D&D 5E Playing non-healer clerics

[UngeheuerLich]

Healing being less efficient than damage is a feature, not a bug.

 

[Flamestrike]

I have seen a lot of posts that talk about Clerics being healers and I have played at a few tables (not many) where players expected Clerics to be healers.

Personally, my PCs are never really healers per se. I will pick up healing word and aid for bringing back downed party members during combat in a pinch, and I will keep revify on hand as long as the party pitches in for the diamond. But I am not going to top you up between combats because that is generally not the character I like to play and I am generally not spending my spell slots on your healing. That is what your gold is for - to spend on potions for this.

It is totally cool if that is the cleric you want to play, but I really don't like the trope/stereotype that seems to exist saying that is the only way to play a Cleric or that you are not a team player if you don't play a Cleric as a healer. I am just wondering how common or uncommon it is, how Clerics are played at your tables and what other players expect.

Its not 'spending slots on YOUR healing' any more than the Fighter is 'wasting' his Action Surge killing a monster before it kills you.

It's a teamwork game, where the players help each other to achieve a common goal. Healing and buffing your allies is part of the role of the Cleric (other classes as well, but it's the Clerics main schtick).

Healing the Fighter benefits the party as a whole (of which, you're a member) to achieve a common goal of the lot of you, just like buffing him with Bless does.

I guess you can play it where it's every man or woman for himself, but that's not the sort of game I would find partiuclarly compelling to play in. Even my Evil campaigns I've played in featured teamwork (undermined by the occasional bit of backstabbing of course!).

 

[R_J_K75]

but I really don't like the trope/stereotype that seems to exist saying that is the only way to play a Cleric or that you are not a team player if you don't play a Cleric as a healer.

I'd have some choice profanities for anyone who told me I wasnt a team player and I have to play a healing cleric. I miss the 2E cleric sphere mechanic. IIRC if you played a cleric/specialty priest of a specific deity there were some spheres you could not take, and in some cases you didnt even have access to healing magic as I dont recall them being in a universal sphere. the (3) 2E FR deity books were a good examples of this if you played a specialty priest.

 

[ph0rk]

I don’t see why a devoted cleric of a while slew of gods would ever heal at all. Maybe a holy word now and then to get a tool/minion/follower to be back into the fight, but healing word seems more like an adrenaline shot in that case than capital-H healing.

How much healing would a cleric of Ares do? Zeus?

 

[Oofta]

Its not 'spending slots on YOUR healing' any more than the Fighter is 'wasting' his Action Surge killing a monster before it kills you.

It's a teamwork game, where the players help each other to achieve a common goal. Healing and buffing your allies is part of the role of the Cleric (other classes as well, but it's the Clerics main schtick).

Healing the Fighter benefits the party as a whole (of which, you're a member) to achieve a common goal of the lot of you, just like buffing him with Bless does.

I guess you can play it where it's every man or woman for himself, but that's not the sort of game I would find partiuclarly compelling to play in. Even my Evil campaigns I've played in featured teamwork (undermined by the occasional bit of backstabbing of course!).

My cleric would get somebody back up if they went down, but especially at lower levels you simply can't keep up with the damage output of monsters. It had nothing to do with not contributing to the team, it was just a different way of doing it.

If I'm not being a team player (and I've been in games with "lone wolves" who are not) then we can have a discussion. If I'm not contributing to the team in the way you personally recommend? Sorry, you don't get to tell me how to run my PC.

 

[aco175]

How much healing would a cleric of Ares do? Zeus?

Might be how one looks at the role. A cleric of Ares, while likely a warrior who fights in the front line, may also believe that keeping his side of the fight in the fight is more important than him fighting. If he can keep 10 soldiers fighting, then the force multiple is greater than just himself and maybe a bonus action heal to bring someone back.

Can he be just a fighting man that waits until after the battle to see if anyone still remains alive before granting them some healing to keep them alive? Sure, that is another way to play him and it might work fine. Trying to discern the objectives of the gods is like trying to have a discussion on alignment.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Its not 'spending slots on YOUR healing' any more than the Fighter is 'wasting' his Action Surge killing a monster before it kills you.

It's a teamwork game, where the players help each other to achieve a common goal. Healing and buffing your allies is part of the role of the Cleric (other classes as well, but it's the Clerics main schtick).

Healing the Fighter benefits the party as a whole (of which, you're a member) to achieve a common goal of the lot of you, just like buffing him with Bless does.

I guess you can play it where it's every man or woman for himself, but that's not the sort of game I would find partiuclarly compelling to play in. Even my Evil campaigns I've played in featured teamwork (undermined by the occasional bit of backstabbing of course!).

While certainly there are the sorts of players who come up with roleplaying justifications for not helping party members (or stealing from them) it does not require a selfish attitude to realize that, for example, in many cases doing 3d10 damage helps the entire party more than doing 1d8+3 healing.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Might be how one looks at the role. A cleric of Ares, while likely a warrior who fights in the front line, may also believe that keeping his side of the fight in the fight is more important than him fighting. If he can keep 10 soldiers fighting, then the force multiple is greater than just himself and maybe a bonus action heal to bring someone back.

Can he be just a fighting man that waits until after the battle to see if anyone still remains alive before granting them some healing to keep them alive? Sure, that is another way to play him and it might work fine. Trying to discern the objectives of the gods is like trying to have a discussion on alignment.

I think what this highlights is there are several ways to play a cleric. And if we are talking about alignment, might there be some
Clerics who only heal themselves?

That characters should contribute to the survival of the party is to me without question for 99% of games. How they do it has some variability, particularly in 5e.

I only take issue with overly prescriptive and universal recommendations (not directed at you) Who heals? When do we heal? Under what circumstances?

I come from AD&D 1e and know how that went for our group. That said, with hit die and short rests…and many sources of damage mitigation and temporary hitpoints…I think we have more latitude.

Our parties also deal huge damage at times and we get through some fights unscathed. We have focused on overwhelming the enemy quickly in a lot of cases.

We have also had a few titanic battles which left us beat up without the time to rest. Healing has a role at times but it’s not as paramount as it was in other editions of the game

 

[Clint_L]

Agree with the above. Cleric is still probably the closest thing 5e has to an indispensable class because they provide that safety net. Combat and the action economy of 5e are such that healing is much more effectively used reactively rather than proactively. So clerics are designed to be as effective as any other class at doing proactive things, like dealing damage and controlling the battlefield, yet also excel at reactive healing when needed. They can kick butt and pick up another character who goes down.

This is why clerics are almost universally considered an S tier class in 5e.

 

[DMZ2112]

A cleric who refuses to cast Cure Wounds on principle is like a wizard who refuses to cast Fireball on principle.

It's your privilege. Don't expect me to be impressed.