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Gralamin
2007-10-13, 10:00 PM
In My current D&D Group, we have a homebrewed class that has the ability to cast healing spells each encounter. What sort of limitation should we use to keep this balanced?

I've heard the following ideas, feel free to post new ideas.

Reduce CR of each creature in every encounter.
Take 5 minutes per casting of the spell
Take 5 minutes, but enhance the spell slightly, due to the long casting time.

Azerian Kelimon
2007-10-13, 10:05 PM
Add a Festering template to the attacks of creatures, from which some damage persists 'till the critter is killed. This reduces the value of such healings, since you need to keep healing.

TheOOB
2007-10-13, 10:06 PM
Infinite healing doesn't make encounters easier, It just makes it so you can handle more encounters a day before you have to rest. As long as it doesn't heal more then an equivalent healing spell per round it's not overpowered, spending an action to heal is an action you could have used to kill your opponents.

The DM should either make the battles harder, so they challenge a fully healed party more, or understand that the party can go through a lot of encounters in a row, until their wizard starts running out of spells.

Gralamin
2007-10-13, 10:19 PM
Infinite healing doesn't make encounters easier, It just makes it so you can handle more encounters a day before you have to rest. As long as it doesn't heal more then an equivalent healing spell per round it's not overpowered, spending an action to heal is an action you could have used to kill your opponents.

The DM should either make the battles harder, so they challenge a fully healed party more, or understand that the party can go through a lot of encounters in a row, until their wizard starts running out of spells.

So, your saying that even though It has infinite healing between encounters, all he should do is make battles a bit harder?

Skjaldbakka
2007-10-13, 10:20 PM
If you want healing spells per encounter, but still want attrition to matter, here are some things I have come up with (as I am working on a similar system, and encountering similar difficulties). None of these are perfect, and I'm not happy with any of them.

-Reduce healing to the vigor line of spells. Put a cap on how high they can heal you up to. The 1st level version can only bring you up to 25%, the 2nd level 50%, the 3rd level 75%, the 4th level 100%. Or some other progression.

-Use the cure line of spells, and give the caster a healing pool, which is how much he can heal per day. Give everyone a healing pool, actually, which represents how much they can be magically healed per day. The spellcaster can give up some of his potential healing/day to push someone else further.

-Use Reserve, and make it so healing spells can only heal your reserve pool. This makes in-combat healing worthless though.

-Use the vigor line of spells, but you can only have one vigor spell active at a time. This significantly increases healing times via magic, since you have to wait for one person to finish healing.

-Require a heal check DC = damage taken in order for any heal spell to work. This gives you a reason to heal during combat. This should probably be combined with the reserve rules, and spells that heal reserve. You should also have a stabilize spell that bring the target to 1 HP (w/o a heal check).

-Have the caster take nonlethal damage equal to the amount he heals.

-Have spells bring the target up to a specific HP total, instead of healing a specific amount. Cure Light wounds would heal up to 1d8+clvl, etc.

Like I said, not much balancing work has been done on these, they are just ideas- brainstorming really.

TheOOB
2007-10-13, 10:24 PM
So, your saying that even though It has infinite healing between encounters, all he should do is make battles a bit harder?

Pretty much, you are allready fully healed for the first encounter on any given day, this just means that you have the same hp every other encounter that you do the first, you are just will hit the 13.5 encounters to level quicker.

Gralamin
2007-10-13, 10:24 PM
Interesting ideas so far. I'll be sure to send my DM a link to this thread to get his input. Keep posting them!

Skjaldbakka
2007-10-13, 10:31 PM
While I like the idea of per-encounter spells, I like attrition too. Heh, I am pretty infamous at home for liking attrition too. That and really hard encounters that the PCs just barely pull through.

Chronos
2007-10-14, 03:47 PM
A bit of clarification, here: "Per encounter" makes it sound like this healing ability can only be used during "encounters". If that's the case, then it's probably not worthwhile to use at all, since there are almost always better things to do in an encounter than healing. Heck, swinging your mace at a monster is usually a better use of your actions than healing, and you can do that an unlimited number of times.

On the other hand, you have to define exactly what you mean by an "encounter". Not all encounters are combat, and in fact almost anything can be considered an "encounter". Walking up to a door and opening it is an encounter with the door-- Probably a pretty boring encounter, but an encounter nonetheless. This might imply that you can use the ability as much as you want, which may not be what was intended.

Arbitrarity
2007-10-14, 04:03 PM
A bit of clarification, here: "Per encounter" makes it sound like this healing ability can only be used during "encounters". If that's the case, then it's probably not worthwhile to use at all, since there are almost always better things to do in an encounter than healing. Heck, swinging your mace at a monster is usually a better use of your actions than healing, and you can do that an unlimited number of times.


Unless, of course, it's a Crusader-style thing. As long as the DM doesn't allow silly things like smiting squirels or flies (My faith cleanses me as I smite thee, INFIDEL BUG!), that can be decent.

serow
2007-10-14, 10:31 PM
Infinite healing already exists in D&D, there is a feat in Complete Champion which allows this, and the Dragon Shaman class also has the Vigor aura.
Their limitation is that it works only up 50% of each character's max HP.

Xuincherguixe
2007-10-15, 01:21 AM
Maybe you could have it so that while it can cast healing an infinite amount, it can't heal a lot at once. Or if you really feel that's neccesary it could have a limit of "heal lots at once". Cure light wounds at will maybe? Though you might get sick of rolling dice a bunch, and instead you might just set a certain amount. As a full round action, dude can heal 3 points say.

This would mean that the party faces all enounters at full hit points.

It should probably have some more abilities besides healing, but not too much. Otherwise the character probably isn't going to be terribly intersting.

Username
2007-10-15, 06:06 AM
There's infinite healing in the form of a binder with Buer bound, and it has no cap based on HP %. They can heal all day but the catch is it's a really piddly amount, only good for patching up between fights.

Jack_Simth
2007-10-15, 06:27 AM
While I like the idea of per-encounter spells, I like attrition too. Heh, I am pretty infamous at home for liking attrition too.
Infinite out-of-combat healing (e.g., the Widget of Cure Minor Wounds - one standard action = 1 hp) permits some attrition (namely, the Wizard/Cleric/Sorcerer/Druid runs out of offensive and buff spells) but mostly changes class balance - sure, the Wizard can Zap away enemies... but only on about 2-4 encounters per day. The Fighter can keep on swinging that sword, no matter how many encounters you throw at him (provided they're spaced far enough apart that he can heal up with the Widget of Cure Minor Wounds).

With infinite out of combat healing, the Rogue and Fighter get a boost in "long days" (as well as similar classes - Bard, Ranger, Barbarian, and Paladin, although all four have some "per day" abilities that do run out) while the Full Casters aren't strengthened overly much (and are pining for something to do at the end of a "long day").

That and really hard encounters that the PCs just barely pull through.
Which, you know, you can still do, as the party isn't any stronger on a per-encounter basis.