Healers

From: Michael C. Morrison 8-543-4706 <mmorrison_at_VNET.IBM.COM>
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 13:01:03 -0700 (PDT)

Jane wonders what healers do ... So I present my views:

Because a standard Chalana Arroy healer is a pacifist, there is a real danger that players will treat the healer as a cardboard character, only useful for resurrection. But healers can do so much more, even in an old-fashioned RQ2-style game:

• - heal anybody without magic. Not a CA-exclusive skill, but not especially common for non-CAs.
• - heal with magic. Heal 6 may be too common in some games, but CAs almost always have it before other PCs.
• - heal _anybody_ with magic. CAs don't need Xenohealing (which I believe is no longer part of RQ ... unfortunate).
• - use divine magic to restore limbs that were lost. Uniquely CA when you no longer have the missing limb to reattach ...
• - heal with plants and herbs and stuff. Again, other folks can have the Find Healing Plants skill, but CAs are almost always masters. Besides, they have Preserve Herbs, which makes the stuff much more useful.
• - detect and heal poison. Also not unique to CA, but not too common for others.
• - detect and cure disease. Very handy when fighting Malians.
• - put foes to sleep, and thus remove their threat. An underused tactic in many games because of the side effects.
• - and, of course, raise the dead. Rare, but extremely useful.
• - and more!

With so many of the spells and skills available to others, it might seem that CAs are redundant. Not so! Look at all the features you get in one convenient package! Even a new CA priestess is a better healer than experienced priests of other cults.

If you add in the fact (IMG) that healing potions and antidotes are expensive and hard to come by, and that not every village has a CA temple for handy resurrection, the PCs come to rely on their own CA priestess for healing, and come to respect her. Even if she couldn't fight her way out of paper bag (if paper bags were to be found and thought to be combative ...).

Michael

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Michael C. Morrison   Santa Teresa Laboratory      Phone (408)463-4706
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