Reserve Feats for healers?

[Sejs]

But perhaps that's teh problem, that healing is a very nice class ability of the dragon shaman, should we just allow that to be done as a feat?

Yes, but by the same token I also believe that the Dragon Shaman needs more options for what to do with its auras above and beyond the palty list it has now.

I'd -also- very much like to see some feats that enhanced their auras. Say one that let their fast healing aura restore a subject up to 75% of the max hp instead of the normal 50%, etc, etc.

 

[Nightfall]

*just want better feats that work for just paladins* Cause they need some love!

 

[GQuail]

*just want better feats that work for just paladins* Cause they need some love!

This woudl be absolutely fascinating in it's own thread: but four posts in, I think it's clear this ain't the place for it. ;-)

As to the topic in question - I agree that simply writing up a reserve feat that lets you cure X hp as long as you have a healing spell available is a pretty lousy idea. If it required you to actually have that cure spell memorised, though (not just have to open to spontaneous conversion) then it might be vaguely balanced - since the cleric is then forced to dedicate a spell slot to it, something Clerics can usually avoid. But even then, a 9th level cleric won't notice a 1st level slot to Cure Light Wounds, and he can heal his party fully between every encounter.

The idea of using temporary hit points isn't a bad one, assuming it's concrete how many a person can gain: a maximum amount of healing per day/healing per person per day might be overly complex in practice to actually word and keep track of.

I think it probably won't materialise because it's just too big of a balance quandary. We may get Reserve Feats for divine spellcasters, but none healing related.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

Rather than a rehashed idea reworked slightly for divine spellcasters, I'd prefer to see some new mechanics. Not that I wouldn't mind seeing reserve feats for divine spellcasters, but I wouldn't want that to be the big focus of the feat chapter, like it was for Complete Mage.

 

[D.Shaffer]

I was toying with the idea of giving them unlimited healing, but make it happen slow enough to not be very 'cost effective' compared to the standard means we have now (CLW Wands, Cleric Spells).

I was thinking of something like the dragon shaman aura, however it would be at a much slower healing rate of 1 hp+1hp per Cure spell level / 10 minutes. Since the highest level cure spell is level 4, this would max out at 5 hp/10 minute. (Or 1 hp/2 minutes) Probably would need to fiddle with the actual time involved to make it balanced AND attractive.

 

[Remathilis]

Which don't function at all like reserve feats.

True, but they can cover alot of the same territory if they were properly expanded upon...

 

[Nightfall]

GQ,

I can keep hoping though right?

 

[Pbartender]

Here's the rub...

We've already got a 1st level spell that heals 1 hp per round for X rounds: Lesser Vigor

Not that that's necessarily a problem, but... Yes, any reserve feat that emulates that spell at will would effectively give an unlimited supply of healing. For a lot of people that's going to be a problem.

There's two good ways to fix that...

First, you can simply slow down the healing. Take Iron Heroes' reserve points as an example: 1 hp per minute. It'd still be useful, since you aren't using resources, but at higher levels it could take you upwards of an hour and a half to completely heal the Fighter or Barbarian. Fair enough, I think, and still better than waiting days for natural healing.

Second, you could convert hit point damage into non-lethal damage. I think this is less appealing than the previous alternative, though.

 

[Crothian]

Here's the rub...

We've already got a 1st level spell that heals 1 hp per round for X rounds: Lesser Vigor

Not that that's necessarily a problem, but... Yes, any reserve feat that emulates that spell at will would effectively give an unlimited supply of healing. For a lot of people that's going to be a problem.

Then those people don't use it and scream about how they are ruining the game. ?Just like they do when every other book comes out.

 

[Remathilis]

A thought:

How about a feat that grants X hp/minute? It might look something like this.

Healer's Touch [Reserve]
You have the hand's of a healer, and can soothe away ills.
Prerequisite: Able to cast 3rd level divine spells.
Benefit: As long as you have access healing spell of 3rd level or higher available to cast, you can cure 1d8 damage plus the level of the highest healing spell available. A subject cannot benefit again from this feat for 1 minute (10 rounds).
As a secondary benefit, you gain a +1 competence bonus to caster level when casting (healing) spells.

You could use it in combat to heal a dying friend or after a fight, but you couldn't rely on it constantly. Its a minor amount (4-11 min, 10-17 max) and would certainly be no substitute for real cures (esp in combat), but it would allow PCs to heal up between encounters or fully at the end of the night. (but it would be time consuming, so the trade off is time)