Non-divine class with healing capabilities

[Flayra]

I wish to run a campaign where faith and religion are more similar to the real world - that is, faith is actually based on belief rather than firm proof, praying guarantees nothing and there is no definitive proof that the gods do exist (but it is strongly hinted, word of mouth, stories of miracles, etc.)

In this setting, the three major "healing" classes cleric, druid and paladin does not really fit. I intend to tweak the paladin, as I like the idea of a good-hearted crusader, but he still does not fill the role of a healer properly. Both the cleric and the druid have 'the divine' as the source of their powers, and this does not fit with the setting.

What I am interested in radically different classes that implement healing mechanisms. Having several classes that have healing as an off-role (like the paladin) would work fine, but right now he is the only one.

One of my current ideas was to alter the monk to make use of his ki pool to heal and aid allies. I would limit his current options and tweak his various immunities and instead expand with various healing/cure abilities that use ki points.

I am not interested in a cleric that simply has some other source of power and otherwise is completely identical, as I also want a "believable" background of why he/she can heal, where I believe the monks understanding of the body makes a good candidate.

Any classes you have previously used or general suggestions are most welcome.

 

[James Jacobs]

Don't forget the poor bard! It should be a simple thing to augment their existing healing abilities just by giving them things like restoration and the like...

 

[Starbuck_II]

What I am interested in radically different classes that implement healing mechanisms. Having several classes that have healing as an off-role (like the paladin) would work fine, but right now he is the only one.

Non-Cleric/Druid healers-
Bard, Pally, Crusader, Shugenja, Favored Soul, Healer, Spirit Shaman, Psion/Wilder, Truenamer, Binder, Dragon Shamab, and Incarnum classes can all heal.

Removing Divine Source (like pally) removes Favored Soul, Shugenja, Healer, and Spirit Shaman.

So we are left with Bard, Crusader, Psion/Wilder, Truenamer, Dragon Shaman, Binder, and all Incarnum classes (depending on Soulmelds).

Edit: Forgot Ranger, but then they are bad at casting usually so easy to forget them.

 

[pawsplay]

Alternative 1: Emphasize that clerics are magicians, not miracle-workers. They are prominent scholars and heroes within their religions, but their status within the religion varies. Some are undoubtedly guilty of heresy. Miracle and other spells that directly contact a deity instead work by means of meditation. Remove alignment restrictions on clerics.

Alternative 2: Wtih no toes to step on, add all the cure, restoration, raise, poison, disease, and heal spells to the wizard/sorcerer spell list. The reason these spells are not there now has more to do with tradition and niche proteciton than any inherent balance problems.

Alternative 3: Heroic characters have some kind of mystical ability. As a result, they heal 1/4 of their maximum hit points every day through supernatural means. Raise dead (only) is a spell that belongs to every spellcasting class at 4th level, but only works on people with this mystical ability.

 

[Set]

One of my current ideas was to alter the monk to make use of his ki pool to heal and aid allies. I would limit his current options and tweak his various immunities and instead expand with various healing/cure abilities that use ki points.

The Scarred Lands had a Monk PrC called the Brother of the Scarred Hand that had a pool of healing energy it could tap into to heal itself or others, and could also draw upon the life-force of others (as well as himself) to use for healing. The idea was sweet, but the mechanics were pretty dire.

A life-force transferring Monk would be very thematic, and maintain a certain level of spirituality connected to healing magic (even if not spirituality connected to a diety, specifically). Alternately, using a form of psychic healing (which could still be flavored as ki or life-force transfer or whatever) could also work, with healers using special crystals and trances to work their mojo. A healer might be a bit of a witch doctor, whether monk, psychic, spiritualist or necromancer, inflicting wounds and harm with the one hand, and purging them with the other, and there are two neat options to take here;

1) For every wound taken away, a wound must be given. A good healer will accept these wounds himself, or, in the case of good friends, allow a healthy ally (or parent, or spouse) to 'share the pain' of an injury with a weaker one (or child or other loved one).

2) To heal, the spiritualist must do no harm. He has a tiny store of healing energy at default, but in times of danger, he builds up 'good karma' or something by abstaining from violence. As long as he takes actions to heal, buff, protect or defend, and inflicts no hit point harm (and casts no spells that require saving throws), he gains extra healing energy for each round of combat. If he takes violent action, he loses not only any energy remaining, but also his default healing energy until he meditates and re-centers himself (basically for the rest of the day), although, even after a spate of violence, he still builds up 'mercy' or 'benevolence' during later combats during the day, just lacking the 'free' default healing energy he normally can tap into.

3) Both exist. There are pacifist healers who draw their strength from their vows of non-violence and there are darker souls, who inflict harm to steal ki from others, to use to enhance themselves (or heal their allies).


Other options would be to place some healing magics in the arcane spell lists. I'd eliminate the Conjuration (healing) idea, and make healing magics come in two forms; Necromantic (which would involve a lot of transferring of life-energy, stabilization and the purging of disease, infection, etc.) and Transmutation (which would cause flesh and bone to weave and fuse together, but still leave trauma behind, only converting lethal damage to nonlethal).


You could also have healing be more heavily skill-based, with the Heal skill actually being useful for healing hit point injury (imagine that!), perhaps with a special Feat that a dedicated healer could take to greatly increase the efficacy of their Heal checks. Adding in Herbalism options inspired from the various herbalism articles that have been around since 1st edition could also be an option, and Alchemy could also have a Healing Salve option that healed 1d4 or 2d4, depending on whether you get the cheapo version or the top-shelf label-brand.


If you completely want to do away with magical dependency on healing, you could use a Wound Points / Vitality Points system (everyone has Wound points equal to their Con score, and then their class dependent hit dice are Vitality points, which come back like nonlethal damage. Vitality points are taken first, with Wound points being taken when you run out of Vitality, or from certain scary spells like Finger of Death.).

If you go the Wound points / Vitality points route, you can also mix things up with ideas from Monte's Book of Experimental Might and allow a character in the middle of combat (but at no other time!) to 'Take a Breather' and restore Vitality points equal to their level + Con mod or something, allowing any character to self-heal a little bit by taking a round off during combat to catch their breath.


Many of these could be combined, depending on what you're looking for, and by mix-and-matching them, a Rogue could rely on Herbalism and Heal checks to keep himself up, while the Wizard uses necromantic or transmutation healing spells, and the Fighter 'Takes a Breather', while the dedicated Ki Healer type does the life-force transfer stuff, drawing power from the harm he's doing to others, or drawing purpose and affirmation from his personal commitment to the tenets of doing no harm (and possibly has a Feat that makes his Heal skill checks work more effectively than those of a less-specialized person). Just make sure to balance them out so that healing doesn't become a joke, if you want to mix and match and allow a little bit for everyone.

 

[Gnome]

I think making an arcane-based "healer" class would be fun. Cherry pick from the Cleric list to find healing and fortifying spells that aren't too focused on alignment, undead-smiting, etc. Similarly browse through through wizard spells for good defensive and utility magic to round things out. Give them lots of skill points, and have a skill list similar to a combination of wizard and cleric. Simple weapons only. Probably 1/2 BAB and good Will saves.

Having said all of that,I'm hard-pressed to come-up with any interesting class abilities, however. Maybe upping the healing capabilities of the bard is a good way to go, afterall.

 

[Arkhandus]

The Bard offers non-divine healing, as does the PHB 2's Dragon Shaman (their power comes from dragons in some mysterious manner, either through reverence of dragons as a force of nature or through some other means of channeling draconic power), and any non-Crusader learning Devoted Spirit stances or maneuvers can do some non-divine healing.

However, Crusaders themselves specifically get their maneuvers and stances from divine inspiration, so that class itself is inherantly faith-based and kinda deity-centric.

Artificers from the Tome of Secrets, a Pathfinder supplement by Adamant Entertainment, can use or copy some healing spells through magic items or whatnot, and IIRC can create such magic items without actually possessing the original spells that they copy...... Warlords from that supplement also give some measure of healing or temporary hit points through their inspirational abilities, similar to a Bard.

Also, psionic characters can heal with the right powers. Dreamscarred Press, the small company working on Pathfinder's iteration of psionics, have further psionic healing material in their 3.5 products. Worldthought Medics, primarily, and some powers and feats in the same or related products.....

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I don't see why Druids have to be so divinely tied... They're more about nature and alternative medicine and all that stuff...

They could heal by accelerating natural healing.

 

[pawsplay]

You could also make potions of CLW be alchemical items.

 

[Set]

I think making an arcane-based "healer" class would be fun.
Having said all of that,I'm hard-pressed to come-up with any interesting class abilities, however.

Depends on how they heal.

Do they conjure up positive energy? If so, an 'Animate Companion' type feature could be an option, as they channel positive energy into materials around them to form an animated object servitor. They might get a number of 'turning attempts' per day, and be able to use them to animate objects as temporary defenders, if they don't have a permanant 'animate companion.'

Do they shuffle life-force around necromantically? Various undead immunities or touch attacks could come into play, as they sustain their own form with necromantic energies and drain energy from those they fight. Or they might steal a page from the Teen Titan Raven, and send their own soul-self out (or a fragment of it) to attack people as an undead shadow, returning to nest within them and share some of it's stolen life-energy as healing energy. The death of their 'shadow-soul' could have unpleasant consequences, however (and even injury to the shadow-soul might carry over as nonlethal damage to the necro-healer, when it returns to 'share the pain')...

Do they weave flesh and bone using transmutation magic? Various self-shifting effects allowing momentary uses of claws, wings, fins, gills, natural armor, etc. could apply. (Like the sudden shifting ability of Transmutation specialists using the Alternate class feature, but even better, as they continue advancing it as they increase in levels).

Heck, you could even have an illusion-based source of healing, as the glamer-weaver calls up shadow magic to fill the wounds of an ally. This quasi-real conjuration healing would probably only turn lethal damage into nonlethal damage, and might even cause the recipient to be shaken or sickened for a brief time thereafter as a side-effect, as the shadowy forces interact strangely with living flesh.