3 player party and no cleric, need advise

[ARandomGod]

Hello,

even though i have GMed several games, I had to take a brake for about 3 years. Now I am starting up a new group with my friends. It will be my first 3e group to run, one of my players plays regularly in another group so knows what he is doing, the other 2 have no real clue about 3e. Should be enough of a setup.

Now, I kind of face a problem, for me at least. Firstly only 3 players wich is not much, second the classes are Fighter(Archer), A Wizard/Rogue and a Barbarian. I think the party will be ok on the damage dealing departement, since their stats are quiet good. But I am worried about the lack of a cleric.

I humbly ask for your help and suggestions how to handle this. I dont want to simply give them a Cleric NPC to tag along, wich I find too "cheesy". And I dont want to "force" one of my players to play a cleric either. What would you suggest are alternative and interesting means of providing them healing opportunitys/abilities? Every Help is really appreciated.

Look up the SRD, under "Magic items, basics and creation":
http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/v35/MagicItemsI.rtf
And you'll find that you can make magic items with a certain number of uses per day, that any character can use as if that character could cast the spell. Healing spells are not specifically excluded, and, indeed there are wonderous items wherein certain ones are specifically included (see prayer beads, althought those are one use only items, it's still a precedent to include such items)

You'll discover, after some lightly confusing writing, that a belt of Cure Light Wounds, suggested cost is approximately 360 gold pieces per charge per day. Further reading may also suggest to you that five uses per day would cost 1800 gold peices, and that would be identical to the cost of an item that can do it an unlimited number of times per day...
I meantion this unlimited part to show that the "suggested price" really should be taken as a suggestion. Because being able to cast that an unlimited number of times per day is immensely stronger than a ring of regeneration (well, as long as no parts are amputated...)

And, fdurther reading could result in the realization that you don't have to attach the wonderous item to a body slot like "belt", and this only doubles the cost, therefore 640 gold per charge per day.

I've played in a campaign with no cleric, where we each have one of these "spellstones", that can cast cure light up to five times a day. Cost, 3,200 each. Sure, pricey for a low level campaign. But on a belt it would be only, 1800... still a lot... but well worth it.

And, a more important point in the "I played in a campaign with this item in it", is that it has not unbalanced the game any. Sure, it's like we each have a low level pocket cleric with decent wisdom and the healing domain. Which is also to say that it's as if we each have a magic item that gives us healing abilities similiar to that of a decent low level cleric.

BUT, noone had to play a cleric, and no messy NPC's hanging around.

And you can give them a belt with ONE charge each. Adding charges costs the same 320 gold per charge added. Or 640 if it's to an unslotted item.

I highly recommend the item. And I don't feel that it is against the spirit of the game either. While I know that some people hold healing spells sacred... there are clerical and druidic healing spells of every alignment, and a neutral one would have no problem healing ANY of the alignments, even the extremes... at least not with a low level spell.

 

[ARandomGod]

Additional point...
With already designed magic items,
UseMagicDevice for the rogue, perhaps give him an item of +5 or +10 to the skill. Sure, it's an expensive item (2,500 at +5; 10,000 at +10), but give it as extra treasure and don't worry about it... then they have access to wands of healing, which aren't TOO expensive.

And/or, remember, if you can get any of them to take even one level of Ranger (Or paladin), that character doesn't even need UMD at that point, he can simply use the wand. (It's on his spell list, even if he can't cast the spell, or, indeed, ANY spell.)

And Ranger fits well with Barb as a multiclass.
And ANYTHING fits well with Fighter as a multiclass. ~_^

 

[ForceUser]

Hello,

even though i have GMed several games, I had to take a brake for about 3 years. Now I am starting up a new group with my friends. It will be my first 3e group to run, one of my players plays regularly in another group so knows what he is doing, the other 2 have no real clue about 3e. Should be enough of a setup.

Now, I kind of face a problem, for me at least. Firstly only 3 players wich is not much, second the classes are Fighter(Archer), A Wizard/Rogue and a Barbarian. I think the party will be ok on the damage dealing departement, since their stats are quiet good. But I am worried about the lack of a cleric.

I humbly ask for your help and suggestions how to handle this. I dont want to simply give them a Cleric NPC to tag along, wich I find too "cheesy". And I dont want to "force" one of my players to play a cleric either. What would you suggest are alternative and interesting means of providing them healing opportunitys/abilities? Every Help is really appreciated.

Given your party's composition, I think you need to suck it up and add an NPC cleric. I don't see a way around this. They can't survive fights off potions. You need not just hand them a cleric, though - let them wade through a couple fights without healing and they'll get the idea. They'll head straight for the temple looking for a priest all on their own. If they don't, there's no cause to worry - when one of them dies, I bet he'll roll a cleric.

Seriously, it's not a thing to sweat. My own player group consists of a bard/unfettered, a rogue, a ranger & a wizard. They got tooled the first time they stepped into a dungeon. They are currently in the process of earnestly seeking a healer to accompany them on adventures. Funny what a near-death experience will do to a group of non-believers. My point is, the search for healing need not be a metagame problem. It can be resolved entirely in-character.

 

[Elrik_DarkFury]

In the campaign i play there are 4 characters.An npc Barbarian, a sorcerer and 2 rogues.The dm tried to "throw" an npc cleric but we insisted.We all agreed that there are going to be problems lacking healing but working as a team we will overcome whatever arises.The lack of a cleric changes the dynamics of the game(to the better i believe).I really enjoy this game for the more difficult the task is the greater the joy u get when its done.The other rogue has alredy died once and we won a critical battle with almost everyone below 0 hp and the sorcerer killing the "boss" with magic missile (he only had 3 hp!!).Still It was one of the best sessions i ever had and i think this wouldn't be that good having a cleric to heal us every second.A few extra potions(not too many thought) will do the job.

_______________
The Wizard

 

[FireLance]

Another possibility is to design your adventures around the fact that the party has no healer. Missions should probably be not too time-sensitive to give them opportunities to retreat, rest and heal.

 

[Raflar]

I made a House Rule where characters could roll a Heal Check DC:15 and heal someone 1/2 their RANKS in their Heal Skill. A person could only be healed in this fashion ONCE per Encounter. It's never been abused and has come in handy a few times. Even with a cleric in the group it's not that abusive a rule.

 

[argo]

Another option is to increase the rate of natural healing. The Conan RPG has no magical healing and in that game a character recovers (3 + Con mod + 1 per level) HP per day, doubled for bed rest. Ability damage recovers at (1 + Con mod) per hour, doubled for bed rest.

In addition a DC 15 heal check lets you apply Short Term Care: requires 10 minutes and can be applied once per combat a character was injured in. Recover (Con mod + 1 per level) HP. You could make heal a class skill for the wiz/rog and they should be all set.

 

[kamosa]

Be prepared for more down time between encounters. Without curing, the party will want to attack less often and be more likely to need to rest after a battle. As such, adjust your adventures so they are less time dependant.

Plots like, "if you don't do X by midnight the worlds is lost!" don't work as well when the party gets their clock cleaned at 8:30 and don't have anyway to get back to working order in time to get to the final battle.

You can have some adventures like that, but be careful on how you structure the adventures such that the players have a chance of completing the plot.

Another idea is to have an NPC cleric that the players have access to, but doesn't go on the adventure. A wilderness shaman that will heal, but can also be used to set up the adventures with demanded favors and directed advise is a good plot device for a game with no cleric.

 

[Emirikol]

Go gestalt. It's the best solution for low player games. It's also better balanced than giving them a bunch of magical items.

If you don't know what Gestalt is, it's when the PC's are allowed to take two classes per level, but only take the best of each class (hp's, saves, skills, etc.)

jh

 

[milotha]

I've seen the Rogue's Use Magic Device skill and a wand of Cure Light Wounds come in handt in this situation. Also, allowing the PCs to stock up on potions of healing or some other magic item that has a limited curing amount. You can also modify the Heal skill to be more effective.

Alternatively, you could have them befriend an NPC cleric who would be willing to offer healing services for a reduced.nonextant fee etc.