Club of Healing

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well, my players have done it now ...

The campaign has split into two groups, one on the run from the law, the other trying to save the barony from an imminent attack by as yet undefined badness (naturally). The split, though, didn't happen evenly, and the fugitives have a fighter, a bard and two wizards. And, yes, no healers. (The bard is apparently going to jump out of the class before he can even cast Cure Light Wounds.)

Well, one of the players in the other branch of this campaign mentioned a long-ago game where they found a club that cast Cure Light Wounds on anyone hit with it. The trick, of course, was to smack your compatriots and hope that the spell did more healing than the club did damage.

Obviously, I don't want this to be too exploitable -- no having everyone going around fully healed up at all times -- but this is too funny not to try and implement.

So, I'm asking you, ENWorld, how would you stat this up? There has to be some sort of limit to how often it can be cast, and it has to do damage in addition to healing.

Any suggestions?

 

[Crothian]

I'd have it do 1d6 damage per hit and heal 1d6 per hit. Even odds of getting healed or hurt. And they can use once per attack they have as often as they like

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

My current thinking is that, on a confirmed critical hit, the club casts Cure Moderate Wounds on its victim. Naturally, the statistics work out that it takes a lot of beating to get that cure, and that, overall, it won't help as much as it hurts.

I'd probably name it Charlathan's Cudgel of Mixed Blessings, after Praemal's god/goddess of Retribution and Reward.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'd have it do 1d6 damage per hit and heal 1d6 per hit. Even odds of getting healed or hurt. And they can use once per attack they have as often as they like

Wouldn't that mean they'd all beat the crap out of each other after every encounter, Three Stooges style, until they eventually ended up in the positive? They'd end up better off with the club than with a cleric, overall. I'd like to keep them alive but make it clear that they'd better off picking up a henchman or something more reliable.

 

[ValhallaGH]

Wouldn't that mean they'd all beat the crap out of each other after every encounter, Three Stooges style, until they eventually ended up in the positive?

Only if they give the club to the guy with a Str penalty. If they mess up and give it to the fighter then there is a good chance that they'll lose hp on ever transaction, even one with min damage / max healing.
Even if someone has Str 3, dealing 1d6-4 with the club, you get to enforce the minimum damage rule.

Alternatively, the club deals damage normally but if it deals low enough damage (negative damage) then it actually heals the target. So they wouldn't notice unless they have a way to deal -2 or more melee damage. Best case scenario, the Str 1 character deals 1d6-5 for four points of healing; worst case, the barbarian uses it to deal 1d6+879 points of damage.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Not quite the same thing, but when I statted out Kol XIV for Mystara in 3E rules some time back now, I created a magic item for him, Kol's Sceptre:

Kol's Sceptre: The prince's symbol of office, this +1 merciful club is made of silver and gold, and studded with all manner of gemstones. Kol uses it on his underlings to keep them in line, without permanently rendering them useless to him.

The objective being similar, of course, that he could rap his toadies on the head and beat them silly without killing them. Maybe you could use the merciful feature (from the DMG) so that the club will deal all nonlethal damage, and have it also heal lethal damage. So it may end up knocking them out, but they'll be healed when they get back up.

 

[Crothian]

Wouldn't that mean they'd all beat the crap out of each other after every encounter, Three Stooges style, until they eventually ended up in the positive? They'd end up better off with the club than with a cleric, overall. I'd like to keep them alive but make it clear that they'd better off picking up a henchman or something more reliable.

Actually, they could just as easily damage the person they are trying to heal and kill them. It's a gamble item that can hurt or heal depending on the dice. It is not better then a cleric.

 

[Ilium]

If you want to avoid abuse, look out for the PCs just choosing to do nonlethal damage. If the target isn't avoiding, the -4 is a moot point.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Heh, Kol was great.

OK, math is clearly not my thing today. The two wizards both have a strength penalty, though, so I expect they'll end up being the ones to bean the others.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If you want to avoid abuse, look out for the PCs just choosing to do nonlethal damage. If the target isn't avoiding, the -4 is a moot point.

Good call. I'll specifically note the magic of the club prevents it from being used in a non-lethal manner.