The value of clerics

[Doug McCrae]

A grim n'gritty approach to wounds and infection has no place in a game with 20th level characters.

 

[VirgilCaine]

The 20th level fighter: Er, wait.. what happened to my fort saves to shake off the disease from the dog's bite? And when did we start using these homebrew disease rules anyway? If I had known we were playing that sort of thing up so much I would've started investing ranks in Heal ages ago.

The 20th level fighter: And ya know, to think of it, with my base fort save plus my con mod I should be able to shake off most mundane diseases without even trying. It's not like I'm some level 1 commoner with a 8 con, here.

And wait, this nifty earrings [unslotted wondrous item] I have here [carved in a suitably macho design, out of troll bone] give me immunity to disease and poison. So, gee, I think that will be my new bar game--fighting a crate full of rabid pomeranians!

 

[Sejs]

You made a goddamn vampire pomeranian?!!


Heh, sorry. First thing that sprang to mind.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Schmoe has the best point, I think. Hit points are indeed an abstract concept.
And you'all are quite right: mundane disease has little place in a 20th level game.

You do realize, don't you, that you are pointing out - maybe without realizing it - that the cleric is, indeed, as useless as the fighter said he was, in the example I gave above?

 

[coyote6]

If your foes are dogs, then, yeah, a cleric is rather superfluous at 20th level. Of course, so is every other class -- any 20th level character (including a 20th level commoner) can take a pack of normal dogs.

OTOH, if you're a 20th level fighter facing a pit fiend, it took out your ring of freedom of movement last round, nailed you with a mass hold monster, and you just missed your last save before it gets its coup de grace -- well, I think then you'd be happy to have a measly 3rd level cleric around to cast a remove paralysis . . .

Any time you just took 3/4 of your hp in one round's worth of attacks, you may want to have a friendly heal-capable cleric on hand.