The party's cleric *won't* heal your character?!

[Stalker0]

I also think most parties should be expected to chip in for a wand of cure light wounds if they don't find one as treasure. I have no problems putting down the big cure crit when its needed, but I do not want to blow all of my spells get people back to full after combat. Get me a wand, or enjoy the wounds

 

[Sound of Azure]

Oh, sure. I usually stick to being a "team player" when I play a cleric, but there are times when goals and/or faith of a Cleric may be at odds with other PCs. The question is: is their friendship enough for the Cleric to override their concerns of faith?

I concur with what Umbran said below. After all, a Cleric is supposed to have the wisdom to further his church's aims and goals.

I also played in a campaign where it was house-ruled that cleric healing and status-removing magic only worked on the faithful, though their curses and hexes worked fine on anyone! Good thing all the PCs worked for the church....

 

[Lanefan]

Just for kicks, I once tried playing an extremist Cleric who would only aid those of her own faith. In other words...you want a cure, you gotta convert...NOW!

She lasted half an adventure. The first time she got cut off from the party and needed help, there was an unspoken race among the other PC's to get to her...and to help the opposition finish her off! Fortunately for various people's alignments, the enemy killed her before the other PC's arrived...

Gotta try that one again sometime.

Lanefan

 

[Mark Hope]

Yes, I have seen this a few times. The most excessive was a priest of the death god in a largely evil party. He would charge 5000 gp for a cure light wounds and work upwards from there. Man, I hated him. Snurre and the fire giants got him in the end. Oh dear, what a pity, was I supposed to be helping you out there?

There was another priest of the goddess of peace who would refuse to heal characters who got themselves into trouble through actions that he considered reprehensible (aggression, greed etc). Couldn't really fault that.

And then there was the priestess of the death god (what is it with these people anyway?) She would refuse to heal anyone who didn't follow her deity, full stop. Once she got raise dead, she would only return you to life if you promised to serve her deity once you were revived (with the questioning accomplished through speak with dead). Some agreed. Some rolled up new characters. Pretty cool, really...

 

[kilamanjaro]

In a 2nd ed. campaign my CN fighter had an in game relationship with another player's bard character and was well known for cheating on her and having a girl in every town we passed through. The LG cleric in the party would never heal me but I had a ring of regeneration so I didn't care. Then I found an intelligent longsword, special purpose: kill bards. I was high enough level that I mastered the sword and used it as my primary weapon. After a particularly nasty fight my hps dipped down into single digits which made my ego score drop low enough for the sword to take over. I smacked the bard and discovered the swords special ability against it's chosen enemy, disintegration. One failed save later and the bard was dust on the wind. The other two players and I had a heated discussion about who was responsible for the whole mess, my character swore vengence against the cleric, but nothing ever came of it.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

I have seen the threat to withhold healing made with extreme seriousness for purposes of dissuading a morally questionable action that the Cleric strongly disagreed with.

 

[gizmo33]

The news journalism editor in me usually snaps when I see Statements of the Obvious(tm)

The WoTC website would be a painful place to browse then. Their rules stuff can sometimes be so superficial I wonder why they bother. Advertisements pretending to be something else I suppose.

 

[Darthjaye]

I would say, if the party cleric chooses to not heal you for something other than his gods edicts then you stow it away and buy yourself some potions. Stockpile em, and at the moment when he needs your blade most, don't help him with it if it won't directly hurt the party. If you guys can later lug his body back and get his ressed or even go find a new cleric, then let him learn his lesson the hard way. Your skills are just as important as his (usually) and if he's gonna charge for his or give some esoteric excuse for why he is holding out, you should too. Hell, if your the rogue, charge him for disarming the trap you guys need to get past if he's already charged you for healing. Don't charge the group, just him. If he's made others pay in the group as well, this will teach him a lesson hopefully. I think if your gonna play an extreme cleric, warn the group ahead of time about the possible consequences and beliefs which may affect this.

 

[Kafkonia]

Have you ever been part of an adventure in which the party's designated healer expressed reluctance or otherwise tried to avoid taking care of his injured peers?

Yep, when I started my f2f group through the WLD. The first thing the orc barbarian did was christen his new sword in blood -- the blood of the dwarven cleric. The dwarf spent the next session or two flatout refusing to heal the orc.

If there hadn't been a favoured soul in the party, he'd have been dead two or three times over.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Just for kicks, I once tried playing an extremist Cleric who would only aid those of her own faith. In other words...you want a cure, you gotta convert...NOW!

I remember a similar character in a party in 1E. A cleric of Set, with a staff of curing of some sort...

Before expending a charge from the staff, he'd extort promises. Not necessarily a conversion... just a statement that one would not act against the god's interests, perhaps. The next time, perhaps a promise to perform a service for Set in the future.

It wasn't a "Convert to Set or no healing for you!"... it was more subtle, and easier for people to justify. Slippery slope

-Hyp.