D&D 5E Refusing To Heal Party Members?

[Savage Wombat]

Honestly, what D&D player hasn't thought at some point about playing an evil cleric and extorting the party for heals?

 

[Sunseeker]

Honestly, what D&D player hasn't thought at some point about playing an evil cleric and extorting the party for heals?

I once played a cleric nicknamed "the repairman". Oh he'd heal you alright, just might take two weeks to get the parts in. Never took any of the loot, didn't need to. Heals were 5gp per hp.

 

[Ahrimon]

I once played a cleric that required tithes for healing. At first the other players weren't happy about it, then I explained that It wasn't a lot. I was only asking for like 3gp per spell level and you can pay after the battle if need be. It was such a minor amount that it was basically a role-playing thing and they were fine with it.

 

[Istbor]

Ah yep, you are correct Iserith. Though I feel some people need tables or at the least something more ironclad than a side bar.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

In 2e, my cleric refused to heal the thief after they had been caught stealing treasure before the party divvied it up. In retrospect, I regret it a bit, since it was more me being mad at the player for being a jerk than what my character would’ve done.

Honestly, what D&D player hasn't thought at some point about playing an evil cleric and extorting the party for heals?

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I once played a cleric that required tithes for healing. At first the other players weren't happy about it, then I explained that It wasn't a lot. I was only asking for like 3gp per spell level and you can pay after the battle if need be. It was such a minor amount that it was basically a role-playing thing and they were fine with it.

Did they charge you for spells they cast to further the party, finding traps, or taking hits? Sorry man, that's an jerk reason in the context of interparty dynamics. RP wise, they should have kicked you out unless they were all weirdo LN types, rogue modrons, or the Takers in planescape.

 

[Fedge123]

In 2e, my cleric refused to heal the thief after they had been caught stealing treasure before the party divvied it up. In retrospect, I regret it a bit, since it was more me being mad at the player for being a jerk than what my character would’ve done.

I wouldn't regret it at all. Our party had a thief who used to do this all the time, including picking our pockets. When we complained about it he'd just laugh and shrug and say, "I'm just role-playing what my thief would do."

So the next time I caught him doing it, I decided to "roleplay what my fighter would do" and I killed him. Man that was epic. That was over twenty years ago and we still laugh about it

 

[Zardnaar]

One PC has been stealing from me while another has stolen from my church.

Lathendar is s forgiving deity though and confession is good for the soul.

 

[Ahrimon]

Did they charge you for spells they cast to further the party, finding traps, or taking hits? Sorry man, that's an jerk reason in the context of interparty dynamics. RP wise, they should have kicked you out unless they were all weirdo LN types, rogue modrons, or the Takers in planescape.

No because I did my share of the adventuring too. My character was an adventurer not a walking band aid dispenser for the rest of the party. I fought along side the fighter, I explored along side the rogue, and I casted support and damage spells with the wizard. What I also did was require a tiny tithe for healing that equated to less than any character would spend on an Inn. It was pure role playing and didn't impact their bottom line. If the rogue had refused to pick a lock, I could care less, my deity provides, but the other characters would probably take an issue with it. One of the underlying social points behind the character for the players was that a cleric is an adventuring companion with other things to do with their spells than be everyone's heal-(female dog). Any jerks at the table are the ones that insist a player play a cleric and follow them around to be their personal heal servant.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Did they charge you for spells they cast to further the party, finding traps, or taking hits? Sorry man, that's an jerk reason in the context of interparty dynamics.

One of the underlying social points behind the character for the players was that a cleric is an adventuring companion with other things to do with their spells than be everyone's heal-(female dog). Any jerks at the table are the ones that insist a player play a cleric and follow them around to be their personal heal servant.

Seen that dynamic a lot over the years. One of D&D's little long-standing quirks is the way it used hps & saves to model the common 'plot armor' trope, but used healing magic to model the 'come back' trope (in genre confrontations, the bad guys tend to beat down the hero, at first, to show how dangerous they are, then the hero stages a come back, and wins, to show how heroic he is - cliche, I know). Because a lot of healing came from the Cleric and consumed his valuable spells, it created this conflict, the Cleric's power essentially flowing to other character's to let them keep playing while using up his own 'agency' as represented by all the other potential uses for those slots. Sometimes, that conflict played out OOC - no one wanted to play the cleric, so it fell to the last player to join (yeah, you can play, if you roll up a cleric) or the group doormat, or the rare, blesséd (pi), player who actually liked both the cleric concept and the 'healer' role. Sometimes, IC, as above, with a cleric expecting something in return.

Each new ed has tried to deal with it. 2e made Priests a little more interesting. 3e gave them spontaneous casting and Domains and WoCLW, and created CoDzilla. 4e pushed most healing resources to the individual character via surges and 'promoted' the erstwhile 'healers' to 'leaders,' made most of their in-combat healing a minor action and made out-of-combat healing and overnight healing quick and effective even without one. 5e, in keeping with it's something-from-every-ed mandate, has HD that represent less healing resource than surges, overnight healing, common healing potions, and a feat or two to lessen the healing burden, and multiple classes with Cure Wounds to distribute that healing burden, and the bonus action Healing Word to retain a little active participation in combat.

So it really shouldn't be the problem it was in the olden days.