Healing sources for a no UMD party

[noce]

Hi all. In the campaign I'm playing we're facing a dire problem, we can't heal.
This thread is a request of help for my specific circumstance, but I strongly encourage repliers to give also general advices to benefit players who might read this thread in the future.

There are only two players in the party: a telepath (me) and a crusader/warblade/barbarian, both level 3.

Crusader does his best to self heal with stance and maneuver, but healing stops if/when he drops at negative hit points, and it also stops when the encounter ends, so we really need out of combat healing.

The three of us (PCs and DM) are old friends who played together for years, so we're somewhat tired of buying always the same magic items with every character. This is why we haven't buyed a couple of Healing Belts yet, but I suppose that if need be we'll fall back to buying them in bulks.

Before surrendering to the evidence that cheap healing resurces are too scarce in 3.5, I'm looking for your help to examine any possible alternatives, including reasonably pricier ones.


The aforementioned Healing Belt heals 6d8 hp per day, at only 750 gp, or 1125 gp stacking it over another belt. I know it's the best, let's see if alternatives exist.
We haven't access to spells, wands or scrolls, so our only access to divine magic healing is potions: potions of Lesser Vigor heal 11 hp for 50 gp.
I am a Psion, so I could buy a Dorje of Body Adjustment, healing 1d12 50 times, only me, for 11250 gp...Well, 25 potions of Lesser Vigor would heal rougly the same while costing a tenth.
A goodberry heals 1 hp. We can produce them via Goodberry Bracelet for 2000 gp, but every person can only eat 1/day of them. Alternatives are Hand of the Oakfather for 5000 gp that doesn't restrict you to 1/day and also has some other perks. Last, an Ehlonna's Seed Pouch costs 1400 gp and has 3 goodberries per day, but is a relic. I'd say goodberries are not efficient enough without access to the spell itself.
I have 10 STR, so I could buy a silvered gauntlet for 22 gp and deal 1d3-1 damage with it. Inquisitor Bracers heal 2d8+5 (well, -1d3-1) 3/day for 1500 gp. This has the added benefit that I will be entitled to punch the other party member and tell him "I know you like it".


In all seriousness, Inquisitor Bracers seem to be the most efficient method to heal out of combat (apart from the healing belt). It costs twice as much but also heals a bit more per day.
Do you think these bracers would also work with unarmed strikes? In this case the subdual damage wouldn't even affect the healing done.

Also, there is a healing compendium (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?231908-3-x-Compendium-of-Healing), but it doesn't seem to provide cheaper ways to heal.

Do you have any other suggestions about meaningful ways to heal? Did you ever find yourselves in a party with no native access to healing?

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Hire a healing minion. With Draconic Aura: Vigor for constant AoE fast healing, if nothing else.

Also, this for you. (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?177889-Brainstorm-for-Psionic-Tricks-Tactics-and-Combos-Handbook&p=23801600&viewfull=1#post23801600) Make sure the manifesting minion has body adjustment. You'll have to wait until ~level 7 for a metamorphosis-manifesting minion, though.

[Elkad]

Doesn't matter that you are a Psion, you still get a Dorje crafted by a Psychic Warrior.
375*2*4*2=6000gp

Still terrible compared to a CLW wand, but better than 11,500.

Or for 13,500 (375*3*6*2), it's augmented to 2d12. Not a terrible efficiency loss.


As the DM, I've done things like giving out Fast Healing 1 rings to a party with no heals.

But without means of status removal (mostly Cleric spells), your problems will soon be more than just restoring HP.

[Troacctid]

You might find the useful items spreadsheet in my signature to be helpful. There are tags in it for healing.

A few that you didn't mention are the helm of glorious recovery, unicorn pendant, and amulet of emergency healing (all from MIC). All of them are geared more towards healing in combat, and have less healing per day than a healing belt, but they are good enough to be in the conversation.

If you're in the market for something more off the beaten path, perhaps I might suggest the healing nodules graft (MoE) for 21,000 gp, which provides a functionally unlimited number of cure serious wounds potions. There's also the crown of Cyre (FW), which grants fast healing 3 to all allies in a radius (as well as some morale bonuses), but it's very pricey at 40,000 gp. The dove's harp (MIC) is excellent if you happen to have a bard in the party, and the millennial chainmail (MIC) is excellent if you happen to be a favored soul of Corellon Larethian. Finally, if you're not lactose intolerant, a luminary tabard (ShG) is 3,000 gp and can heal you every time you succeed on a save against a fear effect, which, with a little clever comboing, can easily bring you to full health after every combat.

[Doctor Despair]

Take Blessings of the Godless if one of you is evil. It gives unlimited healing, but only out of combat.

[Troacctid]

You can also get a devoted spirit amulet to add a pinch of crusader to other members of the party.

[Faily]

Trumpet of Healing requires a Perform check (DC15) to work, but can be used for healing 3/day with the following options:


Remove blindness/deafness
Remove disease
Cure serious wounds
Neutralize poison.



These powers affect all creatures within 360 feet of the horn. In addition, the trumpet can heal a single creature within hearing range of the uplifting song once per day.


Drawbacks to the Trumpet of Healing is that the one using the trumpet can't benefit from it, and evil characters cannot benefit from it (dunno about party alignment). It's also very pricey at 115,440 gp, and is found in Book of Exalted Deeds.


With a party of two where neither are able to heal much I'd see about hirelings and later on Cohorts that can provide healing.

[Harrow]

This is effectively a technicality, but I know enough people run "RAW or die" to bring it up: The Martial Spirit stance. The Devoted Spirit strikes all specify that the attack has to be against an enemy of opposed alignment that must also pose a threat both "direct" and "immediate" to you or your allies. The Devoted Spirit stance, however, lacks this clause. By RAW, any time you make a successful melee attack with Martial Spirit up, you or an ally heals by 2. As long as your Crusader is conscious, they just just make attacks against whatever, punching walls or making touch attacks (high-fives?) against the other party member out of combat until they're full up.

Still could use some emergency healing for when the Crusader goes down, but it removes a lot of the burden of every-day healing.

EDIT
Oh, and another thing. It takes a willing DM and isn't right for every campaign, but, if your situation warrants it, you can always ask your DM for a custom magic item. A command word item of Cure Minor Wounds can be activated by anyone as a standard action every round all day long, and the guideline price of such an item is 900 gold. It kind of goes against design principles, which assumed to heal you either burned daily resources from a cleric or giant piles of cash on potions of Cure Moderate Wounds, but the people that backed those design principles forgot the fact that wands exist, so I don't personally mind ignoring their opinions. Still, there are others that will feel differently.

[sreservoir]

If you're into technicalities, Healing Devotion lets you "transfer" a daily use but doesn't specify that it ever expires, so I guess you can stock up on fast healing charges during downtime?

(I mean okay, if it ever came up I'd probably prefer a ruling that it only lasts for the rest of the day, which is kind of hard to define abstractly when you power it with turn attempts but pretty clear in most actual games.)

[Telonius]

At extremely low levels, a Magic Bedroll can be useful. +1 HP per character level after an 8-hour rest, for 500gp. That effectively doubles natural healing, so you'd be getting 6hp a night instead of 3. Yes, the numbers aren't as high as a Healing Belt. But since you're not going to be using it in combat, it's always going to be there to help "top off" your HP at the end of the day. Especially if you're regularly using up all of your Healing Belt charges.

[RSGA]

If you have some feats to set on fire (or at least access to some feat shuffling/buying stuff) Combat Vigor is a thing. Requires Wis 13, BaB 9, and the base feat of Combat Focus, but once you hit with an attack in combat you get eleven turns of Fast Healing 2 and +2 Will Save which isn't much but it's once per every encounter. And if you really have feats to spare one of the other Combat Focus related feats makes it twelve turns of Fast Healing 4, +4 Will Saves, and the boosted bonus of whichever feat it was you took. Probably Combat Stability, since it's boosted +8 to resist a bunch of combat maneuvers is slightly better than Combat Defence's +1 to Dodge's bonus and getting to change the focus as an immediate action.

[sreservoir]

At extremely low levels, a Magic Bedroll can be useful. +1 HP per character level after an 8-hour rest, for 500gp. That effectively doubles natural healing, so you'd be getting 6hp a night instead of 3. Yes, the numbers aren't as high as a Healing Belt. But since you're not going to be using it in combat, it's always going to be there to help "top off" your HP at the end of the day. Especially if you're regularly using up all of your Healing Belt charges.

In this vein, bitterleaf oil, at 2.5 gp/dose, add 1 hp/HD (max 5) to your natural healing, which actually competes quite well with wands of lesser vigor for the little bit of hp it can top off.

[Nelfin]

You could create some healing techniques tailored to the party. I have no idea what a psionic does but something meditation like could work maybe. Or he can grant fast healing after some kind of ceremonial for a full rest.

Another approach could be to not take too much damage. Again, I am a newbie to D&D but if there are shielding item, it could be a substitute to healing.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

@OP - Since you're essentially a spellcaster, see if your DM will allow you to take and use ranks in Craft: Alchemy. There are lots of alchemical items you can make. (https://orbitalflower.github.io/rpg/rules/dnd3-extended-alchemy-items-list.html) More, if you can use PF sources. (https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?Category=6) And even more if you branch out a bit. (https://www.finalfantasyd20.com/magical-items/alchemical-items/)

[noce]

Maybe the easiest access to cheap healing is buying a Bag of Holding Type I, Everlasting Rations and an Everful Mug, for a total cost of 3050 gp, plus as much wands of Lesser Vigor as we need.
Then all we need to do is finding and kidnapping an Air Goblin or Air Gnome with 1 level in a class with the Cleric or Druid spell list and throw him in the bag with the rations and the mug.

Unfortunately, we're not evil (yet).

[Kitsuneymg]

Backport Boots of the Earth from Pathfinder. 5k. Move action to activate, fast healing 1 until you move. Not other limits.