Survival without a priest

[BronzeDragon]

I am DMing a Forgotten Realms game, with no clerics in the group, and the players don't seem to have a problem with it.

I do not give a lot of healing potions, and they sometimes get beaten to messy pulps, but still no player wants to play a cleric, and I will not be the one to force it.

 

[National Acrobat]

The group that I play in has 9 characters, and 2 of us have exactly one level of cleric. Myself, I am a Ari1/Clr1/Pal4 and I worship the Goddess of Law, Knowledge and Fair Trade, and I refuse to heal people who do not selflessley aid others or pursue good goals, so my healing is limited. The other cleric is a Ftr5/Clr1 and he worships the god of War, so healing isn't his focus either. We have no Bards or Druids, and our ranger is multiclassed and can't cast spells. Basically it has taught us to plan and prepare better, to minimize getting hurt. It has also taught us to retreat if necessary. We also rely on missle weapons more in order to do as much damage as we can before engaging in melee. All in all, you just have to prepare and plan better to avoid any unecessary damage from being inflicted on you. It also means that you may have to spend your money on healing potions and to learn when the best time to use them may be. It has made us better players and group unity and the spirit of cooperation is much higher now that we don't have a real healer.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

My group's history with Clerics

My players had a cleric for a while -- up until about 5th level -- and then his player moved to Hawaii. Sonce then they've made do with a lot of potions, a wand ot two, and occasional help from a Druid who recently joined the party.

I like that it's possible to do without clerics in the party for a lot of things -- they've felt the lack more in not being able to turn undead than they have in healing

-rg

 

[Nightfall]

Well too bad you're not in the Scarred Lands. Sounds like your Paladin could be a good canadiate for the Order of Gold. At least for your party's sake.

 

[Zigmutt]

as stated before:

1) take a level of cleric- the domain abil will help every fighter (esp the luck domain will really help his low wis saves, str domain is always good)
2)leadership for cohort- paladin is good for this
3) rent one (you better have a good cause)- lvl 1 hireling shouldn't be that expensive- make sure to protect him...
4) talk to your DM about another alternative.... he can't be THAT callous as to not give you an out...

 

[Jalkain]

We just did 90% of the first Against the Giants without one, with no casualties, aside from the priest, who got killed on the way there.

That's pretty good going - now if you can do the frost giants and fire giants without a cleric I'll be really impressed!

 

[Thorin Stoutfoot]

Positive Energy Healing

Here's the feat I introduced to the game when they only had a Paladin for about a month:

Positive Energy Healing (Pre-requsites: Extra Turning). You may use a turning attempt to heal. Roll on the turning table, and heal one individual one point per level, modified by the turn table results.