Review my "healer" class, please

[Tsyr]

I'm working on some new classes for my next campaign... it's set in a world devoid of divine magic (Well... ok, it's not. But divine magic is something completely different, never under the players control.), and I wanted a healer-type class. So I looked at the cleric and stripped out what "didn't fit", then looked at the sorcerer and saw what DID fit, kinda mushed them together... did some more changes besides... and I'm still not quite happy with it. I'm trying to shoot for a fairly focused concept... no random spells "just because". He can heal or harm (Understanding and being able to FIX the body tends to lend itself to being able to do just the opposite), and also tamper to some extend with the mind. No lightning bolts, no summon monsters, etc. Unfortunatly, I think the class needs a bit of spicing up yet, but I'm not sure what to do.

For the record, although there are no armour profs with this class, I'm going to be using WoT defense bonuses, and this class is going to get a good one, to try to put it back on-par with a cleric in that regard. I'm also going to make a few new spells and intersperse them into the class, mostly Mind effecting spells... cause paranoia, cure paranoia, cure insanity, etc. Just havn't got around to that yet, so ingore the imbalance of Body spells right now.

Anyhow, this is what I have so far: (Hopes it posts right)

The Healer

Healers are arcane spellcasters who deal specificly with manipulating 
the body and, to a lesser extent, the mind of living beings. Healers 
are not priests or clerics, however. They are simply magic users whose 
gift of magic is such that they have a closer connection with things 
mortal and living than with energies arcane and elemental. 

Hit Dice: d8
Skill Points: 6
Class Skills: Alchemy, Concentration, Craft, 
              Diplomacy, Gather Information, 
              Heal, Listen, Proffession, Search, 
              Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot

Weapons and Armour Proficiency: Healers are proficient with all simple 
weapons


      Base           Fort    Ref     Will
Level   Attack Bonus   Save    Save    Save    Special
-----   ------------   ----    ----    ----    -------
1       +0             +2      +0      +2      Divine Health  
2       +1             +3      +0      +3             
3       +2             +3      +1      +3      Venom Immunity       
4       +3             +4      +1      +4             
5       +3             +4      +1      +4      Bonus Feat       
6       +4             +5      +2      +5             
7       +5             +5      +2      +5             
8       +6/+1          +6      +2      +6             
9       +6/+1          +6      +3      +6             
10      +7/+2          +7      +3      +7      Bonus Feat       
11      +8/+3          +7      +3      +7             
12      +9/+4          +8      +4      +8             
13      +9/+4          +8      +4      +8             
14      +10/+5         +9      +4      +9             
15      +11/+6/+1      +9      +5      +9      Bonus Feat       
16      +12/+7/+2      +10     +5      +10            
17      +12/+7/+2      +10     +5      +10            
18      +13/+8/+3      +11     +6      +11            
19      +14/+9/+4      +11     +6      +11            
20      +15/+10/+5     +12     +6      +12     Bonus Feat       



             ----------------------Spells per Day-------------------
Level        0     1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9
-----        -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -
1            5     3     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —
2            6     4     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —
3            6     5     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —
4            6     6     3     —     —     —     —     —     —     —
5            6     6     4     —     —     —     —     —     —     —
6            6     6     5     3     —     —     —     —     —     —
7            6     6     6     4     —     —     —     —     —     —
8            6     6     6     5     3     —     —     —     —     —
9            6     6     6     6     4     —     —     —     —     —
10           6     6     6     6     5     3     —     —     —     —
11           6     6     6     6     6     4     —     —     —     —
12           6     6     6     6     6     5     3     —     —     —
13           6     6     6     6     6     6     4     —     —     —
14           6     6     6     6     6     6     5     3     —     —
15           6     6     6     6     6     6     6     4     —     —
16           6     6     6     6     6     6     6     5     3     —
17           6     6     6     6     6     6     6     6     4     —
18           6     6     6     6     6     6     6     6     5     3
19           6     6     6     6     6     6     6     6     6     4
20           6     6     6     6     6     6     6     6     6     6

             ---------------- Spells Known --------------------------
Level        0     1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9
-----        -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -
1            2     2     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —
2            2     2     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —
3            2     3     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —
4            2     3     1     —     —     —     —     —     —     —
5            2     4     2     —     —     —     —     —     —     —
6            3     4     2     1     —     —     —     —     —     —
7            3     5     3     2     —     —     —     —     —     —
8            3     5     3     2     1     —     —     —     —     —
9            3     5     4     3     2     —     —     —     —     —
10           3     5     4     3     2     1     —     —     —     —
11           4     5     5     4     3     2     —     —     —     —
12           4     5     5     4     3     2     1     —     —     —
13           4     5     5     4     4     3     2     —     —     —
14           4     5     5     4     4     3     2     1     —     —
15           4     5     5     4     4     4     3     2     —     —
16           5     5     5     4     4     4     3     2     1     —
17           5     5     5     4     4     4     3     3     2     —
18           5     5     5     4     4     4     3     3     2     1
19           5     5     5     4     4     4     3     3     3     2
20           5     5     5     4     4     4     3     3     3     2


Spells: A healer casts arcane spells. The number of spells a healer 
knows is not affected by his Charisma bonus. The spells a healer knows 
can be common spells chosen from the healer spell list, or they can 
be unusual spells that the sorcerer has gained some understanding of 
by study.

A healer is limited to casting a certain number of spells of each level 
per day, but he need not prepare his spells in advance. The number of 
spells he can cast per day is improved by his bonus spells, if any. 

A healer may use a higher-level slot to cast a lower-level spell if he 
so chooses. The spell is still treated as its actual level, not the 
level of the slot used to cast it. 

To learn or cast a spell, a healer must have a Charisma score of at 
least 10 + the spell's level. The Difficulty Class for saving throws 
against healer spells is 10 + the spell's level + the healers's 
Charisma modifier. 

Spells with the Body (B) descriptor require a heal and knowledge: 
anatomy skill equal to their level to cast, and spells with the Mind 
(M) descriptor require a knowledge: psycology rank equal to their level. 
0 level spells may be cast with no required skill ranks. 

Divine Health: The healer is immune to disease, both common and magical

Venom Immunity: The healer is immune to natural poisons

Bonus Feats: At levels 5, 10, 15, and 20 the healer may choose a bonus 
feat from the following list: Endurance, Iron Will, Skill Focus, 
Toughness

HEALER SPELLS

0-LEVEL HEALER SPELLS 

Cure Minor Wounds (B)
Detect Magic 
Detect Poison (B)
Inflict Minor Wounds (B)
Purify Food and Drink (B)
Resistance (B)
Virtue (B)
    
1st-LEVEL HEALER SPELLS 

Bane (M)
Bless (M)
Bull's Strength (B)
Cat's Grace (B)
Cause Fear (M)
Cure Light Wounds (B)
Deathwatch (B)
Endure Elements (B)
Inflict Light Wounds (B)
Ray of Enfeeblement (B)
Remove Fear (M)
Sleep (M)
    
2nd-LEVEL HEALER SPELLS 

Aid (M)
Blindness/Deafness (B)
Calm Emotions (M)
Cure Moderate Wounds (B)
Death Knell (B)
Delay Poison (B)
Endurance (B)
Gentle Repose (B)
Inflict Moderate Wounds (B)
Lesser Restoration (B)
Remove Paralysis (B)
Resist Elements (B)
Shield Other (B)
    
3rd-LEVEL HEALER SPELLS 

Blindness/Deafness (B)
Contagion (B)
Cure Serious Wounds (B)
Inflict Serious Wounds (B)
Negative Energy Protection (B)
Protection from Elements (B)
Remove Blindness/Deafness (B)
Remove Curse (B)
Remove Disease (B)
    
4th-LEVEL HEALER SPELLS 

Bestow Curse (B)
Cure Critical Wounds (B)
Death Ward (B)
Inflict Critical Wounds (B)
Neutralize Poison (B)
Poison Touch (B)
Restoration (B)
Status (B)
    
5th-LEVEL HEALER SPELLS 

Atonement (M)
Break Enchantment 
Circle of Doom (B)
Healing Circle (B)
Slay Living (B)
Spell Resistance (B)
    
6th-LEVEL HEALER SPELLS 

Antilife Shell (B)
Harm (B)
Heal (B)
    
7th-LEVEL HEALER SPELLS 

Blasphemy (B)
Destruction (B)
Dictum (B)
Greater Restoration (B)
Holy Word (B)
Repulsion (B)
Word of Chaos (B)
    
8th-LEVEL HEALER SPELLS 

Cloak of Chaos (B)
Holy Aura (B)
Horrid Wilting (B)
Mass Heal (B)
Shield of Law (B)
Unholy Aura (B)
    
9th-LEVEL HEALER SPELLS 

Energy Drain (B)
Implosion (B)
Power Word, Kill (B)
Soul Bind 
Regenerate (B)

Ugg... fixed formating AGAIN...

 

[Crothian]

That's a very powerful class. You've altered the Sorcerer. THe spell list is very good and is weaker then the sorcerer, but d8 HP, 2 good saves, 6 skill points, cleric BAB, and bonus feats plus immunities is really too much.

I'd reduce the BAB, and get rid of the bonus feats at the very least.

 

[saFire]

I think that the disease immunity at first level is a little too much. Maybe you could have disease resistance instead, and then immunity at the higher levels.

Also, I'm wondering why the healer gets Shield of Law as a spell. Of course, I'm really not that familiar with that spell, but it seems a little out of place.

In a campaign that I was in a couple of years ago, the DM made up a healer class. It was pretty good, except... now I can't find it.

 

[Tsyr]

Actualy, I'm thinking of removing both the immunities alltogether. The more I think about it, the more I'm not seeing it fit the concept I was shooting for.

As for the protection from law and so forth... yeah, I don't like it either. But there weren't many high-level spells I could salvage.

 

[Nifft]

Yeah, ditch the immunities, bonus Feats and use Wizard BAB progression. Then create Feats with 'Healer levels' as a prerequisite which give the various immunities. A bonus to +2 to Fort saves vs. Disease would be very appropriate at 1st level.

Personally, I'd like to see this made into a PrC with only 10 levels, and light entry requirements -- say, 6 ranks of Heal and a Fort save of +6. Then grant spells only up to 6th level.

The spell list should include Hero's Feast (level 6),

Now, you also need some new spells! Here goes:


Power Word: Sanity
Conjuration (Healing)
Level: Hlr 5
Components: S
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Area: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

By uttering this Word, the Healer repairs and dispells any and all abnormal mental conditions from a single creature. This includes a Barbarian's rage.


Greater Healing Circle
Conjuration (Healing)
Level: Hlr 6
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 40 ft.
Area: All living allies and undead creatures within a 40-ft.-radius burst centered on the character
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude half (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

Positive energy spreads out in all directions from the point of origin, curing 3d8 points of damage +2 point per caster level (maximum +40) to nearby living allies.

Like cure spells, greater healing circle damages undead in its area rather than curing them.


Power Word: Cure
Conjuration (Healing)
Level: Hlr 6
Components: V
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

By uttering this spell, a Healer cures 90 HP worth of damage to a single living creature. The benefactor does not gain HP above his or her normal maximum.


-- Nifft

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Maybe I missed this

Like I say, I may have missed these, but it seems to me, based on your description, that the spell list should include cause fear, hypnosis, sleep, and, maybe, charm for the first level and that the buffing spells should remain 2nd level.

I may have missed what meant you meant by mind control entirely, but it seems to me that hypnosis/fascinate, or whatever it's called, isn't unreasonable for a healer nor is sleep. And cause fear or random action seems to me a much simpler and direct effect of mind control than cause paranoia.

You might also consider borrowing some psionic powers for this class. They have some nice straight up healer powers.