I was unconsious 20 minutes ago, but I'm ok now..

[hong]

The issue with healing as I see it, is that the presence of a cleric basically shifts the group from a slower-paced recovery rate over the course of a day, to better spike recovery. You don't actually get any more healing surges in the presence of a cleric, you can just use them more rapidly when needed. It's like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

This doesn't seem right to me. I would prefer it if a cleric actually allowed you to heal more, instead of just reallocating your healing surges. (Okay, there's the extra hp healed from Healing Word, but how significant such bonuses are beyond 1st level remains to be seen.)

The problem then becomes, how do you keep a group from being able to fight all day if they have a cleric. Well, assuming this is a problem (some think it's not), you could tie healing more closely to the actual damage being dealt. A similar problem exists in the current setup anyway; while Healing Word is ostensibly a per-encounter ability, out of combat you can use it almost any time you want, which seems a bit cheesy.

How does this sound:

Word of Protection
At will
Immediate action
Target: you or 1 ally
Effect: the next 5 points of damage the target takes before the start of your next turn are negated.

This is effectively pre-emptive healing for X points of damage (cast it just before the orc's battleaxe hits), but is useless out of combat, thus avoiding people getting too much mileage out of it. Maybe change to twice-per-encounter like Healing Word if it's too powerful.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

The issue with healing as I see it, is that the presence of a cleric basically shifts the group from a slower-paced recovery rate over the course of a day, to better spike recovery. You don't actually get any more healing surges in the presence of a cleric, you can just use them more rapidly when needed. It's like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

This doesn't seem right to me. I would prefer it if a cleric actually allowed you to heal more, instead of just reallocating your healing surges. (Okay, there's the extra hp healed from Healing Word, but how significant such bonuses are beyond 1st level remains to be seen.)

The problem then becomes, how do you keep a group from being able to fight all day if they have a cleric. Well, assuming this is a problem (some think it's not), you could tie healing more closely to the actual damage being dealt. A similar problem exists in the current setup anyway; while Healing Word is ostensibly a per-encounter ability, out of combat you can use it almost any time you want, which seems a bit cheesy.

How does this sound:

Word of Protection
At will
Immediate action
Target: you or 1 ally
Effect: the next 5 points of damage the target takes before the start of your next turn are negated.

This is effectively pre-emptive healing for X points of damage (cast it just before the orc's battleaxe hits), but is useless out of combat, thus avoiding people getting too much mileage out of it. Maybe change to twice-per-encounter like Healing Word if it's too powerful.

That might work. One must make sure that its scales with level, I think, but it is an approach. The Paladings At Wil attack seems to work this way, too. (3 temporary hit points per attack)

 

[Revinor]

The issue with healing as I see it, is that the presence of a cleric basically shifts the group from a slower-paced recovery rate over the course of a day, to better spike recovery. You don't actually get any more healing surges in the presence of a cleric, you can just use them more rapidly when needed.

But if cleric helps you, your healing surge heals you more. In fact, on 1st level it seems that cleric bonus can be more than your healing surge base. More or less, cleric doubles effectiveness of your healing surge (so, spend one, get one for free).

Word of Protection

It is called "Power Word: Shield"
http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/spell.html?wspell=17

Effect: the next 5 points of damage the target takes before the start of your next turn are negated.

I think that temporary hit points are a correct mechanic for such kinds of effects (Bolstering Strike from Paladin for example).

I don't think that 'at-will' immediate actions are good idea. As far as I understand current rules, you will be able to cast infinite amount of them per round. In such case, better do it minor action with close burst affecting all allies in range.

 

[hong]

No, you only get 1 immediate action per round. So you can only protect one person.

You could have other spells that affect everyone in a range, but they would presumably be higher level.


PS. I was actually thinking of Shielding Hands when I wrote that....

 

[Revinor]

No, you only get 1 immediate action per round. So you can only protect one person.

Sorry, I thought you meant free action. You cannot take immediate actions AT ALL during your turn.

"You can take only one immediate action per round, and you can’t take an immediate action on your turn." - from Monsters&More, page 17.

This is why immediate actions are always reaction/trigger. So your power as written would be not possible to use.

 

[hong]

That might work. One must make sure that its scales with level, I think, but it is an approach. The Paladings At Wil attack seems to work this way, too. (3 temporary hit points per attack)

IIRC the complaint I've heard about the cleric and paladin abilities is that they're rather arbitrary. You hit a random bad guy, and someone in range gets a healing bonus.

Yes, you can justify this as "Pelor, save my buddy because I am otherwise occupied" but that's putting the cart before the horse. Pre-emptive protection deals with the problem at the source.

 

[hong]

Sorry, I thought you meant free action. You cannot take immediate actions AT ALL during your turn.

"You can take only one immediate action per round, and you can’t take an immediate action on your turn." - from Monsters&More, page 17.

This is why immediate actions are always reaction/trigger. So your power as written would be not possible to use.

Er, that's the point. You cast this Word of Protection thing on the monster's turn, ideally after it's rolled its attack but before it rolls damage. Or, if the DM is being a hardass, you cast after it declares its attack, but before the attack roll. Either way, it acts to prevent damage from being dealt, which is, if anything, better than healing afterwards.

 

[Wolfspider]

Haha, maybe what REALLY sets the adventurers apart from everyone else are incredibly overdeveloped adrenal glands.

Ahh! Now we finally know what's up with the dragonborn. Those weren't females after all, just experienced adventurers with overdeveloped glands....

 

[gninjagnome]

The issue with healing as I see it, is that the presence of a cleric basically shifts the group from a slower-paced recovery rate over the course of a day, to better spike recovery. You don't actually get any more healing surges in the presence of a cleric, you can just use them more rapidly when needed. It's like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

This doesn't seem right to me. I would prefer it if a cleric actually allowed you to heal more, instead of just reallocating your healing surges. (Okay, there's the extra hp healed from Healing Word, but how significant such bonuses are beyond 1st level remains to be seen.)

Have we seen higher level healing spells yet? I don't recall any. It would make sense to me that at lower levels, you improve peoples existing recovery, but as you increase in power, you get better at it, and eventually can heal people outright.

 

[hong]

Have we seen higher level healing spells yet? I don't recall any. It would make sense to me that at lower levels, you improve peoples existing recovery, but as you increase in power, you get better at it, and eventually can heal people outright.

Dammit, stop interrupting me while I'm indulging my gearhead gene.