Healer's Companion Boosting

[Warclam]

OK, so I had an idea for a Vow of Poverty/Vow of Peace Healer (Miniatures Handbook version). Basically, he is a total benevolent saint who wouldn't hurt a fly, and would heal everyone on the planet if it were within his means. But... sometimes, you know, no matter how hard you try, you end up needing to crack some skulls. That's the unicorn's job (well, plus the rest of the party).

I want to be able to take feats to boost Uni's powers (I doubt I could get away with items by claiming they belong to the unicorn, not me), but I'm not entirely sure whether it would count as a special mount, since it's summoned like one, or like an animal companion, since it's called a "Healer's Companion". Whichever it counts as, what are some good feats for boosting it? A prestige class might be OK, since the Healer's class abilities aren't a heartache to lose, though ideally it would give spellcasting progression.

Another point, what do I do about those important spells that need diamonds as a component? Would Uni be able to keep hold of my cash as long as I only used it for material components for healing? Is that charitable enough for Vow of Poverty?

[Shpadoinkle]

Another point, what do I do about those important spells that need diamonds as a component? Would Uni be able to keep hold of my cash as long as I only used it for material components for healing? Is that charitable enough for Vow of Poverty?

I could see it going either way... Personally, I'd allow it, provided you spent your money on it at the first opportunity, and I'd restrict you to no more than enough to cast it twice.

[Tempest Fennac]

If it's classed as a companion, you could take Natural Bond to treat it as though you had 3 more Druid levels (I think you could do that anyway).

[sonofzeal]

Please run this by your DM. Various DMs have wildly differing perceptions of what Vow of Peace is. I mean, the text is pretty darn specific, but if you ask any given player who hasn't looked it over in detail, they'll assume it's something much more restrictive.

Here's the bad news: even with the vow as-written, Animal Companions and Special Mounts are often considered an extension of you, and could hence be subject to your vow. The good news is, with the vow as-written there's an easy way out - nonlethal damage. The Vow bans a category of offensive actions, which specifically includes lethal damage, meaning nonlethal isn't covered. And there's a feat in BoED to turn all attacks into nonlethal damage. Also, while a number of things are immune to nonlethal, they're mostly undead or constructs which are not covered by the Vow anyway, so lethal damage is fine. Talk with your DM, see how he interprets VoPeace, and be willing to have your Unicorn take that feat.


Anyway, as to boosting the Unicorn itself, a dip in Beastmaster would be easy to manage and increase your effective level by 3.

[Chronos]

I believe that Vow of Poverty allows you to spend XP in place of costly components, at a rate of 1 XP = 5 GP. And even if it doesn't, you could probably ask your DM to houserule it.

[Warclam]

I believe that Vow of Poverty allows you to spend XP in place of costly components, at a rate of 1 XP = 5 GP. And even if it doesn't, you could probably ask your DM to houserule it.

Oh hey, I didn't even see that! Yeah, it's under "Other Ramification of Poverty". That's quite good, actually; 200XP is reasonable for popping off a free revivify. Most other spells I could probably bum off the party, since there isn't actually much I'm capable of doing which isn't in their best interests.

[sonofzeal]

Oh hey, I didn't even see that! Yeah, it's under "Other Ramification of Poverty". That's quite good, actually; 200XP is reasonable for popping off a free revivify. Most other spells I could probably bum off the party, since there isn't actually much I'm capable of doing which isn't in their best interests.

You could also talk with your group about applying that in conjunction with this variant, so that the rezzee is the one that pays the whole cost.

[Warclam]

You could also talk with your group about applying that in conjunction with this variant, so that the rezzee is the one that pays the whole cost.

I definitely like that idea. I'm a healer, not a sucker.

Actually, I have a question about a houserule I saw. Basically, it's a variant Healer that casts like a Warmage/Beguiler instead of a Cleric-with-a-restricted-spell-list-who-can't-even-spontaneously-cast-cure-spells. Do you think that's reasonable? I may be off-base here, but that variant seems to me to convert a pretty lousy class into a merely underpowered class. My DM would have to OK it, of course, but it would be nice to have a little backup when I propose it. "No, see, they think it makes sense too!"

[sonofzeal]

I definitely like that idea. I'm a healer, not a sucker.

Actually, I have a question about a houserule I saw. Basically, it's a variant Healer that casts like a Warmage/Beguiler instead of a Cleric-with-a-restricted-spell-list-who-can't-even-spontaneously-cast-cure-spells. Do you think that's reasonable? I may be off-base here, but that variant seems to me to convert a pretty lousy class into a merely underpowered class. My DM would have to OK it, of course, but it would be nice to have a little backup when I propose it. "No, see, they think it makes sense too!"

That definitely helps. I played one recently, and what we did was {a} base casting off Charisma, {b} allow spontanious casting off the Healing domain, and {c} expand the spell list with SpC and other appropriate spells. I'll send you the list we made.