Gratis the healing Mage?

[Oni]

I think if we turn to page 95 of the DMG under the Creating New Spells section we can get a pretty good idea of what the game designers opinion on the matter is. Under the points to keep in mind when creating a new spell we find this:

"Wizards and sorcerers should not cast healing spells, but they should have the best offensive spells. If the spell is flashy or dramatic, it should probably be a wizard/sorcerer spell."


However I have a homebrew prestige class which I think balances the matter, it might be a good starting point.

http://personal.rmc.edu/~jcpugh/whitewizard.html

 

[Lazybones]

Take a level of cleric (or bard for that matter) and then you can use all the healing wands you want (better than scrolls, no failure chance for casting a higher-level spell).

LB

 

[Epametheus]

Or take a level of Contemplative from Defenders of the Faith and take Healing as your prestige domain. Current rulings seem to be that wizards, sorcerers, and Bards get to add the domain spells to their arcance spell list. I don't really agree with it - the class only grants +1 caster level in divine spellcasting classes, so arcane casters taking the class gain psuedo-cleric levels, and the domain should just apply to those, I think.. Oh well.

 

[Magc Rub]

Thanks for the multi-classing tips, but the point behind ths is so that I don't have to multi-class. Not to be rude, sorry, I just don't want to. I want to take a road less traveld, so on that one faithfull day years down the road I might cast a healing spell as a pure bread Wizard and turn a few heads. However I want to do it on the up and up, not by some type of DM pitty, or Multi classing.

Keep the idea's, comments, & rules coming, this is good.

 

[hong]

However I want to do it on the up and up, not by some type of DM pitty, or Multi classing.

Everything you do as a player character is at the sufferance of the DM's pity.

 

[bret]

If you polymorph someone into themselves, they get one day's worth of healing.

It seems to me that there has to be some room for a wizard to research a way of healing. It may involve completely changing their physical makeup (polymorphing them), but a Transformation already exists that allows for a very limited amount of healing.

You might also be able to do something with speeding up the bodily processes or changing the flow of time. Make them heal in a few moments what usually takes days to heal.

Don't expect it to be a first level spell, I would expect the minimum level to be about 3rd myself. Don't expect it to be direct. On the other hand, you know it has to be possible at less than 7th level. With a Limited Wish and expending a few XPs, you can cast Healing Circle or even Raise Dead. It is 'only' four levels after the cleric got the ability.

 

[bullseye]

If you polymorph someone into themselves, they get one day's worth of healing.

You can't polymorph someone into themselves. You can polymorph them into an average member of their race that looks like themselves, but has average stats. In any case, you can dismiss it right away and they become themselves but healed (only slightly and not a very effective use of the spell, really, unless you're in dire need.)

It's clear that the intent of the designers was that Sorcerers and Wizards not have true healing spells (cites already given). This has been discussed before and the problem comes from only having two kinds of spellcasters, when, really, Bards belong in a class to themselves. The designers intended Bards to be the Jack-of-all-Trades, so they included access to healing magic (and since they get spells so much slower, they're never going to overshadow the Cleric or the Druid, not really even the Paladin.)

I tend to agree that no Wiz/Sorc healing spell should be first level, third, as was suggested previously is a fair minimum, and there should be some cost associated, as with Healing Touch and in any case it shouldn't be as efficient as Clerical healing.

 

[Zhure]

Bards cast healing but are arcane casters. They are classed as arcane because they have arcane spell failure. Because bards have healing doesn't mean wizards should also.

Greg

 

[Chun-tzu]

In standard D&D, a wizard or sorcerer has a handful of ways to heal others, but they all come at a price, such that the multiclass option (even just one level of cleric) is more efficient.

There is the Healing Touch spell, already mentioned. You can heal others by taking the damage yourself.

Polymorph Self and Polymorph Other offer a day's rest in healing.

Limited Wish and Wish allow you to duplicate healing spells, but at the cost of XP.

With the more powerful summoning spells (VII and up), you can summon archons with healing abilities, like the Avoral (lay on hands) and Ghaele (cure light wounds, at will).

If you're a Spellfire Wielder (from Forgotten Realms), you can use spellfire to heal. Spellfire really isn't all that powerful, though. Actual spells are more powerful than the raw magic of spellfire.

If you take the Eldritch Master prestige class, from Dragon magazine, you can gain access to the spell lists of other classes (including clerics). You lose out on spellcasting ability compared to a straight mage, though.

None of these options are all that great. Wanting a mage with healing spells is not much different from wanting a barbarian with healing spells: it's not what they do. If you don't want to multiclass, maybe you can get a Ring of Spell Storing and have the cleric fill it up with healing spells.

 

[Axiomatic Unicorn]

Wanting a mage with healing spells is not much different from wanting a barbarian with healing spells: it's not what they do.

That is exactly it.