Looking for alternatives to divine healing

[Targos]

Now one could explain druids, rangers, and maybe even paladins having access to divine magic without the presence of gods, but does anybody remember the old Lankhmar setting that had white and black magic. (divine and arcane respectively) Lankhmar had gods and the white mage could cast as a cleric, but they were unconnected. If you like, you could possibly still have clerics as they are, but explain differently where their magic comes from and not have any gods.

 

[wedgeski]

Thanks very much to everyone who has posted a suggestion - lots to think about! The ultimate solution is going to be that which fits best with the overall flavour of the campaign, which is still a little in flux so I can't really make a decision yet. Suffice it to say that I'll be coming back to this thread when the time comes...

 

[LokiDR]

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.

Well, what I was really pointing out was the nature of removing clerics from the balance. Divine magic is expected by the designers in many situations beyond simple HP damage. There are at least more than the cure spells and heal, if he does use that option.

Just something to keep an eye on.

 

[LokiDR]

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.

Religious tennates have inhibited healing as much as helped it. But I don't think religion is an issue, really.

Whenever large populations assemble, and people fight, there will be a need for healing. If the churches step out of that role, others will step in. Rulers can't just let their whole population die, they'd lose their power. Compassionate people will try to help others, and they will use anything they can get that works. This includes methods from dead religions. This, thematically, follows the previous 'researcher cleric' suggestion made from Heros of Horror.

The real reason, however, to keep healing is the fact this is a game. Games just aren't fun for most if you have to leave the dungeon and sleep for three days after every fight. There are all sorts of balance issues as well. Healing is important to play D&D as D&D.