D&D 3E/3.5 Regenerate is useless in 3E. Why does it exist?

[BSF]

*laugh*

I guess I am guilty of being a DM jerk! There was a situation in which a recurring NPC called out the party Paladin for a little one-on-one combat. She let her minions deal with the rest of the party to keep them "occupied". We are talking a sorceror/fighter hybrid. To insult him worse, she started taking single attacks. Hit him once, dance around mocking him. (Storyline - she is a whacknut!) Then, she started doing subdual. (Did I mention that she is a whacknut? Oh yeah, she is also best friends with the Paladin's long lost sister.) She promised that she would kick his butt and kiss him. When he went KO, she looked down at him with a compassionate look to her face, then got mad and cut off his shield hand and took it with her when she left. (She is a whacknut! Oh yeah, she is also the sister of the party's cleric. Hey! Don't blame me, these guys write their own weird backgrounds, I just use them!) It advanced the storyline while giving the party a recurring NPC to be angry toward. The Paladin didn't mind too much, she could have done a coup de grace. He lost a hand, not his life. Since the high priest of his temple could help him regenerate, it wasn't the end of the world. Maybe it isn't a totally useless spell after all...

Yeah, I am sure lots of people will disagree with the situation. But, my players had fun with it. I can honestly say that none of the players was upset. So, am I a jerk DM? In your book, sure! But, I have a group of 7 players that shows up as often as they can and they are disappointed that this campaign is rolling to an end. Maybe I am not such a jerk to them?

But, back to Regenerate. Notice that Raise Dead will restore life, but not limb. Anything missing when you are raised will still be missing. If you were raised and were still missing a body part, maybe you would want to have regenerate as well?

While this spell doesn't really have an immediate combat application, it isn't useless.

But, let's look at the Core Rules for a useful application.

High level Cleric with the Leadership Feat. Given that you can take a "Special Cohort" of an Erinyes, or a Young Green Dragon, I am sure you could talk your DM into allowing a hydra of some sort. Since a Hydra can be slain by lopping off it's heads, it is possible that your special cohort might lose a head in combat. Bang, use Regeneration and your cohort has it's missing head(s) back.

Admittedly, a fairly specific example. But, a reasonable example can be made from the Core Rules. Then, there are all the unique examples that might crop up within a specific game.

Is it a little high leveled at 7th? Perhaps. I admit, it would be dang cool to have something like Troll's Regeneration as a 7th level spell! That would be fun to play with. It is also a bit confusing that the Regenerate ability for a monster acts completely different than the spell with the same name.

Perhaps I should look at that and play with the spell lists a bit. Regenerate Limb as a 5th level spell? Troll's Regeneration as a 7th level spell? Maybe with a 1 min/level duration. All damage is reduced to subdual unless it is acid or fire based damage? Perhaps a few variants to match the Holy/Blessed regenerate of the Malebranche in MMII (Devil's Regeneration?) and something similar for the good aligned clerics, Unholy/Evil regenerate called Solar's Regenerate? I will have to ponder it.

 

[Roland Delacroix]

It's for after facing enemies with Vorpal weapons.

 

[Beretta]

There is a spell in the BoVD called "Grim Revenge". On a failed Fort save, the victims hand is ripped off, animated, and begins to attack its (previous) owner. For a 4th level spell it's pretty nasty.

So if you have the misfortune of fallling victim to that spell, Regenerate becomes quite useful.

 

[ForceUser]

There is a spell in the BoVD called "Grim Revenge". On a failed Fort save, the victims hand is ripped off, animated, and begins to attack its (previous) owner. For a 4th level spell it's pretty nasty.

So if you have the misfortune of fallling victim to that spell, Regenerate becomes quite useful.

Yeah, I've got BoVD. My gripe is primarily that by core rules, of which regen is a part, there is no need at all to regen body parts aside from, as in BardStephenFox's example, DM fiat.

 

[Gellion]

There is a spell in the BoVD called "Grim Revenge". On a failed Fort save, the victims hand is ripped off, animated, and begins to attack its (previous) owner. For a 4th level spell it's pretty nasty.

So if you have the misfortune of fallling victim to that spell, Regenerate becomes quite useful.

EVIL DEAD!!!!!!!

 

[ruleslawyer]

Yeah, I've got BoVD. My gripe is primarily that by core rules, of which regen is a part, there is no need at all to regen body parts aside from, as in BardStephenFox's example, DM fiat.

And vorpal weapons.

One core weapon property that deals out special damage vs. one core spell that restores said damage seems a reasonable balance to me.

 

[Macbrea]

Petrification is still a part of the game. And once the player is an object limb pieces can be removed with attacking an object.


If the person is returned not fully whole they will have a bit of a problem.

 

[ForceUser]

And vorpal weapons.

One core weapon property that deals out special damage vs. one core spell that restores said damage seems a reasonable balance to me.

Err, no. When a vorpal weapon takes off your head, you're dead. No regeneration neccessary or possible.

 

[Skinwalker]

Err, no. When a vorpal weapon takes off your head, you're dead. No regeneration neccessary or possible.

Well...Since Raise Dead doesn't restore lost body parts, could a Regenerate be used to allow the corpse to be Raised?

 

[Corporal_Cupcake]

Jerk DMs unite!

Regenerate is a great flavor spell, in my opinion. My (formerly) CN rogue lost a hand after reaching in a bag of devouring. Luckily, the rest of the party noticed him being pulled in and grabbed onto him before all of him could be sucked away. Was that done precisely "by the rules"? No, of course not. But it became a major focus of the campaign for the rogue to find a sufficiently high-level cleric to cast regenerate. It eventually led to his alignment change and his becoming a Divine Seeker (Forgotten Realms PrC).