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<blockquote data-quote="ShadowX" data-source="post: 3882027" data-attributes="member: 3720">I believe I have pontificated on this subject before on this board, but I will go at it again.&nbsp; Healing easily ranks as the most fragile of systems in an RPG.&nbsp; Too powerful and you have just created a slave class devoted to healing other people.&nbsp; Too weak and it becomes worthless.&nbsp; Third edition erred towards the latter side.&nbsp; The designers opted to have short and deadly combats and relatively weak heals.&nbsp; Now a cleric that heals wastes one of the few precious rounds in combat accomplishing very little.&nbsp; The Heal spell shifts the balance a little as it fulfills its purpose with some actual effectiveness.&nbsp; Furthermore, 3e supplied ample methods for out-of-combat healing.&nbsp; A Wand of Lesser Vigor costs 750GP and heals 550 hp.&nbsp; A far more effective use of resources in light of these facts is to have the powerful cleric and druid classes bring down the enemy faster and then use a cheap method of out-of-combat healing.I am glad to hear that 4E is moving away from the incremental exhaustion of adventuring parties and more toward &quot;every encounter pushes the party to the limit&quot; design.&nbsp; Unfortunately, the latter requires that you move away from the ultra-deadly offensive salvos that occur in 3E combat.&nbsp; I want to see combats that last more rounds, more attrition focused.&nbsp; No more going &quot;nova&quot; in 2 round combats.&nbsp; Healing a comrade would be viable, but not obviously the best or worst option and it wouldn't occupy the vast majority of a cleric's time in battle because you would need it less often and combats would be longer.&nbsp; That would be the holy grail of RPG design.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="ShadowX, post: 3882027, member: 3720"] I believe I have pontificated on this subject before on this board, but I will go at it again. Healing easily ranks as the most fragile of systems in an RPG. Too powerful and you have just created a slave class devoted to healing other people. Too weak and it becomes worthless. Third edition erred towards the latter side. The designers opted to have short and deadly combats and relatively weak heals. Now a cleric that heals wastes one of the few precious rounds in combat accomplishing very little. The [I]Heal[/I] spell shifts the balance a little as it fulfills its purpose with some actual effectiveness. Furthermore, 3e supplied ample methods for out-of-combat healing. A [I]Wand of Lesser Vigor[/I] costs 750GP and heals 550 hp. A far more effective use of resources in light of these facts is to have the powerful cleric and druid classes bring down the enemy faster and then use a cheap method of out-of-combat healing. I am glad to hear that 4E is moving away from the incremental exhaustion of adventuring parties and more toward "every encounter pushes the party to the limit" design. Unfortunately, the latter requires that you move away from the ultra-deadly offensive salvos that occur in 3E combat. I want to see combats that last more rounds, more attrition focused. No more going "nova" in 2 round combats. Healing a comrade would be viable, but not obviously the best or worst option and it wouldn't occupy the vast majority of a cleric's time in battle because you would need it less often and combats would be longer. That would be the holy grail of RPG design. [/QUOTE]

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