No more cleric. What to do?

[der_kluge]

Bear with me on this one...

In RL, one of my best friends was admitted into the ICU on Wednesday for a pain killer overdose. In short, he had pneumonia because he aspirated into his lungs, and went unconscious. Luckily for him, his ex-wife decided to check up on him (it was an amicable split between them) and the paramedics were called in. Today, he is nearly as good as new, and as well as can be expected. But, since he is alone (no family here), his mom is planning on taking him back to Arkansas where family can monitor his health (he has other health issues which require some monitoring).

And, as a public service announcement, if you know anyone who may be abusing prescription drugs, please ensure that they get the help that they might need.

But, the reason this post is here, is because this guy happens to play the only cleric in a 12th level party.

So, if he moves to Arkansas, which seems likely, my group will be without a healer, and at least more importantly, access to spells like raise dead.

To add to the problem, the party is on a desolate continent without access to towns, or even NPCs.


I guess I do have a few options, and we might discuss these the next time we play, but they include:
- adding a new player to come in and play a cleric. This is problematic since I have so few ways of introducing new PCs, especially ones that are based on the core races. And if I were a player, I'd be reluctact to come in to a group to play a specific role, versus having the choice to play something I wanted to play. Does anyone have any experience here?

- adding an NPC somewhere that the party has access to. My players tend to really abuse this, and if it's an important figure, with access to power, or knowledge, they tend to get really lazy and rely on that figure more than I'd like. They do have access to a Nymph druid with access to reincarnate, so that would be at least one option (if not a somewhat odd one). This NPC is not stationary (she protects a grove), so could not journey with them.

- even if they have access to an NPC to raise dead characters, there is still the issue of party healing, which they will not have. So, aside from giving them a ton of (artificially generous) healing magic, they will be kind of screwed on this front. Party is a barbarian, ftr/wiz, sor, and ftr.

- Alternatively, I could continue to keep my friend's cleric in play, and run him as an NPC. I'm not sure I want to do that, though. The guy playing the Sorcerer runs him currently (as my friend has missed quite a few games in recent times) and could theoretically continue to do so.

Anyway. Looking for any advice here on what they think the best course of action is.

 

[Morpheus]

Have the Sorcerer keep playing him until another opportunity to: a) Add a new player or b) add a new NPC. If ain't totally broke, don't totally fix it.

 

[LGodamus]

Have the party adjust.....

I have had more than one party with no cleric or druid , and as a DM I have resisted the impulse to cradle them and play an NPC cleric to help them. They all faired well after a little early incidents. Once they learn a more cautious style clerics are not a necessity, but I would suggest someone put ranks in heal.

If someone did want to join the group and play a new party member, cleric or not, you could always use savage species type rules and let them play a race from your desolate are...if you are worried about straining the believability of just happening upon another adventurer of a PHB race.

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

Have his PC go off on a mission or something that requires he go alone. (We are in a situation in one of my games, where a PC had to leave for a "solo mission" because the player has too much going on at the moment to continue playing).

Then, have the party go on, as they would if this PC died in combat and could not be raised. I have played in games with no druid/cleric too and we get by. Maybe, given the circumstances, give them a little generosity...extra healing poitions/wands. Or have an NPC come in who could join up. Maybe have the NPC end up where they are, either by magical means, or he was lost, or he was deserted or however you wanted to bring him into the desolate area where your PCs are.

You could look for a temporary player (do you want to have two clerics when/if your friend comes back), but some might not want to come in and be told they have to play a cleric and I know I'd not feel right starting at 12th level. Maybe there are others who would. I like the NPC idea better.

I truly hope your friend is getting better. My thoughts are with him.

Best,
Sheri

 

[Crothian]

Have the party adjust to not having a cleric. My group doesn't have one and it really makes the game more interesting.

 

[Altalazar]

Buy lots of healing potions. I've had parties without clerics, and that is what they did. Avoiding getting hurt also helps.

 

[Schmoe]

Funny you should mention that. In my current campaign the characters are 12th level. When the party cleric bought the farm, the player came to me and said that he wanted to play a different character. He had only created the cleric, a rather bland character, because he was new to the group and didn't want to cause waves. I knew that it would cause difficulties for the party, as the cleric was the primary healer and the group was hundreds of miles from any sort of civilization. Lacking a powerful arcanist, they couldn't even teleport to the nearest town. Despite this, I didn't try to discourage him. All along I had espoused the notion that players should be free to play whatever they want, and now I had to stand behind my ideals.

To make a long story short, Pharos the Cleric was replaced by Sidrian the Fighter/Barbarian. The most powerful spellcasting levels in the group (all ECL 12 or 13) are Druid 9 and Sorcerer 8. So how has it worked?

Well, it definitely takes adjustment. My party is lucky in that they include the druid, as well as a paladin, and a bard with a wand of cure light wounds, who could all step in to help fill the shoes of the cleric. Ability damage is more deadly now, and energy drain is truly terrifying. The players actually became interested again in providing long-term bedrest to speed up healing. Imagine their dismay when they realized that none of the characters had any ranks in Heal!

After all is said and done, though, the only significant change is that the party rests more often, and they tend to be slightly more cautious. Knowing that death might be permanent this time around tends to do that. I haven't adjusted any of the encounters, and I don't plan to. Some things that may have been easier before are now harder, but some things that would have been harder are now easier (that barbarien packs a wallop!). Assuming you aren't adding a replacement character, things will only get tougher for the group, so challenges will need to be adjusted for fewer party members, at the very least.

Before I give you some suggestions, I'd like to ask, had you considered what would happen if the cleric died? Or was the cleric character "untouchable?"

Anyway, here are a couple of suggestions:

1. Increase the amount of healing items found as treasure.

2. I know that they are on a desolate, uncivilized continent, but surely there must be something that could be an ally and can provide sporadic relief. Maybe whatever it is will allow the party access to their spring of healing waters if the party solves a problem for them.

3. Poisonous creatures and undead will be significantly more deadly for the party, so try to give them more clues about the foes they will face. A prudent party will take extra measures to avoid deadly foes rather than attempt to confront them head on, but they need the information to be able to take those steps.

4. Kill them all, then let them roll up new characters and make sure someone plays a cleric.

 

[rangerjohn]

I think most here missed the point, that at the current time there is no access to civilization. Hence no healing potions. This combined with no cleric could result in TPK.

 

[Nifft]

Make one of them take Leadership if they want a free Cleric.

Near to civilization? Find another Cleric.

Far from civilization? There's always a Fey and/or Druid around. Give them a Pixie Cleric with the Vow of Poverty/Peace combo (hides easy, no help in combat, heals them up fine though), or a very shy Nymph (perhaps with extra Druid levels).

The party I DM right now is very low healing...
- Wizard 11
- Rng1/Wiz6/EK3
- Ranger 11
- Monk4/Pal4/Order of the Golden Path 3

The've been somewhere isolated for a while... and now they're heading for the lower planes.

So, your last option is: screw 'em. Their tactics will change, but that's fine.

-- N

PS: I hope your friend gets better.

 

[rangerjohn]

You consider 3 out four characters, who can use a cure serious wounds wand, very low on healing?