Los?

[sammy]

Do I need line of sight for Healing Word and such other healing powers?

Sammy

 

[Nytmare]

Do I need line of sight for Healing Word and such other healing powers?

A burst affects a target only if there is line of effect from the burst’s origin square to the target.

​

Not "line of sight," per se, but "line of effect". Healing Word is Close Burst, so need a clear line of effect from the origin square.​

 

[isd]

​

Not "line of sight," per se, but "line of effect". Healing Word is Close Burst, so need a clear line of effect from the origin square.​

However if you don't have line of sight how dose your character know where he should fire the healing effect? You need line of sight to the target no mater what, but if you are targeting a space as the origin you still need to know where the target is or be able to guess. beware metagaming.

 

[Nytmare]

However if you don't have line of sight how dose your character know where he should fire the healing effect?

It's a burst. If I pull the pin on a grenade and then close my eyes it hardly matters what I can and can't see.

 

[cdrcjsn]

However if you don't have line of sight how dose your character know where he should fire the healing effect? You need line of sight to the target no mater what, but if you are targeting a space as the origin you still need to know where the target is or be able to guess. beware metagaming.

The rules don't need line of sight to use close burst powers.

You also know the precise square of every single creature on the board, even if you're blind, unless they roll a stealth check. The -5 to target them with ranged/melee attacks already take into account the miss factor of not seeing them.

How can a healer heal someone they can't see? Perhaps the moaning of their dying comrade is enough to guide their prayers. Or the dying hears the inspiring words of the warlord through a haze of pain.

 

[Amphimir Míriel]

How can a healer heal someone they can't see? Perhaps the moaning of their dying comrade is enough to guide their prayers. Or the dying hears the inspiring words of the warlord through a haze of pain.

I know you are trying to be ironic, but your second example is correct. Some more examples (based on each healer class):

Cleric: "Pelor do not forsake us! Heal my comrade so he can serve you!". A wash of holy light flows over you, easing your pain and returning your strenght. Some pseudo-Latin chorus and some big major-third chords in an pipe organ sound from seemingly nowhere.

Warlord: You hear the words of your friend through the mists of unconsciousness... "Seiya! You can't die dammit! We need to rescue Zaori! C'mon!"... You blink your eyes hard, once or twice, and push back on one knee, gripping your sword...

Bard: The Eladrin in makeup downpicks a power chord in his lute and screams in a Heavy-Metal falseto: "Majeeeesstiiiic Woooord!!!"... The magical energy flows out of the sound waves, momentarily stunning an opponent and allowing you to move a couple steps into a better position. With this guy in your team, you feel like you could rock and roll all night!

Shaman: The guy in the loincloth raises his rattle: "By the power of the Jungle, the Ghost-that-Walks grants you the strenght of ten tigers!" The ghostly panther by his side seems to jump into you and then you suddenly feel strong, healthy and with an unexplainable craving for very rare steaks

Did I miss anyone?

 

[Pickles JG]

Did I miss anyone?

Yeah do artificier

 

[Amphimir Míriel]

Yeah do artificier

Mhmm, tricky... I'm not a D&Di subscriber and I don't have that particular free issue in this computer, but just working out of memory:

Artificer: The dwarf with the goggles exclaims "Dang, that looks like a nasty burn! Wait a sec boy! I got a good remedy for that!"

He takes out a small, green glass vial from one of his multiple bandoliers but then he hesitates for a moment and yells "How much do you weight lad?".

Since you can only respond with a weak moan, he shrugs and unstoppers the vial with his teeth and carefully drops about a tablespoon's worth of dust in his other hand before putting the cork back on. He mumbles, "this oughta do the trick" and blows on the dust while reciting an arcane formula.

The dust flies through the air in a glittering stream and appears to dodge a couple of goblins before landing on top of you. You feel your pain numbing down, soothing the burning feeling and restoring movement to your limbs. You are ready to keep fighting!

 

[Pbartender]

Do I need line of sight for Healing Word and such other healing powers?

No. Line of sight only determines how much concealment a target gets, whereas line of effect determines the amount of cover. If you have line of effect but not line of sight, then you can still blindly target any given square and hope you hit something, while taking all appropriate penalties for concealment.

See PHB page 273, "Seeing and Targeting" for more details.

However if you don't have line of sight how dose your character know where he should fire the healing effect? You need line of sight to the target no mater what, but if you are targeting a space as the origin you still need to know where the target is or be able to guess. beware metagaming.

We had a similar situation last gaming session. Be creative with the rules at hand...

Player 1, Free Action: "Hey! Where are you?"
Player 2, Free Action: "I'm right here!"
Player 1, Minor action: DC 0 Perception check to determine direction of shouting ally, beating DC 10 pinpoints the shouting ally's square.