touch, and takes one standard action to use. Like knacks, invigorate may be used at will, including in combat, but also like knacks provoke attacks of opportunity.
Invigorate is a positive energy effect, exactly like other healing magic, including its ability to damage undead and total ineffectiveness towards constructs.
After some time, an attendant may learn to add certain magical effects to her Invigorate ability, though at the cost of some of Invigorate's potency. These abilities are called healing knacks, and are listed separately from the normal knacks. However, they are knacks, and count against the number of knacks an attendant may know. All healing knacks also have a prerequisite number of ranks needed in the Heal skill that must be met before it can be selected.
Each time an attendant uses her Invigorate ability, she may choose which, if any, healing knacks apply to that use. Multiple healing knacks may be used at the same time, though the cost for each healing knack is applied separately. In fact, an attendant may use all of an invigorate's charge to power several knacks.
Practiced Healer (Ex) At 2nd level and after, an attendant is so practiced at healing she can practically do it with her eyes closed. When making a Heal skill check, an attendant can take 10 even if distracted or threatened.
Second Chances (Ex) An attendant gradually learns to never let bad luck inconvenience her. When making certain rolls, an attendant may roll twice and keep the better of the two rolls. At first she may only do this once per encounter, but each new roll she learns to apply her Second Chances ability to also grants her an additional use per encounter.
At 3th level, an attendant may reroll initiative rolls.
At 7th level, she may reroll her invigorate ability.
Deathwatch (Sp) An attendant of 4th level or higher may cast deathwatch as a spell-like ability at will. When cast in this manner, deathwatch loses the evil descriptor. Her caster level for this ability is equal to her class level.
Improved Mettle (Ex) Frequent exposure to the worst debilitations the world has to offer eventually grant the attendant partial immunity to their effects. This functions as the Hexblade ability of the same name, save that a sleeping or unconscious attendant does gain the benefit of this ability.
Meditative Presence (Su) The mere presence of an attendant of this level is calming, making it, for good or for ill, difficult to raise wild emotions while close to her. The attendant projects a permanent calm emotions effect, as if cast by a cleric of her attendant level. It affects all creatures who come within 15 feet of the attendant. She may suppress this ability or raise it again as a swift action.


Knacks

Healing Knacks
Least
Liberation (2nd level spell) Clears from the target daze, fear, paralysis, and slow effects. Cost 1d6, Prerequisite Heal 4 ranks.
Energy Ward(2nd level spell) Grants the target a temporary resistance to all energy attacks. When the target takes energy damage of type within one hour of this invigoration, one round later and for the rest of that hour the target gains Resistance 5 to that energy type. The ward can only block one energy type at a time, but it can change if the subject takes damage of a different kind within the hour. This knack does not stack; later castings dispel former ones. Cost 1d6, Prerequisite Heal 6 ranks.
Renewed Sensation (3rd level spell) Clears from the target blindness/deafness effects, and grants a bonus to spot and listen checks equal to the number of d6's rolled in this casting of Invigorate. The bonus lasts one round. Cost 1d6. Prerequisite Heal 8 ranks.
Lesser
Remove Taint (3rd level spell) Clears from the target all diseases, poisons, and curses. For 24 hours, the subject also has +1 per d6 rolled with this casting of invigorate to resist these effects. Cost 2d6. Prerequisite Heal 10 ranks.
Rest for the Weary (4th level spell) Heals all non-lethal damage from the subject, and clears from the subject all fatigue and exhaustion effects. Cost 2d6. Prerequisite Heal 10 ranks.
Salary of Virtue (4th level spell) This knack dispels all magics reducing the subject's ability scores, temporary ability damage, and negative levels. If the attendant also has 100 gp worth of diamond dust, it also restores one experience level lost to level drain, and all points drained from a single ability score (attendant's choice, if there is more than one ability score drained). Cost 3d6. Prerequisite Heal 12 ranks.


Knacks
Least
Command (1st level spell) As the spell.
Nonthreatening (2nd level spell) As the spell sanctuary, and also grants the attendant a +4 circumstance bonus to diplomacy checks. Creatures that resist the spell are also unaffected by the diplomacy bonus.
Ray of Distress (2nd level spell) Deep knowledge of the body grants an attendant the ability to sicken and tire foes with her magic. As the spell Ray of Sickening (SC 167), and targets are also fatigued for the spells duration.
Soothing Voice (1st level spell) As the spell sleep but number of HD affected is equal to the attendant's class level, and only one target may be affected at once.
Water Breathing (3rd level spell) As the spell.
Lesser
Dispel Magic (3rd Level Spell) As the spell.
Escape Artist (3rd level spell) An attendant with this knack can escape certain combats quite easily, or just as easily wade into the thick of them without taking damage. She may daze 1d4+1 opponents as the cantrip, except that she can affect any creature with fewer HD than her attendant class level. During that round, the attendant's speed increases by 30 ft per round (applied before any penalties).
Vampiric Touch (5th level spell) As the spell.
Fear (4th level spell) As the spell.
Dismissal (4th level spell) As the spell.

[Erk]

Fun start, but needs more, obviously. I'm interested to see where this leads after 5th level. Also, I think some things are a bit soft on description.

How many times per day can Invigorate be used? Or is it entirely unlimited? Does any attribute give it bonuses? Can it be used in combat, does doing so provoke an attack of opportunity? Does attacking a healer during its use cause her to make a concentration check or lose the power? Can evil healers reverse Invigorate to cause damage? Also, I think you switched the progression since she heals 2d6 at level 1 but it drops to 1d6 at level 2 :elan:

I would be in favour of switching Deathwatch and Practiced Healer in the progression. The former seems more appropriate to the character as something she should have very early on, whereas unlimited use spell-like abilities. Heal is not a powerful skill such that taking 10 on heal checks in combat is going to make a big difference: it just means she is good at stabilising her friends with or without magic. Deathwatch, though, can be a very potent ability when used right.

For the knacks:
-does taking a healing knack permanently weaken your invigorate ability, or let you switch out dice of invigorate to exchange for knacks on a case-by-case basis? This is not clear.
-the healer seems to have no knack/day limit. Therefore, Danger Sense effectively amounts to a permanent +4 bonus to Spot, Listen, and Sense Motive. Pretty hefty for a first-level ability, don't you think? At the very least the duration should be shorter, but even then with no limits to the number of times/day she can use the knack the player could basically say "Yeah, I just renew my Danger Sense every 1 minute then, ok? You don't need to worry about it running out unless we're in combat."

"At any level she gains a new knack, she may also swap an old knack for a new one of the same rank." sounds pretty big to me too. Maybe limit this to once per level at least, so she can't just reimagine her character every time she gains a level?

[deadfalcon]

Looks great, looks like it could use a little tweaking though. as I'm not really any good at specing classes I'm not sure if I should suggest anything (not that I can think of anything right now but I've just got a feeling that it isnt quite right).

Oh also isn't there a class called healer in the minitures handbook already?

[Blue_C.]

In reverse order:

Yes, there is a class called "Healer" in the Miniature's Handbook. I haven't yet read it, but it seems to get the job done, from what I've heard. As I said, it isn't an original name, but for the life of me I can't come up with a better one and I'm really not sure I want to spend the time making one up.


"At any level she gains a new knack, she may also swap an old knack for a new one of the same rank." sounds pretty big to me too. Maybe limit this to once per level at least, so she can't just reimagine her character every time she gains a level?

Good point. I'll probably clarify that, since your suggestion is exactly what I meant.


the healer seems to have no knack/day limit.
That is correct, and the point. This whole thing started because I, instead of tracking spells and such for an NPC that lasted exactly one fight, I just gave it two at-will spell-like abilities, cure 1d6 and a daze spell with a short range. It wound up being so irritating for the player to take out (I honestly expecting them to just let him go once the 5th level baddie that was the real encounter had fallen) that I wanted to see where I could take it. So i cracked open the Warlock class, and got started. The danger sense knack is something of a relic from that class, and if you agree it is too much (which is what I thought too), then it goes.


does taking a healing knack permanently weaken your invigorate ability, or let you switch out dice of invigorate to exchange for knacks on a case-by-case basis? This is not clear.
I meant for it to be a case by case basis. So more clarification.


I would be in favour of switching Deathwatch and Practiced Healer in the progression.
Works for me.


How many times per day can Invigorate be used? Or is it entirely unlimited? Does any attribute give it bonuses? Can it be used in combat, does doing so provoke an attack of opportunity? Does attacking a healer during its use cause her to make a concentration check or lose the power? Can evil healers reverse Invigorate to cause damage? Also, I think you switched the progression since she heals 2d6 at level 1 but it drops to 1d6 at level 2
Unlimited, no, yes, yes, yes, no (but it's a thought for another class), and oops.


I'm interested to see where this leads after 5th level. Also, I think some things are a bit soft on description.

I left it open in case I wanted to expand on it later, but for now I'm not going to. Perhaps next weekend.

[DracoDei]

Suggested Knacks:
Lesser Restorative Knack (2nd level spell) :Reduces by one the effect of any one magical effect reducing one of the subject’s ability scores (in the case of reduction to multible ability scores from the same effect it reduces one of the reductions by one point) or cures 1 points of temporary ability damage to one of the subject’s ability scores. It also eliminates any fatigue suffered by the character, and improves an exhausted condition to fatigued. It does not restore permanent ability drain. Cost 2d6, Prerequisite Heal 10 ranks.


Note that for an army these guys are already more powerful than a Cleric and my suggestion already continues the trend... unlimited supply of healing -> every wounded soldier who can make it back from the front line is back to full -> better for a large army than finite spell slots+undead turning.

[Icewalker]

Well yeah, they are for the simple city or town and for healing larger groups instead of the specialized combat healing of a cleric. A group of these in the back lines would be able to keep healing, although at a slow rate.

I like it. The knacks idea works well, I think.
There should be a knack for removing fatigue, and I like the restore 1 ability score point, but I'd make them seperate, and that a cost 1d6 (it's one point of one ability score, not much).

I look forward to seeing the rest of this fleshed out. I totally hate keeping track of spells of all the little enemies, I would definitely use this...

[DracoDei]

I like it. The knacks idea works well, I think.
There should be a knack for removing fatigue, and I like the restore 1 ability score point, but I'd make them seperate, and that a cost 1d6 (it's one point of one ability score, not much).
Well, I basically took 'Lesser Restoration' from the SRD spell list and turned it into a knack. If you want to split it into two that works fine.

[Blue_C.]

Just barely under the wire before threadomancy kicks in, but I finally started the next five levels. Again, rough draft, yadda, yadda, yadda, input appreciated.

Thanks for the responses, all.

[Callix]

Fun fun fun. And it avoids all the cleric cheese from Divine Power and Righteous Might, while making them a better healer. On the other hand, Slay Living at will needs to be at least a Greater knack, if not a top-notch one. This could make a fun party member, but the DM would need to be aware that every encounter will start at full HP if they have a few minutes rest.

[triforcel]

While I can see where you are coming from with this class, it doesn't sit right with me. Primarily the problem beeing that there should be a limited amount of healing a party can do in a day. I have only played one game where healing was a problem was in a campaign run by a DM who believed that the only decent encounter was one that required the cleric to cast spells the whole battle and if the cleric still had spells afterwards something was wrong. Other than that it's never been an issue, including several parties without any source of healing save potions or a wand that have done well against encounters both at and above the party's level.

Personal opinions aside, there are a few more problems that I see with the class. First off beeing that it's a base class with only 10 levels so far. I understand that you're still working on it, but you should be able to at least sketch out all twenty levels, especially since you're admittedly ripping off of the Warlock class.

In addition, some of the knacks need to be looked into, one of which beeing Salary of Virtue. As it stands, Salary of Virtue will allow characters to recover any levels lost to do negative levels as long as the Attendant has in it's possession 100 gold worth of diamond dust. Not only should you amend the description so that the diamond dust is consumed in the 'casting' of the knack, but I would most certainly increase the cost of the diamond dust or add an experience cost seeing as restoring permanent level and ability drain is the realm of a Wish or Miracle spell. Also as it currently stands characters could self inflict permanent level loss to reroll poor hit die or reallocate skills and feats and such.

The other knacks should be looked over as well. Stuff like command at will is a bit much. Also a permanent calm emotions spell is a bit powerful for ten levels in a base class in my eyes. I would rethink everything and try to see how they could be exploited. For now though it is late and I need rest.