Negative Energy vs Positive Energy & Cure vs Inflict

[Lasher Dragon]

OK, so a while back something came up in our games that I find strange, and I'm sure this has probably been discussed on here but I can't find it.

A cure (blank) heals the living, and harms the undead. An inflict (blank) heals the undead and harms the living. Seems simple enough. Are these at all related to negative/positive energy?

I find it strange when there are spells like negative energy ray that harm the living and heal the undead, at range, and yet there's no equivalent positive energy ray - or is there? I've never seen it.

Is positive energy the exact opposite of negative energy, for effects related to living/undead? Could someone cast a ray of positive energy at a living PC and heal them? Or is ranged healing restricted to the evil/undead side of the coin? Well I suppose there's healing circle, but that's not precise as a ray would be. Has anyone houseruled something like this?

Or am I just confused because the negative energy (blank) spells I am using are from Tome & Blood (3.0) and totally broken?

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

You're not confused. Negative Energy harms the living, and heals the undead. Positive Energy heals the living, and harms the undead.

There are Positive Energy ray spells - in fact, there's on that's a 0th-level Wizard / Sorc spell, called Disrupt Undead (1d6 damage, ranged touch attack) - there just aren't that many of them.

 

[Jdvn1]

But does Disrupt Undead heal the living?

 

[Nail]

...and - the key point - positive energy spells don't necessarily heal the living, e.g. Disrupt Undead.

It's not exactly a perfect two-way street.

 

[Jdvn1]

So maybe the question should be: Should Positive Energy spells heal the living?

EDIT: Well, maybe wrong thread for that.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

No, all Positive Energy spells don't heal the living (in terms of hit point damage). But then, not all Negative energy spells harm the living (in terms of hit point damage) - specifically, look at Enervation, which is a negative energy spell that affects undead and living creatures in non-parallel fashions.

Certain methods of channeling that energy (specifically, Cure and Inflict type spells), allow that to happen.

In general, you'll find that clerical / divine magic possesses the deftest touch when it comes to positive and negative energy, and thus it is clerical spells that most often have parallel and opposite effects.

Arcane magic, on the other hand, tends to handle these energies with less ... skill, and so tends to be more divergent in its effects.

 

[Orius]

Keep in mind that healing spells are more of an application of positive energy than just pure positive energy. Remember, exposure to too much positive energy at once (ie, being on the Positive Energy Plane) can kill living creatures from an overload of positive energy.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

I've debated that a lot, Orius, on other boards.

I'm not sure that "kill" is really the appropriate word in that case. I mean, it's not like the body suddenly loses all its positive energy (which is really how death sets in in D&D), rather, it's that the body can no longer contain the life within it.

The life within escapes the boundaries of the body (which, because it is a Prime, is made up of both positive and negative energy) and becomes perfectly alive, existing without the negative energy-imbued shell.

Mechanically, perhaps, there isn't much difference between this state and dead, but philosophically I believe there's a huge difference.