Necromantic healing

[Geron Raveneye]

Now, I know this topic seems to gripe some people...but I don´t want to start a "bash arcane healing spells" thread, okay?

I wanted to ask for some opinions on the levels of two necromantic healing spells I found in two different sources.

One is Healing Touch, from the Magic of Faerun accessory. It allows to heal 1d6 HP per 2 caster levels, max. 10d6, drawing from the casters HP with a Range of Touch, up to actual HP of caster + 10 can be transferred, killing the caster in the process. The spell is 3rd level.

The other is Essence Shift, from the Hollowfaust:City of Necromancers. It allows to draw on another´s lifeforce, drawing 1d6 per 1 caster level, max. 10d6, transferring that lifeforce as healing to another. The Range is Touch, the "donor" may try a Will save (shouldn´t that be Fort ?) to bnegate the spell, and loses 1d3 HP from bleeding per round until the bleeding is stopped. The spell is 7th level.

In my eyes, there are some discrepancies in spell levels here. Does anybody have an idea what justifies a difference of 4 levels between the spells (except that the designers of Hollowfaust didn´t check with those of MoF, of course ), and if the levels should be adjusted or not?

And if anyone has that fancy Dragon issue where they wrote about that strange school of transportation spells...they had one called Lifeforce Transfer that allowed a caster to send an amount of his own HP equal to 1HP/level + 1d4 add. over a range of 30 ft. per level to another living creature to heal it. Was a 2E spell and was 4th level.

Opinions?

 

[CRGreathouse]

Don't forget vampiric touch[/a] from the PH!

 

[Geron Raveneye]

Yes...

...I was more looking at "heal others" kind of spells, but you´re right...obviously Healing Touch is the opposite to Vampiric Touch, and as that deserves 3rd level. Now...why did they put Essence Shift at 7th level...?
As far as I see it, it doubles the amount of HP transferred per level, while the max. stays the same, and it draws from another person than the caster.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I think that's it. Healing touch draws the life force from you, so the party is, summed up, no better off than before. Essence shift, on the other hand, can also be used offensively and draws on your enemy's HP and heals a friend at the same time. The enemy also could bleed to death if he's not healed in time.

 

[Christian]

Wizards don't generally have very many hit points to spare. Of course, the temporary hit points from Vampiric Touch generally work quite well ... So you can think about it this way; Essence Shift does the work of two 3rd level spells (Vampiric Touch and Healing Touch), all at once, with higher maximum effects, and also saves you having to make at least one melee touch attack. (Which, BTW, is a much bigger deal for a wizard with no armor and d4 hit dice, than for a cleric with unrestricted armor and d8 hit dice.) I haven't seen that particular spell description, but 7th level doesn't seem out of line. I'd put it at 6th, at an absolute minimum ...

 

[Geron Raveneye]

Hey...thanks all

That´s a nice way to explain it...thanks, folks