Gratis the healing Mage?

[gfunk]

Come on you guys! We all know that the Core books are well-balanced, that there are no healing spells on the Sor/Wiz list, and in the DMG (under research spells) it says that you shouldn't let Sor/Wiz cast healing magics.

That's why we have to turn to the splatbooks!

Magic of Faerun has a spell (Sor/Wiz 7) called Simbul's Synestodweomer. It lets you burn one of your spell slots and convert it to healing magic on yourself. So if you burn a level 5 spell slot, you heal yourself 5d6.

As a general rule, if you want to do something that seems potentially unbalanced, just shop around at your local gaming store. Chances are that Wizards will indulge you...

 

[Axiomatic Unicorn]

That is true.

I understand the next Realms product will be Spells of Faerun.
It comes in "booster packs" (whatever that means) of 15 random spells. I understand some of the "rare" spells are supposed to really rock!!!!

 

[Zerovoid]

If a player really wanted a wizard that healed, I would probably let them research a spell, but it would be really weak. Maybe a 3rd level spell that healed 1d8 points of damage or something. Arcane magic is very versatile, and a wizard can probably find a way to make it do just about anything, but it just couldn't do it very well.

Another idea might be to balance the healing by saying it cannibalizes the targets own muscles to heal his body. Maybe 2 temporary points of strength damage for each dice of hp healed. The only way to get rid of this damge is with a cleric, so wizards certainly won't overpower them, but it would still be a way to save your buddy in a pinch.

 

[Wolf72]

create a spell that can temporarily heal ... say 1d4+1 per/lvl (max 1d4+5) ... let last up to 1 hour per caster lvl ... it's dispellable, weak,

call it Arcane Healing I ... then make optional rules ... that you can upgrade the healing to 1d6 (and have it last it 10min/lvl) ... 1d10 (for 1 min/lvl) ... 1d12 (1 rnd/lvl)

make it lvl 1 (sorc/wiz)

then go on to make Arcane healing 2,3, &4 ... (each gets another d4 healing ... II has a max of +10hp, III has a max of +15 hp, and IV has a max of +20hp)

the hp are temporary hp, so you would subtract them first from your total ... but they can not go above your total (so kinda act like real hp)

ps I'd post my official ones but I'm not at home (haven't ever used them yet, but I think they might work)

 

[Deadguy]

It has been commented on before that letting a Wizard heal probably wouldn't cause such a big problem; it's largely traditional flavour that's kept the separation of wizard and healing. However the moment the wizard gets to heal, will he be allowed to simply cast all his spells for combat? Of course not! he'll have to reserve some for healing - just like the cleric used to have to do!

In practise, I suspect that it wouldn't cause too many problems, and equally likely that in a group, most Wizards would prefer to avoid the healing spells just so they could actually cast a few more interesting spells!

 

[the Jester]

Arcane casters (bards notwithstanding) aren't supposed to heal. In older editions of the game there were occaisonally healing spells created for them (see the wizards' spell compendiums.) If you look at the conversion book (I believe it's on the cd that came with your player's handbook) you'll see that they mention that all arcane healing spells have been removed from the game.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

I've always had a problem with the justification for denying a wizard healing spells being, "because it's the cleric's shtick." After all, through the new 3e mechanic of domains, a cleric can choose to have access to a lot of the "wizard's shtick" if he so chooses. Wizard mainstays such as Haste, Fly, and even Time Stop have become accessible to clerics. Sure, not every cleric will have access to every (or even very many) wizard spells, but the potential is there. Why not give the same sort of potential to the wizard as well?

I haven't tried this in game, but here's a suggestion to help you get what you want. If a player suggested this in my campaign, I'd probably okay it.

Create a "Prestige School" for arcane magic, the Healing School. A wizard can choose to gain access to the Healing School by giving up access to other schools, just as a specialist wizard does. (Treat the Healing School as equal to Evocation or Conjuration with regards to what must be given up.) His only benefit, however, is access to the prestige school. He gains no additional spell slots per day, no bonus to learning spells, etc. Wizards with access to the Healing School add these spells to their class spell list, but not to their spellbooks. Spells must still be acquired normally through research and/or scribing. As the spells now appear on the wizard's class list (but only a wizard who's taken the prestige school, so scribing a scroll for other wizards is useless), spell completion and spell trigger items function for the wizard per the normal rules.

Then create a list of spells for the Healing School. Such a list might look like this:

Prestige School (Healing)
Level 1: Cure Minor Wounds, Virtue, Purify Food and Drink, Goodberry
Level 2: Cure Light Wounds, Delay Poison
Level 3: Aid
Level 4: Cure Moderate Wounds, Lesser Restoration
Level 5: Neutralize Poison, Reincarnate, Heal Mount
Level 6: Cure Serious Wounds, Remove Disease, Remove Curse
Level 7: Cure Critical Wounds, Restoration, Healing Circle
Level 8: Heal, Raise Dead
Level 9: Mass Heal, Ressurrection

I don't think something along these lines would be unbalancing. I might not allow it if there were a cleric already in the group (don't want to steal his time to shine,) but if there weren't one, I'd have no problem letting a wizard be a little different.

 

[Rowenstin]

(btw, dont be surprised if Swedish people find your mages name funny )

And Spanish, too. Gratis = For free.

 

[Feliath]

Free Translation

Please overlook the horrible pun of the post title.

And Spanish, too. Gratis = For free.

Same thing in Swedish. Dont'cha love history-induced linguistic blending?

 

[abri]

Healing for wizards: well your main stat is intelligence, so chance are your character can see a way around the limitation
There is Arcane Healing (Hollow Faust) whic is L2 and allow you to exchange 2 spell levels for 1d8+1 healing (no max on the amount of spell level you can sacrifice). I've found it VERY usefull after the battles (casting time 1min), as I'll always have some leftover spells I won't use.
There is False Life from Tome and Blood: 1d10+LV temporary HP for 1hr/lv.
There is healing touch from magic of Faerun.

Then there are the smart combos:
Cast kiss of the vampire (L5, or another spell which temporary makes you an undead), while the spell last negative energy ray spell (L1 T&B) will heal you up to 5d6HP and enervation will give you 1d4x5 temporary HP.
Use Summon monster: a lot of the high level moonster have some healing.
Cast enervation on the guy till he's dead, he'll come back as a wight in 1d4 rd, then you can heal him with negativ energy ray (don't laugh, I've seen it done in a group that was desesperate as the cleric was dead, was tough for them to get the wight raised to life after that though.)