Question about clerics (and temples)

[tennyson]

In your opinion, would a temple ever turn someone down for a healing if they didn't have any money? For example, in a city the size of Silverymoon, would it be possible for someone with an injury (one that in today's standards would require major intensive surgery) to be turned down by the temples there because they were poor? If so, how much would a healing of that magnitude cost? Thanks for your help.

 

[Crothian]

According to the PHB spels cost spell level time caster level times 10. See pg 114.

So, a cure light wounds from afirst level cleric costs 10gp. The average peasent (untrained laborers) makes a silver piece a day (see proffesion skill).

So, I doubt many people can actually afford a simple cure light wounds to begin with.

That being said, I think it really depends on the religion of thhe temple. Some might offer discount curing, or work on the barter system.

 

[nsruf]

IIRC there is a passage in the DMG that specifically encourages the DM not to apply the spell pricing formula to healing and charity type spells provided by temples. This should depend more on the goals of the religion. So the followers of a god of charity would run hospitals for the poor that charge nothing or only as much as the patients can afford. OTOH, a religion with an exclusive circle of followers (e.g. rich people or nobility) might not want to provide healing at all. Others will require the patient to join their belief first. In the end, it all depends on you as the DM, but if your religion has no special agenda, charging the adventurers the regular cost for spellcasting is the easiest way (assuming that the PCs are as wealthy as is the norm in the game).

 

[S'mon]

IMC, wealthy followers of the religion in good standing with the church pay the standard price. Poor folks who are loyal adherents of the faith may get healing for 'free', depending on the religion - this assumes they've been tithing dutifully of course. When PCs turn up out of the blue and want healing from some temple they've never been to before, x4 DMG prices is typical, eg one time a Monk PC paid 1600gp for a Restoration to get 1 point of drained Wisdom back.

 

[Umbran]

IIRC there is a passage in the DMG that specifically encourages the DM not to apply the spell pricing formula to healing and charity type spells provided by temples.

I don't recall such a passage.

I note that, if you use the DMG's guidelines on how many clerics should exist in a particular community, you may find that the clerics of larger communities should be swamped if they provide healing for free.

 

[Ziona]

I agree that it would depend on the religion and temple. For instance, Eilistraee requires that her clerics assist others in need, (including providing shelter to those who need it, feeding the hungry, and showing kindness to everyone, even those who are rude.)

So, I would think that a temple of Eilistraee would offer healing assistance, to those who need it, free of charge. (Other good-aligned temples would do the same, I believe, such as Lathander or Ilmater.)

However, I think it also depends on the town. Smaller towns may have only one temple and few citizens, so it may not be a big deal to offer free healing. Larger cities may have more temples, but there are also more citizens, so I could see that not all temples would give healing for free (depending on the wealth and standing of the town.)

In general, though, (looking at it from a good-aligned character POV), I think that many temples would give free healing, especially if the person is in dire need.

 

[Tonguez]

In our own world free health care was provided by certain religious orders in historic times eg the Sisters of Mercy etc.
These Orders were theoretically poor and dedicated to a LG diety (ie God) however they were often supported by bequests and Donations from wealthy benefactors (muc of the free healthcare provided in 3rd World countries still uses theis system)

In a DnD world the same could easily be true
eg PC Paladin Arthur makes a regular habit of donating 1/3 or the gold he 'recovers' from Dragon hordes and donating it to the Order of Holy Compassion who run a string of Public Infrimaries and do other good works in the community.

Of course a NG Temple may refuse to heal Non-beleivers or otherwise charge exorbitant fees in order to support the Clergy (like US hospitals)

 

[JohnBrown]

Here is how generally look at this subject. If Healing is one of the deity’s portfolio elements, then no, they won’t turn away people (NPCs) even if they cannot pay. There are plenty of other ways for a temple to make money other than making everyone pay for a cure disease spell. If the temple is in a large city, it undoubtedly has wealthy patrons, for example. Tithes will come in the coffers on a fairly regular basis. Donation drives can had, and you have all of those adventuring clerics and paladins that are always good providers of income for the church.

Clerics in D&D don’t have the same kinds of expenses that a real-life hospital has, so the economics needn’t be the same.

As far as how I deal with player characters that are seeking their services, well that is just a little different.

Unless one of the PCs is known as a devoted member of that particular faith, they will be expected to pay. The adventurers are out purposely putting themselves in Harm’s way. The minor clerics of Pelor who are out trying to prevent the small outbreak of Cholera in the Old City section of Greyhawk from turning into a full blown epidemic, can’t be expected to "waste" their spells on glory-hounds and thrill-seekers for free, now can they? If they can’t pay (as opposed to don’t want to), they still won’t be turned away, but what I like to call the 'Godfather Factor' kicks in ("Some day…and this day may never come…I may ask you to return this favor…").

As far as raising the dead is concerned, even the clerics of Healing gods down play this ability in my campaign. I once had a player who was playing a NG cleric of Pelor, temporarily become an outlaw because she was "stealing" villages. A high level party was traveling and visiting small backwater villages that they had used as base camps earlier in their career. They were using their abilities to help the villages do rather mundane but important things such as constructing public works, healing the sick, using magic to ensure bumper crops, etc. The party felt they should return something the communities that had gotten their start in.

Needless to say, they were becoming quite famous for their generosity and began to develop a legendary status among the people. Then this player said, "Oh, and if there is anybody in town that died prematurely, I raise them as well, assuming that the family wants them raised." Well, this caught me a little by surprise, since all my players know that resurrections aren’t exactly common in my game. Her bringing the dead back to life really impressed the villagers, and soon she had a large group of commoners follow her everywhere she went in quasi-worship. These villagers told other villagers in the other towns they visited, and soon her following was growing out of control. To make an already long story shorter, the king -- who was receiving reports of some new cult that was depopulating whole villages -- soon declared her an outlaw and a dangerous heretic. In the end it was all sorted out without bloodshed, or prison time, and it lead to some great sessions.

 

[Humanophile]

I think most good-aligned temples would provide free healing in the form of an in-house infirmary and someone with a good Healing skill. If Bill the peasant broke his leg in an accident, and he was reasonably devout, the temple would put him up, set his leg, and let him get better, all with the mundane healing skill, and for next to nothing. If he needed a CLW to keep it from getting infected or otherwise to put off permanent harm, the clergy would probably do it, but expect a lot in return. (Nothing usurious or that would cause him too much hardship, but comething like a portion of his crop for the next year or so to make sure people didn't come to think of clerics as free healing machines.)

The problem with clergy throwing spells around willy-nilly, however, is that they only have so many spells per day, and in a D&D world, they never know when those spells will be needed. I'm sure that there was some historical temple that gave free cures to anyone who asked, only to be sacked by an evil organization when their spells were all depleted, and after that, temples realized that curing freely or otherwise throwing spells around "friviously" left them open to their enemies. So if magical healing is absolutely required, they probably would, but not if mundane healing could do the job just as well.

 

[S'mon]

Clerics in D&D don’t have the same kinds of expenses that a real-life hospital has, so the economics needn’t be the same.

What? Wages? (Magical) equipment? As far as I can see it's pretty much just the same. Of course only the most corrupt and venal religions are likely to have their priests live in as much opulence as US surgeons - poorer western countries like Portgual can do most of the same procedures for around 1% the cost of the US (UK is about 5%-10%). Depending on your campaign you could have a church running a US-style healthcare system "That'll be 5gp just to _see_ the priest, peasant!" - I had this experience on holiday in the US recently...