Looking for alternatives to divine healing

[Noldor Elf]

Of course, if there have been Gods in your world at some point, Archivist (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20051007a&page=3) would be PERFECT solution to your problem.

 

[Drowbane]

Bards can use limited healing spells.

If I were to drop Divine spellcasters, I suppose I'd drop Sorcs too... leaving only Spec Wizards, who could cast any spell from thier Specialized School. (Conjuration would be highly popular)... perhaps with more Barred Schools as a result.

 

[scottin]

Hi folks. I'm working on a campaign world for a new game starting in a few weeks, and it is one in which there are no Gods (in D&D terms) at all. None. Zip. Now obviously this has implications for divine magic, which doesn't exist, but it's divine healing that I'm specifically looking for alternatives to at this point in time.

I would still like supernatural healing to be a mechanic of some kind, something with a cost in terms of combat actions and so on, and whatever I decide on I will probably mix with the likes of Reserve Points to round out the solution. RP's don't solve my problem in and of themselves because as I understand them they're purely a 'range: self' type of mechanic. I would like something which allows one PC to heal another in some way.

Has anyone got any existing d20/OGL sources they can suggest? Many thanks!

EDIT: This may well be the wrong forum having actually written the post. Mods feel free to move!

My suggestions would be
1) go the technological route suggested by others
2) Use clerics, but make them arcane casters, therefore have to follow the arcane rules regarding armor and spell failure, etc.
3) Allow specialist wiz/sorc who can choose domains from the clerics lists as arcane spells. (I believe that there is a feat that allows this, so it should be anti-RAW anyway, tho I may have read it as an alt feat )

scottin

 

[Lord Pendragon]

For me, the simplest solution would be to add all the cure spells + heal to the sor/wiz spell list. Then you could wind up with healing-specialized sorcerers in the world, etc.

 

[waterdhavian]

you can easily allow arcane magic access to divine. In a sense then wizards or sorcerers or anyone else with access to arcane magic can gain healing spells. Or perhaps you can create a prestige class that focuses on divine magic as an arcane magic. You could also have healing magic which i believe is conjuration fall into an arcane school. Therefor allowing a wizard who has his specialty be conjuration and be the healer.

Also using nature is a good substitute aswell. Druids and rangers can continue to heal by using nature instead of some divine power. Druids would be the new cleric? You can have specialist druids who are known for their healing powers, innate and by herbal or alchemical means.

 

[LokiDR]

For me, the simplest solution would be to add all the cure spells + heal to the sor/wiz spell list. Then you could wind up with healing-specialized sorcerers in the world, etc.

Would you leave out the other curative spells, like remove blindness, cure disease, the restoration chain, regenerate and others? I know these issues don't come up every session, but I think their important parts of 'healing' that need to be considered.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Would you leave out the other curative spells, like remove blindness, cure disease, the restoration chain, regenerate and others? I know these issues don't come up every session, but I think their important parts of 'healing' that need to be considered.

He said he was getting rid of divine magic, but it was divine healing he was specifically interested in keeping. I took that to mean healing hp damage, specifically. If he were referring to a broader set of recovery spells, then I'd certainly include those as well. Basically, I was suggesting that he simply roll those spells he wants to keep available into the sor/wiz list. It'd allow for sorcerers that specialized in arcane healing, preserving the availability of the healing, while removing all the divine connections.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

I think for me the easiest solution to this problem is the already suggested balms/ointments/heal skill. Like the modern world. It takes time, though, to heal via antibiotics ... so it would take time to heal via balms and the heal skill.

Honestly, though, I personally think that adding the heal + cure spells to the arcanists spell selection is a nice and neat solution, but it doesn't make sense in a greater ethos way. I disagree with the above poster who said without gods there would be more emphasis on technological advancements. To make that statement, one must also use an incredibly modern world or a world where a xenophobic theocrat is in charge.

Because, let's face it. Historically speaking in all cultures far and wide ... the more religious a culture was the more advanced their healing technology was. The Greeks are the ultimate example in this. They could cure several modern ailments that we still cannot! They had incerdible medicines and drugs tat they used - and much of that was spurred on because of their pantheon. The Egyptians were no different. Nor were the Persains. I'm not a big buff of ancient far east, but my guess is that they were advanced ... and they were also religious in their own right.

historically speaking, the only reason we modern people seperate medecine and religion is because we had a xenophobic Catholic shurch push the Western world into the Dark Ages and much science was lost. But unless this DMs world has a xenophobic religion dominating the world - there is no reason to think that healing would be seperated from the divine.

What this all points me to is this. If the divine is taken out of the world ... the truth is that most of the healing should be - unless you are in a modern setting. So to create a world with no deities would imply creating a world with very slow healing. It would mean that the only way to heal would be through boosting one's natural healing through rest. That's the solution that makes sense to me - although it means damage is to be taken much more seriously in that campaign.

But ultimately, it is up to the creator of the world. I already said the nicest, neatest solution is just transfer the healing spells over to the arcanists spell selection. It doesn't make sense in the ethos of the world (in my mind) but mechanically that is the nicest solution.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Use Green, Blue, and Red herbs like in Resident Evil!

Green ones heal, red ones when combined with green ones intensify the healing, and blue ones cure poison. Green and blue can be mixed together to make a healing/curing of poison thingy.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

The Black Company Campaign Setting has no gods, clerics nor magical healing. They boosted the healing skill a bit (provided one of your characters has the "medic" background).

Basically, the healing skill can be used to convert a certain random number of lethal wounds into non-lethal ones. The higher your healing check, the more you can convert.

IIRC, converting takes 1 round per hp.

AR