Lots of Healing...

[tylermalan]

I'm currently running a horror game set in the Pathfinder world. There is very little combat so far, but I have noticed a huge spike in the Cleric's ability to heal, specifically in the channeling positive energy for a burst healing effect. Because the campaign is so combat-lite it hasn't really been an issue, but I may DM a game of "normal" Pathfinder and would like to know if anyone has had any "problems" with the level of healing available. Did the designers of Pathfinder attempt to create a pseudo-4th edition in terms of how many encounters can be thrown at the PCs in a day (meaning more than in 3.5)? How many encounters have your parties been able to handle in a day?

 

[Tovec]

I have noticed this. I had this exact issue with the first playtest I did with Pathfinder this past year. I'm not sure what the "fix" would be and I do agree with the "4E" feel of it.

It wasn't the only issue I had, I had a very strong Monk who utterly wrecked combat encounters far beyond his level.

Anyway, for my next game I'm requiring point buy and I'm hoping this will mitigate such issues. If it doesn't, then I'll have to houserule something after that.

 

[IronWolf]

I have not really seen it be an issue yet. Most of my cleric experience has been by playing a cleric in a PbP though. In that scenario I haven't even had to channel for purpose of healing. I have another NPC cleric in a game I am GMing and in that case that cleric is running low on healing even with the channel feature.

One thing to remember is that without the selective channeling feat that burst will heal the enemy as well. The cleric also lost the heavy armor proficiency which can help keep them out of melee (or at least make them easier to hit).

In either case I haven't really seen an issue with it.

 

[Celtavian]

Cleric channeling is negligible the first few levels and after around lvl 15 or so. It has a sweet spot where it isn't too bad between about lvl 5 to 13. After and before that it doesn't keep up with damage output. But since the majority of games end in that range, I imagine it is useful for the majority of campaigns.

In our current lvl 17 campaign, I don't even using channeling. Even with 9d6 channeling, it's not worth spending an action on when the enemies hit for 30 or 50 points in a single stroke and spells do 70 or more points of damage on average.

 

[tylermalan]

Thinking back, I don't think it has been an issue, but I didn't realize that the channel affects ALL living creatures within the burst. That is definitely good to know. But still, it seems really powerful. A level 3 Cleric can heal the entire party between fights for 2d6 hp per burst at a minimum of 3 times per day. That's so much more healing available that in 3.5, no?

 

[Crothian]

I can see it as being too much as our Party just has a Druid and Paladin for healing and we have pletny. I can't imagine what a cleric built for healing could do!

 

[Tovec]

One thing to remember is that without the selective channeling feat that burst will heal the enemy as well. The cleric also lost the heavy armor proficiency which can help keep them out of melee (or at least make them easier to hit).

Aye, but there's the rub. Selective channel can make it only so that the party get healed. And with or without burning that second feat to give him armor there are plenty of spells able to be cast on the cleric (or from other sources) that makes him plenty strong enough for front lines. Maybe not primary melee like they used to be but given the fact they no longer have to be in the adjacent square the burst is plenty helpful. Add to the fact the "heals enemies" thing only really matters with big brutes which are wailing on that front line fighter or large groups infecting each square between players the burst which heals everyone isn't really an issue.

Plus OP's point, to which I agreed, was that its a godsend after battle.

 

[tylermalan]

Well, the thing is, I'm not convinced that it's anything that needs fixing... it's just that this is the first Pathfinder game that my group has played and it's light on combat, so it's hard to tell if the entire rest of the game is balanced proportionate to the increased healing.

 

[IronWolf]

Aye, but there's the rub. Selective channel can make it only so that the party get healed. And with or without burning that second feat to give him armor there are plenty of spells able to be cast on the cleric (or from other sources) that makes him plenty strong enough for front lines. Maybe not primary melee like they used to be but given the fact they no longer have to be in the adjacent square the burst is plenty helpful. Add to the fact the "heals enemies" thing only really matters with big brutes which are wailing on that front line fighter or large groups infecting each square between players the burst which heals everyone isn't really an issue.

Oh, I agree that channeling positive energy is useful. But I certainly don't consider it overpowering. There are tradeoffs for several of the situations you note above. Either using feats or not using feats to improve channeling or getting heavy armor back have impact. Using spells to make up for lack of feats are spells you cannot use for something else.

Me? I never like to heal the enemy. A creature with 1 hit point is every bit as dangerous as one with full hit points. Certainly subjective on this opinion though. Some may be more comfortable healing the enemy than I am.

Plus OP's point, to which I agreed, was that its a godsend after battle.

Eh, if one is comfortable enough to blow their channels after battle for mass healing, then I probably would have had time to blow my remaining spells for healing spells. Or what we tend to do - heal up with wands.

 

[DragonLancer]

The party I am running for presently has two clerics in the party (everyone is 5th and single class) and I've yet to see a problem. They use it as a means to heal after fights, saving spells for combat or purchasing healing wands between adventures.