Self-healing as an arcane casting undead

[J-H]

Arcane casters don't seem to have access to Negative Energy Burst (from NWN, probably 3.0) or any other way to directly heal undead. Any suggestions? I have a dry lich character (I got the OK to enter as an arcane caster), and although fast healing 2 is nice, I'd like to be able to heal more quickly than that in combat if I need to.

[TheCrowing1432]

Take a level in dread necromancer and touch yourself to heal

[nedz]

Negative energy is not handled consistently in 3.5. Many of the relevant spells have riders which drain stats or apportion Negative levels. You could still use these if you were to add sneak attack, or similar, but doing that to yourself is hard.

There are a few spells which do what you want though :


Chill Touch
Junglerazer, but only if you also have one of the Fey, vermin, plant or animal types.
Negative Energy Burst [3.0]
Negative Energy Ray [3.0]

[Nifft]

If your Arcane caster was previously a Sorcerer, you might be able to pick up Undying Vigor of the Dragonlords (level 5, from Dragon Magic).

[Jowgen]

Does your DM let you count as your own target for ranged touch attacks? If so, have a look at the ritual of dark flames from Lords of Darkness. Trade the need to heal HP for the need to heal Wisdom damage, and gain a cool scaling attack option.

[Troacctid]

Sounds like you want the Minor Shapeshift feat from Complete Mage. Gain temporary hit points at will as a swift action.

In general, it will be much easier for you to get temporary hit points from spells than actual hit points, and it will be much more efficient if you're doing damage to your enemies at the same time. Channeled Lifetheft and Gutwrench do this well. False Life and Heart of Earth are also worthwhile, since they last all day, so you don't need to spend an action on them in combat.

Also, if, somehow, you are not evil, you can take the Planar Familiar feat to get a lantern archon, which has Aid at will as a spell-like ability. That'll heal you (or an ally) for 1d8+5 every round, and grant an attack bonus as well.

[Nifft]

Aid at will as a spell-like ability. That'll heal you (or an ally) for 1d8+5 every round, and grant an attack bonus as well. Aid does not heal in 3.5e: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/aid.htm

[TinyMushroom]

Arcane disciple (http://dndtools.pw/feats/complete-divine--56/arcane-disciple--92/) feat, plus, for example, destruction (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spellLists/clericDomains.htm#destructionDomain) domain... if you have the WIS for it?

edit: If you really don't wanna spend an action/feat healing yourself you could also get a familiar to UMD wands or something on you if you have one.

[Curmudgeon]

Does your DM let you count as your own target for ranged touch attacks?
This doesn't require any DM permission; you'll always have line of effect from one corner of your space to another corner. You do need to overcome your own AC, though; attacks don't auto-succeed except in special circumstances like a coup de grace. Against your touch AC you should succeed nearly always.

[Troacctid]

Aid does not heal in 3.5e: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/aid.htm

It gives you temporary HP, which is functionally identical for combat purposes.

[Telonius]

Energy Drain and Enervation also grant temporary hit points to Undead.

[Aldrakan]

Negative energy is not handled consistently in 3.5. Many of the relevant spells have riders which drain stats or apportion Negative levels. You could still use these if you were to add sneak attack, or similar, but doing that to yourself is hard.

There are a few spells which do what you want though :


Chill Touch


Does Chill Touch work? If used against an undead creature it doesn't try to deal damage and heal, it makes them flee.

[nedz]

Does Chill Touch work? If used against an undead creature it doesn't try to deal damage and heal, it makes them flee.

Hmm, well it ought too since it's negative energy; but rereading the spell it seems not to.

I did say that negative energy is not handled consistently in 3.5.

[jiriku]

If you have sneak attack, including sneak attack granted by a spell or a martial maneuver, any sneak attack damage added to a negative level is negative energy damage. Thus, sneak attacking yourself with an enervation would give you 1d4x5 temporary hp and heal xd6 damage. Of course, being able to deal sneak attack damage to an undead creature is its own can of worms, which makes this a somewhat build-intensive and inefficient method.

I suppose there's always UMD and a wand of inflict?

[Telonius]

Well, there's the Ghost Strike enhancement (or Greater Truedeath crystal) from Magic Item Compendium.

[Curmudgeon]

Thus, sneak attacking yourself with an enervation would give you 1d4x5 temporary hp and heal xd6 damage.
That would be tough to do. Usual ways to enable sneak attack are:

having the target be flat-footed
flanking the target
denying the target their DEX bonus to AC

The first two are impossible: you can't attack normally when flat-footed, and you can't be on the opposite side of yourself from any ally. The last one usually comes from the target being unaware of the attacker, which also isn't going to work.

[jiriku]

If you voluntarily hold still while you shoot yourself, you are not benefiting from Dex to AC. I'd give a player the benefit of an automatic critical hit too, if they're willing to take a full-round action and provoke an AoO to coup-de-grace themselves. Lord knows I've done that often enough as a PC when possessing enemies via magic jar.

[Curmudgeon]

If you voluntarily hold still while you shoot yourself, you are not benefiting from Dex to AC.
How do you do that, under the rules? I only know of three ways which deny your DEX to AC yet still permit you to attack yourself, all of which require special circumstances:

Lifting more than your maximum load off the ground denies you your DEX to AC, while still (DM permitting) making it possible to attack.
Attacking while climbing, if you lack a climb speed.
Flailing about in the water after failing a Swim check denies you your DEX to AC.

Your DEX bonus to AC applies as a reaction to an attack. I don't know of any way the RAW allows you to voluntarily not react. In real life many wrist cutting suicide attempters have multiple light scars, representing them automatically flinching away from contact with the blade when they tried to cut themselves.

[Uncle Pine]

That would be tough to do. Usual ways to enable sneak attack are:

having the target be flat-footed
flanking the target
denying the target their DEX bonus to AC

The first two are impossible: you can't attack normally when flat-footed, and you can't be on the opposite side of yourself from any ally. The last one usually comes from the target being unaware of the attacker, which also isn't going to work.

Rogues can sneak attack helpless targets. A bound creature is considered helpless. Thus, a multiclass Rogue spellcaster with the Still Spell feat could sneak attack himself while bound.

[jiriku]

Mudge, c'mon, man. Seriously, take off your pedant hat for a minute, let the breeze ruffle through your hair, and have fun with the rest of us. You need to lighten up a little before smiling causes stress fractures around the edge of your mouth.

There are no rules for digesting your food, but characters aren't assumed to retain everything they eat as an eternal colon blockage of ever-growing mass. Some interactions are too trivial (and too simulationist) or too obscure and infrequent to merit the time and page space to enumerate them. That doesn't mean they don't exist -- it means that they're implied in the nature of the game; the DM is expected to interpret how existing rules can be made to fit unusual situations. This is directly, explicitly addressed in the DMG on page 6, under the heading "Adjudicating." The player statement "I aim for a vulnerable spot on myself and I choose not to duck" is more than sufficient to justify a voluntary self-sneak attack.

[ExLibrisMortis]

You can sneak attack yourself while standing on one leg, or sitting on a chair with two legs off the floor, if you don't have 5 ranks in Balance.

[Jack_Simth]

Let's see....
UMD wands of Inflict X wounds.
Summon Elemental Reserve Feat + a weapon with the Vampiric property (Magic item compendium)
An ally that can do it (mind control, simulacrum, Leadership, whatever).

How do you do that, under the rules? I only know of three ways which deny your DEX to AC yet still permit you to attack yourself, all of which require special circumstances:

Lifting more than your maximum load off the ground denies you your DEX to AC, while still (DM permitting) making it possible to attack.
Attacking while climbing, if you lack a climb speed.
Flailing about in the water after failing a Swim check denies you your DEX to AC.

Your DEX bonus to AC applies as a reaction to an attack. I don't know of any way the RAW allows you to voluntarily not react. In real life many wrist cutting suicide attempters have multiple light scars, representing them automatically flinching away from contact with the blade when they tried to cut themselves.
Close your eyes. You can be aware of an attacker, but still blind.

Oh yes, and most people don't know how to slit their wrists properly. Plus, of course, cutting one's wrists hurts. Getting hit with a spell that grants temp HP? Probably doesn't hurt at all.

A little tricky to sneak attack an undead as an arcane caster, using a weapon-like spell, though.

[Troacctid]

Close your eyes. You can be aware of an attacker, but still blind.

You can't sneak attack a target that has concealment.

[Jack_Simth]

You can't sneak attack a target that has concealment.
Ah, but you are fully aware of where you are! It's called the kinesthetic sense. You do not have concealment with respect to yourself.

[Curmudgeon]

Ah, but you are fully aware of where you are! It's called the kinesthetic sense. You do not have concealment with respect to yourself.
Sight is always required.
The rogue must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. A rogue cannot sneak attack while striking a creature with concealment or striking the limbs of a creature whose vitals are beyond reach.

[The Viscount]

If you can cast animate dead, use it to animate a Necrosis Carnex from MMIV, it can heal undead by touch, you might be able to add on more HD at creation to up the amount, talk to your GM.

[Alex12]

Sight is always required.
So could a rogue who was blind, but had blindsight (say a destrachan rogue) sneak attack someone? Given that their hearing is "more precise than most creatures’ sight" I'd say they can.

Undead can see themselves when they close their eyes. After all, that's what closing your eyes is, you're just putting part of yourself (specifically your eyelids) between your eyes and everything else. Now, you could make the argument that your eyelids are blocking the light and so you're operating in conditions of darkness, except that undead have darkvision. So you can see yourself. You are also capable of precisely locating yourself with nonvisual senses. As proof, close your eyes and touch your index finger to the tip of your nose and then to your navel. Pretty easy, right?
Well, there you go. Sneak attacking yourself is totally possible. You can target yourself precisely enough for sneak attacks. Furthermore, "A helpless character is paralyzed, held, bound, sleeping, unconscious, or otherwise completely at an opponent’s mercy." Since you can completely control your actions (usually), you are at your mercy. And helpless targets can be sneak attacked. So that takes care of actually meeting the criteria for being able to be sneak attacked.

[DrMotives]

If you allow Dragon magazine, there's a free metamagic feat that allows half the damage from a spell to be switched to negative energy. If you do this on a cold AoE spell, it's great for healing undead minions.

[Jack_Simth]

If you allow Dragon magazine, there's a free metamagic feat that allows half the damage from a spell to be switched to negative energy. If you do this on a cold AoE spell, it's great for healing undead minions.
OP's playing a Dry Lich, so that'd be applied to Fireball or it's Delayed cousin.

[Curmudgeon]

So could a rogue who was blind, but had blindsight (say a destrachan rogue) sneak attack someone?
Only if their particular version of blindsight mentions an explicit exception for sneak attack. Offhand, I don't know of such a thing.

[Bullet06320]

Arcane casters don't seem to have access to Negative Energy Burst (from NWN, probably 3.0) or any other way to directly heal undead. Any suggestions? I have a dry lich character (I got the OK to enter as an arcane caster), and although fast healing 2 is nice, I'd like to be able to heal more quickly than that in combat if I need to.

Negative Energy Burst Tome and Blood

Lord of the Uttercold Complete Arcane, p. 80
half is negative energy, the other half is cold, as long as immune to cold, you have undead healing blueballs

[ShurikVch]

In addition, there are Bleakness (PH2), Circlet of Enervation (Shining South), Necrotic Skull Bomb (CoR), Blackwater Taint (Stormwrack), Ray of Entropy and Spectral Touch (SpComp)