Touch of Healing [Reserve] feat from Complete Champion Excerpt

[Corsair]

I thought there was a FAQ question which addressed the issue for druids who took the elemental summoning feat, and wondering if being able to spontaneously cast SNA would qualify for it?

Maybe it wasn't a FAQ question, but a CustServ response. Either way, I'm fairly certain that they specifically said that a prepared caster being able to replace spells did not count for the reserve feats.

I should really double check though.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

I thought there was a FAQ question which addressed the issue for druids who took the elemental summoning feat, and wondering if being able to spontaneously cast SNA would qualify for it?

Maybe it wasn't a FAQ question, but a CustServ response. Either way, I'm fairly certain that they specifically said that a prepared caster being able to replace spells did not count for the reserve feats.

I should really double check though.

Leaves a very strange feel though, to me.... A good cleric naturally channels positive energy so easily they can use it to replace the energy invested in any prepared spell, but even with this feat added they can't channel lower amounts without preparing the spell. If that's the way its designed to work, and spelled out somewhere then that's the way it is, but by both the wording of "available to cast" and the feel of a postitive energy channeling cleric I'm inclined to let it be.

(one thing that could be weird is if the same cleric has another reserve feat. Would be illogical or overpowered to let him use the prepared Flame Strike to power a mini fireball or a mini healing on different rounds? Could a sorcerer with only one spell slot of a certain level alternate between two known reserve feats?)

 

[grrtigger]

One way to tone down reserve feats if you think they're overpowered might be to limit them to a number of uses per day equal to the ability score bonus for the character's ability tied to his or her spellcasting (WIS for clerics, CHA for sorcs, etc.). Although that's extra book-keeping, so you could probably rein it in to a lesser degree by imposing 1 pt of non-lethal damage per level of spell slot used to power a specific ability - then it becomes a choice between which resource the character wants to expend.

I haven't read enough about reserve feats to have a good feel for how balanced they are, but based on the comments in this thread I'm at least curious to try them. I am not a big fan of the party "resting" every couple of hours due to poor resource management (or lack of resources) and it seems reserve feats, if balanced, could help keep things rolling along.

 

[Corsair]

(one thing that could be weird is if the same cleric has another reserve feat. Would be illogical or overpowered to let him use the prepared Flame Strike to power a mini fireball or a mini healing on different rounds? Could a sorcerer with only one spell slot of a certain level alternate between two known reserve feats?)

I can't think of two reserve feats that would work off flame strike, but yes the sorcerer example works just fine.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

I can't think of two reserve feats that would work off flame strike, but yes the sorcerer example works just fine.

The fire feat off the fact that flame strike is available to cast (prepared) and the healing feat off the fact that mass cure light is available to cast (able to be cast out of that spot).

 

[hong]

The fire feat off the fact that flame strike is available to cast (prepared) and the healing feat off the fact that mass cure light is available to cast (able to be cast out of that spot).

Sounds fine to me.

 

[Corsair]

The fire feat off the fact that flame strike is available to cast (prepared) and the healing feat off the fact that mass cure light is available to cast (able to be cast out of that spot).

In that case, I would say no. I personally don't count spontaneous conversion as the same as having the spell prepared. Based on the previous poster:

A spellcaster who prepares spells each day (such as a wizard) must have an appropriate spell prepared and not yet cast that day...

A spellcaster who does not need to prepare spells (such as a sorcerer) must know an appropriate spell and must have at least one unused spell slot of that spell's level or higher...

A cleric is a prepared caster, so would fall under point 1. He needs to actually prepare the spell. Even if you considered him spontaneous, by RAW he doesn't have an 'unused spell slot'.

Obviously this is assuming that Healing Touch doesn't have specific language which exempts it from the above. But in general, I wouldn't allow a cleric or druid to count their conversion ability as qualifying for this feat, otherwise it defeats the whole restriction on reserve feats in the first place.

 

[karash]

Leaves a very strange feel though, to me.... A good cleric naturally channels positive energy so easily they can use it to replace the energy invested in any prepared spell, but even with this feat added they can't channel lower amounts without preparing the spell. If that's the way its designed to work, and spelled out somewhere then that's the way it is, but by both the wording of "available to cast" and the feel of a postitive energy channeling cleric I'm inclined to let it be.

(one thing that could be weird is if the same cleric has another reserve feat. Would be illogical or overpowered to let him use the prepared Flame Strike to power a mini fireball or a mini healing on different rounds? Could a sorcerer with only one spell slot of a certain level alternate between two known reserve feats?)

Actually, there is wording in the book that says you CAN use a single spell to trigger two reserve feats. I just got the book and briefly skimmed it, so I don't have the exact words, but I do remember it addressing this.

 

[karash]

I also think they addressed the spontaneous conversion as well - not in the feat description but in the Reserve Feat description at the beginning. At least, I understood it to mean it was okay. Again, I don't have the book in front of me though.

 

[James McMurray]

The feat is very useful, but not every cleric will necessarily take it. There's two types of cleric characters, basically: those who are there to buff/heal the group, and those who are there to tank. The first group will be all over this. The second won't.

It seems to me that a tanking cleric might want this feat as well, based on the assumption that while tanking you tend to get hurt, and this spell lets you heal more efficiently. Fewer spell slots burned on healing means more spell slots available for buffing. They may not tak it as early on in their career though.