Arcane Healing Spell Chain Idea

[Radiating Gnome]

Please let me know what you think of this:

Metabolic Healing I
Transmutation

Level: Sor/Wiz 1

Components: V, S, M

Casting Time: 1 minute or more (see below)

Range: Touch

Targets: One creature

Duration: instantaneous

Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (harmless)

Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

The touched creature's body experiences an accelleration of time that has the effect of speeding up the healing process. While the caster concentrates, the subject's body recovers from injury and other ill effects as if a day had passed for every minute the caster maintains concentration.

Each minute, to maintain concentration the caster must make a concentration check of DC 10 +5 for every minute after the first the spell is maintained -- with a maximum of the caster's level. So, a third level caster could maintain the spell for 3 minutes with successful concentration checks of DC 10, 15, and 20, and at the end of the three minutes the subject will have recovered as if she had rested for three days. Be sure to apply modifiers to this skill check for adverse conditions.

This spell does not constitute rest for any purpose other than physical healing -- it will not allow the suject to prepare new spells as if a day had passed, etc.

The caster can have a +2 synergy bonus on the concentration check if he has 5 ranks of Heal skill.

One side effect of this spell is that other spells that are effecting the subject will also be subject to the accellerated timeframe, so a bull's endurance cast that would last three hours would disappear in a matter of seconds while Uri's Metabolic Healing is in effect.


Metabolic Healing II, III, and IV are 3rd, 5th, and 7th level respectively. The main difference is that for every minute concentration is maintained 2, 3, or 4 days of rest pass for the body.



A 9th level version, Metabolic Healing, Mass, is a version of MH I that can affect 1 subject per 3 caster levels.

 

[the Jester]

I'm generally against arcane healing.

Also, under some conditions these spells easily outdo the cleric healing spells of equal level. Not good, imho.

 

[DreamChaser]

First, it should have a material component of enough food and water to sustain the creature for the number of days they are being accelerated.

Second, spells, diseases and poisons continue to progress. Most spells would end after even a single minute of concentration. Diseases would progress normally. Poisons would automatically do their secondary damage.

Third, casting time should be "one round" and duration should be "concentration, up to 1 minute per level." to reflect that the caster is causing the person's body to accelerate for a given amount of time.

Finally, the first form of the spell should be at least 2nd level, if not 3rd.

I might concider having it convert the damage to nonlethal damage reflecting that the body has been accelerated, so it heals, but is not worn out from the acceleration. If it did that, I would say 1st level would be okay.

DC

 

[Terath Ninir]

Definitely too powerful for 1st level. Yeah, it can't be used in combat, but it is still going to be too powerful.

If you take the idea of converting it to nonlethal damage and bump it up to 2nd level, then it might be okay. The other spells would also be bumped a level, too.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

My first draft had the lowest level version at 2nd level, and the subsequent spells at 4th, 6th, and 8th. That may be better.

I had intended for disease and poison to continue to progress, which I guess I should specify.

Actually, I had thought about the material component thing -- and what I am tempted to do is have the subject suffer the effect of being without food and water for a number of days equal to the number of days of healing time provided by the spell -- since it's just not really possible for the body to metabolize the food that fast, the subject would be famished at the end of the spell -- making the higher level ones much riskier to cast. But the whole thing starts to get so complicated . . .

-rg

 

[Radiating Gnome]

I do mean for this to be a poor substitute for divine healing magic. To begin with, it will not stabilize a dying character, it won't restore anything that the body wouldn't be able to restore for itself, in time. I see it as a sort of clever arcane work-around for healing, using a manipulation of time and form to force the body to recover from injury, disease, and drain faster than it would normally.

Another side effect would be that the subject would age that day -- over the course of a year's adventuring, a PC might actually age two years thanks to repeated use of these sorts of spells.

 

[Merlion]

I'd say it'd be fine at 2nd level etc. Of course I have no problem with the idea of "arcane" healing.

 

[dvvega]

The concept of Arcane Healing is actually not "wrong". There are many people out there that argue against it vehemently. However the basis for Arcane Healing can be found in fantasy literature everywhere.

A good example is the Lahnkmar series. Magic was magic, divided into Black and White arts. The Black arts consisted of Destructive magics, Summonings, etc. White magics consisted of Abjurations, Healing, and so forth.

This aside, the biggest issue with Arcane Healing is a balance issue. Make it available and comparable to Clerical healing then clerics will slowly disappear.

However the cleric CAN spontaneously cure, and turn undead, and has no spell casting failure in armour. So even if a Wizard could cast the series of Cure spells, they would not be as useful as a Cleric since they would have to prepare their spells ahead of time OR leave slots open and then fill those slots as needed - which would not save a dying comrade.

In fact giving Wizards access to Arcane Cure spells would not remove clerics at all. Some groups might thing "GREAT" but then regret it when the DM uses even minor undead which the Cleric would have handled.

Now onto your concept of accelerated healing. The Alchemical Healing Salve (1d8 hit points and took a full round action to apply) is a perfect example of what you're trying to acheive. It doesn't heal magically, but alchemically (thus for flavour would leave scars). It was in Tome and Blood I think and cost 50gp. DC is around 25.

If you used this as a basis for your spells you could easily give Arcane casters all the Cure spells just like a cleric.

They would take a full round to cast and heal 1d8 per caster level + 1 per 2 levels of the caster (since the salve vs a cure light wounds was weaker).

Material compoents could be an alchemical salve (which is essentially enhanced by the spell to cure more).

So overall, the spell would cost 50gp each casting (no matter the level), take a full round (thus could not save anyone from dying if they were not stabilised), and not cure as much as a cleric could.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

 

[RangerWickett]

I say you should just let wizards and sorcerers learn cure wounds spells.