Who needs a healer anyway!?

[ItBeJonnyD]

Alright so currently the game I am running has 2 pc's a seeker and a ranger. I run a 4th ed Dark Sun campaign "because its awesome", but i want to increase the difficulty but i know that these two will not survive with out a healer. Is there any well balanced artifact or something that can serve as a replacement of a healer or something. Any ideas to help me out?

 

[Ferghis]

Give them a leader companion, from the DMG2. It'll function as an NPC ally.

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

In 4e there really aren't any items (even artifacts) that essentially fill a class role - sure, there are a variety of items with powers that allow a PC to heal (dwarven armour comes most immediately to mind), but those are generally dailies. Cloak of the Walking Wounded works, as it works each time you second wind, allowing you to spend 2 surges rather than just one.

If you don't want to go the companion character route, no reason you couldn'g design your own item, however. Perhaps something with a power like this:

"No action, close burst whatever
Trigger: You or an ally in the burst are bloodied for the first time in that encounter.
Effect: The triggering creature can spend a healing surge to regain its surge value + xdx hit points".

That would give each player a healing trigger when they are bloodied.

Or you could make an item that gives one of the leader healing features (majestic word, healing word, etc.) to one of the PCs.

 

[ItBeJonnyD]

That is a great idea thanks.

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

If you do go the item route, use whatever the mechanic you give it to drive the story/theme/atmosphere of your campaign. Perhaps it has a fixed number of charges (so they only have it for the difficult portion of the campaign). Or it might have a number of charges that could be "recharged" by something thematic or unpleasant or a plot hook for a future adventure - say, the souls of eladrin. Or maybe it has a powerful defiling effect when used.

Incidentally, if you want a card for the item that looks official, use https://power2ool.com/login/ , its great.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I have been thinking 4E would work pretty well if the characters could just spend HS at will, perhaps as a move action. This might be a good way to do it, if you do not wantthe complexity of a leader companion or the like.

 

[ItBeJonnyD]

oh i love my power 2ool's! my best friend for sure.

 

[Riastlin]

The party I've been running has gone through most of the campaign without a leader role as well. They are currently 13th level and while its been a struggle at times, they have managed fairly well. Of course some of it has to do with having a paladin that has really tried to max out his healing, a swordmage who earlier on concentrated on deflecting damage and/or healing, items, etc.

The only real change I implemented was to make healing potions allow the character to regain either 10 HP or a full healing surge (whichever is higher). Obviously after the first few levels it will almost always be the latter, but you get the idea. Its still not quite as good as having a leader since there's no bonus to the surge value, but it has helped. Of course I also populated their treasure parcels with more potions as well, but this may not work as well for a DS game.

 

[Mengu]

I'm all for adjusting things on the DM side. If the players don't want to play a leader that's fine by me, I'll adjust. I can reduce monster damage and/or use more minions and they don't need a healer. For a tough fight I may have terrain elements or battle stages that trigger surges. Terrain elements may include rune stones that give regeneration, or healing fonts that provide healing. Staged fights may see a small recess during which the BBEG makes his declaration of impending victory, while 1-2 healing surges may be spent and 1-2 encounter powers may be recovered. In an arena fight, a PC might use a minor action to make some sort of charisma check to impress the crowd, and the crowd cheers in encouragement, allowing the PC to spend a healing surge, maybe with a bonus.

Action economy can get really tight with 2 PC's, so I would tend not to use any monsters that daze, and would use prone sparingly. They can each pick up an emergency heal through a feat, item, or power, and they are set. But even in large groups, you want parties to have a couple emergency heals (or self heal) as it is, so this isn't terribly out of the norm.

 

[jbear]

My solution to a 2 player game would be to have them each run a companion character.

Make one of those a healer and the other a defender, which is what the party lacks.

This means 4 characters, which means you can design WAY more interesting and challenging combats and have your players still survive.