Healing for the masses

[Captain_K]

Any suggestions on magic items besides potions and obvious cleric or druid healing stuff to keep hit points on the PCs?

[Arduin]

Not really. Why would you need more of them?

[serleran]

Soups, bandages, poultices, salves, ointments, oils, etc, etc... medicine and herbs. Folklore is full of homeopathic healing, none of which necessitates a need to have magic in the world at all.

So, in a word: yes.

Functionally, only if you're going to limit magical healing in some way.

[Captain_K]

Got a group of fighters going into battle, no Cleric or Druid.. looking for magic items they can use that are not just poitions of healing... seeing if I over looked anything.. Rods I think can be used by anyone.. etc.

[serleran]

Alcohol.

[alcyone]

They could drink the blood of their foes on the battlefield after making dark pacts with loathsome gods.

[Litzen Tallister]

I've found that not much beats a cleric or druid in the party for healing, particularly in OSR games like C&C. But, if the group is convinced on not having one, not much can be done. While bringing HP back after its been taken away would work, there's always magic armors, bracers, rings, and so on that improve armor class or provide other options to mitigate damage coming in.

[Arduin]

Got a group of fighters going into battle, no Cleric or Druid.. looking for magic items they can use that are not just poitions of healing... seeing if I over looked anything.. Rods I think can be used by anyone.. etc.

I see the problem. Look at it this way. If they want to play fighters without arcane casters are you going to give magic items that substitute for arcane casters? There is a reason that a group needs representatives from the archetypes in a D&D type game.

[Captain_K]

We're trying out "old school" Rangers and Bards so they will have limited Druid spells, one Mage and one fighter... if I can get around playing a Cleric and Thief NPC to round out the group.. its OK for me and I can focus on the game.. but those two PCs could be "hold back and only act when they must" or "after the fight" so its not too tough on me.. but anyway, just curious if others had ways around the "medic" cleric...

[Relaxo]

add healing surges or the Hit Dice rules from 5th ed?
So no Old skool, though.

Healing potion is a classic, but a variant is a pouch of Goodberries; the Druid could make a bunch ahead of time, or a baggie of them could be gifted from a like-minded NPC or fey who wishes the party to succeed.

Also, instead of healing, try not getting hurt: how's about a magic shield, or magic oil that makes weapons slide off your armor to be less effective (DR 2 or something).

Oh oh! The bad guys have a cleric who begs for mercy once 1/2 the NPCs are down, and offers healing in exchange for his life. that might be fun. (especially if you're evil and he betrays the PCs...).

[serleran]

Virtually any magic item, from clothing to weaponry and all miscellaneous gear could have some sort of healing effect, either primary or as a secondary (and lower) effect. For example, one could have a serpent staff which is a quarterstaff +1 but, through application of 1 charge can act as a 3rd level ranger, +2 levels per 3 charges further spent, for dealing with poison; for the cost of a charge per level (minimum required) for a healing spell (so that, to cast a 2nd level cure requires 3 charges spent), the stated effect occurs on the recipient. Such a staff contains 1d6+2 charges (it can be recharged) when found and is rendered a non-magical stick when all charges are spent. It would be easy to power it up, too, reduce the costs, increase the charges, give it a venom power.... whatever. Or, you could have it be without charges and act as a sort of conduit for healing so that damage restored from one is given to another -- not ideal for a small group in need of healing.

[serleran]

Another option is to consider real world religion and culture. The Maori, for example, among many indigenous peoples, would chant and perform sacred rituals before engaging in battle, including the use of tattoos and the like to strengthen and protect themselves. You could allow a similar idea in that, a faithful member of any faith, whether cleric or not, can get a minor boon. It may have to be manifest as a permanent, obvious, marker on them... or it could just be they must roleplay it without failure.

In the end, clerics, druids, healing in general, are not needed.... they're just one interpretation of an archetype. A very "western" one.

[Captain_K]

Great ideas all, thanks!

[Ancalagon]

Got a group of fighters going into battle, no Cleric or Druid.. looking for magic items they can use that are not just poitions of healing... seeing if I over looked anything.. Rods I think can be used by anyone.. etc.

I see the problem. Look at it this way. If they want to play fighters without arcane casters are you going to give magic items that substitute for arcane casters? There is a reason that a group needs representatives from the archetypes in a D&D type game.

We're trying out "old school" Rangers and Bards so they will have limited Druid spells, one Mage and one fighter... if I can get around playing a Cleric and Thief NPC to round out the group.. its OK for me and I can focus on the game.. but those two PCs could be "hold back and only act when they must" or "after the fight" so its not too tough on me.. but anyway, just curious if others had ways around the "medic" cleric...

Arduin has a fine point.

From my experience, a group of about 6 players I ran several years back opted for no cleric PC. I provided an apothecary in the town they were based who could, from time to time, brew up some disgusting looking and tasting healing draughts that healed d4 hp per vial but also required a poison save to prevent "intestinal illness" from the recipe.

Since the players decided there would be no cleric then I decided to not have one running around as a "medic." The players were content with the arrangement... even when several of them died during the course of the campaign.

[GameOgre]

One thing I have done before is have the party find some Vasheer Weapons. In my game Vasheer was a ancient weapon smith/wizard who discovered the secret to creating Vampiric regeneration weapons. Now the artifact level weapons were indeed overpowered and rightly so being artifacts but his lesser works were still very sought after.

For instance a Vasheer Longsword +1 would take 1D4 of the damage done by a successful attack and return it to the wielder.


That helped a lot and didn't seem too overpowering.

Note that when I played this, attacking undead didn't cause a backfire. The enchantment even seemed to work but the players received no healing. Instead it was eventually discovered that the negative energy was used to power a ancient spell that eventually brought Vasheer The Lich back!

[Ancalagon]

One thing I have done before is have the party find some Vasheer Weapons. In my game Vasheer was a ancient weapon smith/wizard who discovered the secret to creating Vampiric regeneration weapons. Now the artifact level weapons were indeed overpowered and rightly so being artifacts but his lesser works were still very sought after.

For instance a Vasheer Longsword +1 would take 1D4 of the damage done by a successful attack and return it to the wielder.


That helped a lot and didn't seem too overpowering.

Note that when I played this, attacking undead didn't cause a backfire. The enchantment even seemed to work but the players received no healing. Instead it was eventually discovered that the negative energy was used to power a ancient spell that eventually brought Vasheer The Lich back!

Emphasis mine.
Nice touch, GameOgre.

[Lurker]

From my experience, a group of about 6 players I ran several years back opted for no cleric PC. I provided an apothecary in the town they were based who could, from time to time, brew up some disgusting looking and tasting healing draughts that healed d4 hp per vial but also required a poison save to prevent "intestinal illness" from the recipe.

Since the players decided there would be no cleric then I decided to not have one running around as a "medic." The players were content with the arrangement... even when several of them died during the course of the campaign.

I like that. Have a apothecary or hedge mage brew up so low level potions and polities. Maybe even morph the Ranger ability to delay/neutralize poison into 'field medicine' letting them make d4 - d6 curing politicos salves and teas.

To be mischievous, I'd add the 'save vs poison' to the ability. A fail still heals but also causes a messed up stomach, lose bowels, dizziness, etc etc etc.

[Go0gleplex]

One of the "Best of Dragon" volumes had a article on herbs and their medicinal effects in game and such.

[Lurker]

One of the "Best of Dragon" volumes had a article on herbs and their medicinal effects in game and such.

I'll have to see if I can find it.

[Ancalagon]

From my experience, a group of about 6 players I ran several years back opted for no cleric PC. I provided an apothecary in the town they were based who could, from time to time, brew up some disgusting looking and tasting healing draughts that healed d4 hp per vial but also required a poison save to prevent "intestinal illness" from the recipe.

Since the players decided there would be no cleric then I decided to not have one running around as a "medic." The players were content with the arrangement... even when several of them died during the course of the campaign.

I like that. Have a apothecary or hedge mage brew up so low level potions and polities. Maybe even morph the Ranger ability to delay/neutralize poison into 'field medicine' letting them make d4 - d6 curing politicos salves and teas.

To be mischievous, I'd add the 'save vs poison' to the ability. A fail still heals but also causes a messed up stomach, lose bowels, dizziness, etc etc etc.

I limited the number of draughts available so that the PCs couldn't end up using the apothecary as the cleric they decided not to play. The draughts usually sold for 25gp and if the PCs became greedy then the apothecary just "ran out of supplies" for the time being.

[Warunsun]

Any suggestions on magic items besides potions and obvious cleric or druid healing stuff to keep hit points on the PCs?

For my Forgotten Realms C&C game I used an adapted Shock Recovery rule from Judge’s Guild Ready Ref Sheets, 1978.
The adapted rule worked like this:
After fighting in an encounter and sustaining damage a character may regain up to one hit dice of his lost hit points by binding his wounds as long as he performs no other action first. A character reduced to 0 hit points or below may also recover up to one hit dice of his lost hit points if a fellow character binds his wounds before performing other actions. This shock recovery roll is only allowed once, and at the end of any fighting encounter where the character actually lost hit points. The roll may not restore hit points lost previous to the encounter.

It was very helpful at low-level even with a cleric in the party. I also allowed the Flagon of Wine rule from Conan The Roleplaying Game. It didn't come into play much but it basically allowed a character to drink a strong pint of wine or ale and regain 1 hit point in certain circumstances.

[jdizzy001]

Ring of Regen (M&T p. 117)
Restorative Ointment (M&T p. 114) - this one is very good. With 5 applications, you can detoxify psn, cure diseases, or heal1d8 hp of wnds

Also, the section on potions can yield a great deal of information.

[Ancalagon]

Any suggestions on magic items besides potions and obvious cleric or druid healing stuff to keep hit points on the PCs?

An item I introduced into a campaign I ran years ago that gave a slight amount of healing might help your group, Captain_K.

A platinum chalice (I opted against gold and silver since those metals are waaaay too common) was discovered by the party in a treasure horde. After use of identify, the group discovered that if elven wine made in a specific region from grapes grown in that same region was poured into the chalice, the wine functioned as a cure light wounds spell. The chalice could function thrice daily but an individual could only benefit once per day from the healing effects.

No other liquids could be converted to perform the healing. Once the wine supply on hand was exhausted the PCs would need to acquire more to gain the benefits of the chalice. I suggest making the wine a rare (and pricey) commodity to prevent abuse by the players.

[jdizzy001]

Another approach which I found in 5e (I dont know if it made it into the final cut. Oh, look at that, relaxo mentioned it) is to allow the. Pc's to spend HD to self heal. This does not decrease their max hp, but instead provides a pool of dice they can use to recover after fights. For example, our 5th lvl fighter has 5d10 hd. After a rather tough fight he takes a quicker breather. The PC decides to spend 3d10 of his 5 and rolls a 2,5 and a 7 each roll is modified by the fighters CON mod (we'll say +1) thus making the total 3+6+8 for a total of 17 hp recovery. I just used the fighter as an example, any class can do this. A wizard, for example, would have 5d4 available for self recovery.

Once spent these HD remain used until the PC can rest in a proper bed (proper to be determined by CK). Thus, resting in the wild under the stars will recover HP, but may not be enough to recover spent HD. However, resting at a comfortable inn would allow the PC's a chance to unwind and really rest. This would afford them the chance to recover both HP and HD. The rate at which the HD recover should be slow, something like 1 per day plus CON mod, but if you want to keep your folks moving, change the recovery rate.

[Captain_K]

Between Tiny Hut and Ranger skills and reasonable weather so far and "mountain huts" every other night they've been doing pretty well so far, plus they have been VERY smart and sneaked by 51 mounted Hobgoblins.. it was impressive..

[Lurker]

..., plus they have been VERY smart and sneaked by 51 mounted Hobgoblins.. it was impressive..

What, a party is supposed to charge them no matter what. They aren't supposed to use their brains and sneak by the monsters

[Ancalagon]

..., plus they have been VERY smart and sneaked by 51 mounted Hobgoblins.. it was impressive..

What, a party is supposed to charge them no matter what. They aren't supposed to use their brains and sneak by the monsters

I hereby retract the aforementioned platinum chalice if players are acting intelligently.

[Relaxo]

oh yeah, they could not fight, that keeps HP high.
Who'd a thunk it? LOL

[Captain_K]

I simply did not expect Inv 10' radii, a circle of rope 5' in diameter for all to hold and the mage to stay within,,, walk slowly, speak in whispers, all try to be quiet, stay in spell area of affect, not trip over each other, nothing "unlucky" happen, slip out, fully surprise the sentry, then repeat to get around the mounted column of mounted Hobgoblins... the thought, execution and series of lucky rolls was pretty impressive.. they discussed the.. charge and kill but tried this first.. was nice to see it happen..

Unfortunately their traveler's hut has been surrounded in the dark of night by some sort of eerie sounding creature out in a blinding snow storm.. what could be out in such Norse Night Weather in a blizzard.. the next night will tell... At least the building is a stone base, two stories, only the smallest of openings for windows.. but the door is only stretched hide on wood and the roof is thatch oh well.. they made it through most of the night with a good sleep, only 2.5 hours to dawn.. can they survive... I think they will need some healing after this... possibly even the nanny goat might be put to good use after this one...

[Lurker]

I simply did not expect Inv 10' radii, a circle of rope 5' in diameter for all to hold and the mage to stay within,,, walk slowly, speak in whispers, all try to be quiet, stay in spell area of affect, not trip over each other, nothing "unlucky" happen, slip out, fully surprise the sentry, then repeat to get around the mounted column of mounted Hobgoblins... the thought, execution and series of lucky rolls was pretty impressive.. they discussed the.. charge and kill but tried this first.. was nice to see it happen..

Unfortunately their traveler's hut has been surrounded in the dark of night by some sort of eerie sounding creature out in a blinding snow storm.. what could be out in such Norse Night Weather in a blizzard.. the next night will tell... At least the building is a stone base, two stories, only the smallest of openings for windows.. but the door is only stretched hide on wood and the roof is thatch oh well.. they made it through most of the night with a good sleep, only 2.5 hours to dawn.. can they survive... I think they will need some healing after this... possibly even the nanny goat might be put to good use after this one...

Nice! On both parts! Magic is my weakness so I'd have never thought of that. However, it is a great idea

I like the hut and the snow storm ... Have a good '13th warrior / Eater of the Dead' moment with it