Lots of Healing...

[tylermalan]

Alright, so, if I do end up running a "normal" game, is there anything that I should watch out for regarding channeling or healing in general that might be different from 3.5?

 

[IronWolf]

Alright, so, if I do end up running a "normal" game, is there anything that I should watch out for regarding channeling or healing in general that might be different from 3.5?

The normal cure spells work pretty much the same, the channeling is the biggest difference I think. Simply being aware of the burst healing aspect is likely good and keeping in mind that it heals all in the burst radius unless the caster has selective channeling as a feat.

And remember you can use it with NPC healers too.

 

[GameOgre]

Is it too unfair if the badguys have healers to? Why are all the encounters stacked so far in the PC's favor?Well besides wanting to not kill thme and end the game.

NPC's and monsters should have healers just like the PC's. Granted maybe not very good ones compared to the PC's but healers anyway that they protect just like the PC's do.

Is it just that it would grind down the fights too much? Healing is such a major think I can't see why the badguys wouldnt be doing it to.

 

[IronWolf]

Is it too unfair if the badguys have healers to? Why are all the encounters stacked so far in the PC's favor?Well besides wanting to not kill thme and end the game.

The bad guys can definitely have healers as well. I certainly wouldn't consider it unfair and I suspect most moderately intelligent NPC parties would have one at their disposal or other means of healing.

 

[DumbPaladin]

Again, I have no problem with the rule as it is. I have had problems with the mechanic in practice and I seek to remedy that in future games.

I suppose I understand your personal opinion regarding burst healing being a violation of what you prefer in your campaigns, but I feel compelled to point out a couple of things.

One: Clerics cast less spells per day than they did in 3.5 at the lower levels. They max out at 4 slots per day + bonus slots for high Wisdom. I suspect channeling is meant to offset that, so that clerics don't have to spend EVERY spell slot on healing and doing nothing else. Clerics have awfully useful spells beyond just healing.

Two: Clerics no longer have heavy armor and aren't as great for frontline fighting as in 3.5. PF clerics seem much more focused on healing. It's one of the only things they do especially well ... so lessening that ability will have a significant impact on their usefulness. You may want to offer your cleric players a chance to find another class if you start taking away their powers.

Three: All of the mass "cure" spells work in the same vein, EXCEPT that you get to pick who is affected, AND it doesn't have to be centered on you. So it's actually MORE useful. Do you object to people using mass cure light wounds as well? What do you have them do instead, out of curiosity? In comparison to the mass "cure" spells, channeling has two significant downsides.

 

[Tovec]

I suppose I understand your personal opinion regarding burst healing being a violation of what you prefer in your campaigns, but I feel compelled to point out a couple of things.

I don't feel that burst healing is a violation. I felt it was more powerful than intended in my non-point buy game. I'll let you know what happens when I switch to point buy. Just to let you know I also had an extremely powerful showing from a Monk - who wasted people far beyond their CR by themselves in a single round.

But I digress..

One: Clerics cast less spells per day than they did in 3.5 at the lower levels. They max out at 4 slots per day + bonus slots for high Wisdom. I suspect channeling is meant to offset that, so that clerics don't have to spend EVERY spell slot on healing and doing nothing else. Clerics have awfully useful spells beyond just healing.

Right you are, I rarely reached the end of my spellcasting as a cleric in 3.5 with the exception of low leveled (or low powered) games. The healing burst I would say more than off sets this issue, at least from what I have experienced before.

Two: Clerics no longer have heavy armor and aren't as great for frontline fighting as in 3.5. PF clerics seem much more focused on healing. It's one of the only things they do especially well ... so lessening that ability will have a significant impact on their usefulness. You may want to offer your cleric players a chance to find another class if you start taking away their powers.

They don't automatically get heavy armor, they still get medium which means they are a quick feat selection away from heavy. Yes they are more focused on healing, so much so that their secondary ability of turn undead has become a healing burst able to heal everyone with positive energy OR hurt undead. I thought it was a amazingly cool ability when I first saw it in the Core. I always thought turning undead was weak compared to destroying them and that's what their healing burst allows them to do now.
When did I say I would take away their power to heal burst? I said if I still had an issue when I instituted point buy then I would have to figure something out, such as eliminating selective channeling or something. But that was conditional if I still found it to be more powerful than wanted. I suspect this will not be true.

Three: All of the mass "cure" spells work in the same vein, EXCEPT that you get to pick who is affected, AND it doesn't have to be centered on you. So it's actually MORE useful. Do you object to people using mass cure light wounds as well? What do you have them do instead, out of curiosity? In comparison to the mass "cure" spells, channeling has two significant downsides.

Yes all mass cure spells do with in the same vein but here is where it differs.
You get the lowest level at 9th, with cure light wounds - 5th level divine spell for a cleric - Yes at that level it is more powerful than the healing burst. However, you haven't had that cure light wounds spell since level 1. It is a high level spell that allows you to choose to heal. Not a simple feat.

Also, DumbPaladin, I was done with this before. I gave my grief, said what I thought needed saying. If we don't agree I really don't worry about it. What is true of my game may not be true of yours. I accept that. I don't feel I am anymore wrong than you are for truly loving the ability.

 

[tylermalan]

So, I talked to my Cleric player last night and, basically, he doesn't see the healing thing as a real issue. He says he doesn't even intend to "waste" a feat on Selective Channeling because he doesn't use healing magic enough. He also has access to the Healing Domain, and pointed out that he has never even used a single domain spell from that domain yet.