Basic Fantasy RPG Forums

One of the things that has always bothered me about the classic systems is that clerics rarely use non-healing magic, at least for those spell levels where the Cure X Wounds spells are found. A long time back, someone suggested replacing the curative spells with the ability to "lay on hands," healing 6 hit points per level of ability, starting at 2nd level. This statistically is "close enough" to the existing rules to not unbalance the game; at least, that was my conclusion at that time.

I don't like the straight 6-points-per-level mechanic, though; I want dice involved. Also, I'd like to give this power to 1st level clerics, making them a bit more useful.

So here's my version: Each cleric can heal 1d6 points of damage for each of his or her levels, by means of touching the afflicted creature. Starting at 11th level, the cleric gains 2d6 per level, up to a maximum of 30d6 at 20th level. The cleric rolls, applying healing as needed; excess "unused" healing points on any given die roll are lost.

How does this sound to everyone? I'll be adding this to one of the options supplements (or making a new one) sometime soon, if no one finds an issue with this idea.

I Like the idea, personally. I assume this "lay on hands ability" would only be able to be used once a day or no?

Hexamer47 wrote:I Like the idea, personally. I assume this "lay on hands ability" would only be able to be used once a day or no?

I would think the cleric could break it down to each d6 daily as needed.

So, third level cleric could do 3x 1d6, 2d6 and 1d6, or 3d6 in a given day.
8th level cleric could do 8x 1d6, 4x 2d6, etc. breaking down as needed.

SmootRK wrote:

Hexamer47 wrote:I Like the idea, personally. I assume this "lay on hands ability" would only be able to be used once a day or no?

I would think the cleric could break it down to each d6 daily as needed.

So, third level cleric could do 3x 1d6, 2d6 and 1d6, or 3d6 in a given day.
8th level cleric could do 8x 1d6, 4x 2d6, etc. breaking down as needed.

When I houseruled this ability into some of my games years ago, I tried this method but discarded it after a while. This was due to it breaking the "keep it simple" rule.

My method was simple and did not overshadow the spells that a cleric received but complemented them. It was d6 per level and add the wisdom bonus to the total. That would allow the range of 1d6 to 20d6+3 which should be enough for even the highest level character to survive on.

I've never like it the "only once per day" for lay on hands, be it as a whole healing or once per person, specially if it will replace the healing spells.

I would use the d6 as a daily pool and allow it to be used for other healing spells (poison, disease, etc).

BTW, this table shows some values for a Cleric on a "Full Healing Mode" if one wants to compare with alternative healing mechanics

I just make it so clerics don't have to memorize spells.

I like the idea to allow the cleric some other options. I can't remember where I read it but someone suggested that healing corresponds to a character's hit dice. So a magic-user regains 1d4+1, fighters 1d8+1. That way the meat shields get a boost without being to overpowered.

On the First Aid thread I gave this idea that uses the HD for healing

Each time a character is healed they recover HP equal to a roll of their HD.
The amount of times a character can be healed can vary on GM taste, some possibilities:
-Once per day.
-Once per battle. A character can't gain more points than those lost in the battle.
-Once per wound. A character can't gain more points than those lost in the wound healed.

First Aid takes times and supplies, be it a fixed period or a variable one (either random or based on the damage healed or to heal).

First Aiding Oneself
Characters can heal themselves but they use a die lesser.

First Aid Knowledge
Every class knows how to apply first aid as they are adventurers, but some classes have a better training:
Fighters can heal themselves with no dice shift, they are used to pain.
Clerics always heals with a better dice (this means one higher dice for everyone and no shift for him) as healing is part of their training. They can diseases and poisoning allowing a second save with a +2 bonus.
Thieves can treat poisoning as clerics but with no bonus.
Magic Users can do something that I have yet to think about...

This idea not only frees the Cleric's spells but also frees him from be the obligated healer, but he can also get some healing powers as to not completely loose that role

Okay, Metro, I have to ask...

Metroknight wrote:When I houseruled this ability into some of my games years ago, I tried this method but discarded it after a while. This was due to it breaking the "keep it simple" rule.

My method was simple and did not overshadow the spells that a cleric received but complemented them.

So... wait, what? It broke the "keep it simple" rule, but your "method was simple." Not sure I understand why you dropped it.

Metroknight wrote:It was d6 per level and add the wisdom bonus to the total. That would allow the range of 1d6 to 20d6+3 which should be enough for even the highest level character to survive on.

I'm actually now leaning toward 1d6 per level, with no bonuses applied. Still thinking about it. My method would not replace Cure Disease or other non-hit-point curatives, and as Smoot says, it would be a pool to be applied throughout the day until exhausted.

Actually, considering the math, a straight d6 per level is probably the most balanced option.

I have never considered the die according to class idea mentioned. That has some merit in my mind, though it does produce an extra layer of complexity:

applied to:
Fighter - d8 dice
cleric - d6 dice
thief - d4 dice
Magic-User - d4 dice

Monsters according to what their assigned saves are (typically fighter for d8, with some exceptions).

This makes sense to me due to healing being more productive on individuals with greater stamina overall. Better stamina begets quicker bounce back. The standard way favors weaker characters to bounce back to health easier... counter-intuitive (to me).