Healing Spells

[The Great Bear King]

Everyone, what school should healing spells go under, Necromancy or Conjuration.

 

[kirinke]

They're listed as conjuration. Perhaps a combination of conjuration and alteration would work better as they deal with the channeling of positive energy and altering that energy so that it heals.

Necromancy is more along the lines of negative energy, so the game designers decided that cure light wounds was positive. hence, can't be necromancy.

 

[The Druid Merlin]

They're listed as conjuration. Perhaps a combination of conjuration and alteration would work better as they deal with the channeling of positive energy and altering that energy so that it heals.

Necromancy is more along the lines of negative energy, so the game designers decided that cure light wounds was positive. hence, can't be necromancy.

Here's how I see things for my campaign. All wizards in my world are scientists of some,
sort. Necromancers are the biologists, forensic pathologists, and bio-weapons experts; Conjurors are the physicists, geologists and meteorologists (though they conjure weather and not predict it), Evokers are the physicists and chemists (chemistry is also the science of matter reacting with energy), Diviners are a little bit of every thing, Enchanters are the physicists, psychologists and chemists; Transmuters are the physicists, chemists, and geologists; Illusionists are the psychologists and optical scientists, and Abjurers are the physicists.

 

[JimAde]

Everyone, what school should healing spells go under, Necromancy or Conjuration.

You could actually make an argument for Transmutation.

But if I have to choose between these two I'd say Conjuration. The only reason is that the 3.x spell descriptions lean heavily toward Necromancy=Evil. This is never said outright, of course, but... To be consistent with the feel of necromancy spells, I don't think healing fits.

I think the best solution is a Healing school that's a sort of opposition school to necromancy. Maybe it would even include spells that let you use positive energy to animate permanent non-living servants (like different versions of the Animate Object spell) as a counter to the Animate Dead spells.

 

[DreamChaser]

They really can't be Transmutation because, as a rule of thumb, the changes created by Transmutation last only as long as the magic lasts. There aren't really (or shouldn't be) many "instantaneous" Trans powers. They should all have durations. Flesh to Stone and Stone to Flesh are technically instant but they are exceptions.

I would say Conjuration, Evocation, or Necromancy.
Evocation tends to deal with everything except positive and negative energy so it doesn't really work.

Inflict spells should be necromancy since every other spell that channels negative energy is (like Energy Drain).

Cure spells should probably be conjuration.

Of course, this very discussion gets to the heart of the problem with the 8 school system. It was tacked on orginally and then only to wizard (then magic user spells) and the has been rebalanced and rebalanced again and again.

I actually reorganized the spells into lists of effect. There are 13 (including universal):
Attack (anything that directly attacks another creature by dealing damage)
Conjuration (moves things to another places)
Divination (finds things out)
Enchantment (manipulates minds)
Enhancment (increases or decreases skills, abilities, etc.)
Evocation (deals with energy but doesn't attack)
Illusion (fools the senses)
Life (heals, harms, and restores)
Nature (manipulates animals, plants, and the weather)
Necromancy (deals with death, undead, and similar abilities)
Protection (defends from harm)
Transmutation (causes physical changes)
Universal (utility or cross school effects).

I have found that this creates less confusion for me in terms of where things should go and the lists are pretty similarly sized.

DC

 

[DreamChaser]

I can post my file with my revised lists if there is any interest.

DC

 

[Merlion]

Necromancy or Transmutation. the Conjuration thing is odd on two levels: One, what is Conjuration doing "conjuring" energy? Isnt that Evocation's job? (yes there are other instances, and they are odd to...or lead one to believe Evocation and Conjuration should be folded into each other in some way), and because to me magical healing is reparing the body, not conjuring something. Of course the whole positive/negative energy thing is a bit odd to me anyway, as handled in DnD.

I'd probably make it Necromancy.

 

[The Druid Merlin]

I agree with you. Healing should go under necromancy, and by the way why not include genetic engineering in necromancy aswell.

 

[The Druid Merlin]

Necromancy or Transmutation. the Conjuration thing is odd on two levels: One, what is Conjuration doing "conjuring" energy? Isnt that Evocation's job? (yes there are other instances, and they are odd to...or lead one to believe Evocation and Conjuration should be folded into each other in some way), and because to me magical healing is reparing the body, not conjuring something. Of course the whole positive/negative energy thing is a bit odd to me anyway, as handled in DnD.

I'd probably make it Necromancy.

I agree with you. Healing should go under necromancy, and by the way why not include genetic engineering in necromancy aswell.