Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Maxwell_Silverhammer 10-31-06, 02:25 PM	Here is the PHB definition: Good clerics heal, protect, and avenge. Evil Clerics pillage, destroy and sabotoge. In an adventuring party, the cleric is ....the one who can channel divine energy, a cleric is a capable healer....the cleric serves as groups primary healer, diviner, and defensive specialist. He can hold his own in a fight but is usually not wellserved on the front line. The cleric's domains and spell selections can greatly affect his role as well. I AM SO TIRED OF CLERICS BEING TREATED LIKE BANDAIDS! I have recently left a party of players who believed that a clerics sole purpose was to heal fighters. That (while engaged in combat) the top priority of said cleric is to FULLY heal a stabalized character. I have a good dwarven cleric. These are his priorities: 1. Deity 2. Self-preservation 3. Oaths I roleplay a cleric as a person, not a walking bandaid. 1. My deity and instructions from him, or higher clerics 2. If my life is in danger I'm not going to stop to do a curtesy heal when the guy is not bleeding. 3. oath to the party is to protect and serve with them. I am capable of helping defeat enemies and my spells are a powerful aid in doing that. wasting a high level spell to do unneccessary healing during battle is stupid. Just because i am the primary healer DOESNT MEAN that healing is all i do.
LoNLinaChan 10-31-06, 02:32 PM	AWWWWWWWWWWW But I bet you look cute wrapped around my bleeding finger.
TheChilliGod 10-31-06, 02:51 PM	... Feel better now? You've apparently left the group, who seemed like a bunch of stereotype-clinging imposers to me (I bet the party wizard only knows Magic Missile and Fireball, and the rogue maxed out in search & disable device), and hopefully will get a new group that doesn't impose the roles of a class on you. Now, if you don't want to be treated like a band-aid, then what did you want your cleric to focus on? Do you want him to become the ultimate anti-undead machine? A combatant equal to most fighters? A buffer? If you have no specific focus for your cleric in the first place, then I'm not all that surprised that the party had to put some kind of label on him. Also, you could have accidentally put the label of a healer on yourself. Was the cleric devoted to Pelor (who is known for his walking band-aids)? Did you give him domains that had anything to do with healing? As you quoted in the PHB, the cleric's domains largely determine his role in the party. Did you intend for him to be good in the true sense, meaning that he would actually put others before himself? Self-preservation is more the thing for neutral characters, after all. I know none of these questions matter anymore, given that you've already solved the problem, but understanding what went wrong is a great way of stopping the same from happening again.
Aufenshauft 10-31-06, 02:53 PM	This is a party problem, not a problem with your character. Clerics are divine casters and full casters. They are really good at healing, true. However their role is not for just the healing of others, but for focusing the power of their god. Now, role playing and eccentricity is the best way to resolve this. Insist that you may only heal to save the dying, but otherwise warriors are supposed to be in the front lines and do their best no to fall. Real warriors like you are not going to heal people every time they stub their toes. You are supposed to walk up to the bad guy and show what true godlike power is supposed to do! or by spamming each round with new layers of protections or boosters as your god wants them to fight, and expecting healing is just a panzy way of getting out of the fight. Walk it off already! Things like that. Now, it sounds like your players are expecting this too, not just the characters. Look at their tactics. Does your character think they deserve it? Also, are they respecting your desires to _not_ just being the healer? It is possible that they honestly think you are the only source of HP around, and genuinely have problems with finishing the game without that pick-me-up. If they just need more healing, think about investing some of their money into cure light wound wands instead of spending spells to do it. It will cost them money, but not too much, and it makes them realize that healing is not a free commodity. It also allows the rogue or someone else to become primary healer with those wands so you can do more fun things with those combat rounds.
Maxwell_Silverhammer 10-31-06, 03:19 PM	... Feel better now? You've apparently left the group, who seemed like a bunch of stereotype-clinging imposers to me (I bet the party wizard only knows Magic Missile and Fireball, and the rogue maxed out in search & disable device), and hopefully will get a new group that doesn't impose the roles of a class on you. Now, if you don't want to be treated like a band-aid, then what did you want your cleric to focus on? Do you want him to become the ultimate anti-undead machine? A combatant equal to most fighters? A buffer? If you have no specific focus for your cleric in the first place, then I'm not all that surprised that the party had to put some kind of label on him. Also, you could have accidentally put the label of a healer on yourself. Was the cleric devoted to Pelor (who is known for his walking band-aids)? Did you give him domains that had anything to do with healing? As you quoted in the PHB, the cleric's domains largely determine his role in the party. Did you intend for him to be good in the true sense, meaning that he would actually put others before himself? Self-preservation is more the thing for neutral characters, after all. I know none of these questions matter anymore, given that you've already solved the problem, but understanding what went wrong is a great way of stopping the same from happening again. the dwarf deity moradin
High Octane 10-31-06, 05:55 PM	Here is the PHB definition: Good clerics heal, protect, and avenge. Evil Clerics pillage, destroy and sabotoge. In an adventuring party, the cleric is ....the one who can channel divine energy, a cleric is a capable healer....the cleric serves as groups primary healer, diviner, and defensive specialist. He can hold his own in a fight but is usually not wellserved on the front line. The cleric's domains and spell selections can greatly affect his role as well. I AM SO TIRED OF CLERICS BEING TREATED LIKE BANDAIDS! I have recently left a party of players who believed that a clerics sole purpose was to heal fighters. That (while engaged in combat) the top priority of said cleric is to FULLY heal a stabalized character. I have a good dwarven cleric. These are his priorities: 1. Deity 2. Self-preservation 3. Oaths I roleplay a cleric as a person, not a walking bandaid. 1. My deity and instructions from him, or higher clerics 2. If my life is in danger I'm not going to stop to do a curtesy heal when the guy is not bleeding. 3. oath to the party is to protect and serve with them. I am capable of helping defeat enemies and my spells are a powerful aid in doing that. wasting a high level spell to do unneccessary healing during battle is stupid. Just because i am the primary healer DOESNT MEAN that healing is all i do. And Im SICK of all those poor combat medics being tapped for bandages during a war. I mean its not like they are the only one with medical knowhow and the ability to heal wounds. Oh wait....
Ashok_Lal 10-31-06, 09:38 PM	We treated our Cleric the same way. Then one day he went & bought us a bunch of potions. He said he woldent be healing us for this adventure. We were a bit upset but he had bought us potions so we said ok. That adventure he let loose with such a variaty of spells & showd some awsome power that from that day forward we made sure we had some potions for ourselves so we did't tie up all the clerics resorces. (if any of us were in combat & drinking a potion would provoke AoO he would heal us.) But we no longer used him as just a bandaid.
MaximumPain 11-01-06, 05:10 AM	This is a party problem, not a problem with your character. Clerics are divine casters and full casters. They are really good at healing, true. However their role is not for just the healing of others, but for focusing the power of their god. Now, role playing and eccentricity is the best way to resolve this. Insist that you may only heal to save the dying, but otherwise warriors are supposed to be in the front lines and do their best no to fall. Real warriors like you are not going to heal people every time they stub their toes. You are supposed to walk up to the bad guy and show what true godlike power is supposed to do! or by spamming each round with new layers of protections or boosters as your god wants them to fight, and expecting healing is just a panzy way of getting out of the fight. Walk it off already! Things like that. Now, it sounds like your players are expecting this too, not just the characters. Look at their tactics. Does your character think they deserve it? Also, are they respecting your desires to _not_ just being the healer? It is possible that they honestly think you are the only source of HP around, and genuinely have problems with finishing the game without that pick-me-up. If they just need more healing, think about investing some of their money into cure light wound wands instead of spending spells to do it. It will cost them money, but not too much, and it makes them realize that healing is not a free commodity. It also allows the rogue or someone else to become primary healer with those wands so you can do more fun things with those combat rounds. Amen.... Clerics may be the best characters in the game. A caster that can fight, wear full plate, carry a shield, and cast some great spells! Sign me up. Get that wand and tell them other players to shutup and watch the fun.
cog_and_taz 11-01-06, 09:50 AM	definition of a cleric. first of all, yes, this is a problem and it's kinda sad, but I've never been treated that way. On another note, having a barb/cleric of kord/FB half-orc is fun! My definition of a cleric: clubs undead with a holy bandaid while wearing clanky armor.
angryman 11-01-06, 11:00 AM	No offense, but clerics *are* walking, indestructible bandaids. Their healing is the best (except for the healer, duh) in the game. They can turn ANY spell into a cure spell, they get all of the good ones and it's their traditional role. Having said that, when I played a cleric, I told people if they blindly charged in and didn't listen to our leader (me, haha) that I wouldn't waste my time healing them. Healing is NOT a right!
RellenMarn 11-01-06, 11:58 AM	Ahhh, just play a Druid! You can heal, but the party knows you cannot spontaneously heal, and tends to view you less as a bandaid. Wands of Vigor, and Cure spells enable you to heal almost as well as a Cleric, without the bandaid label. You can still wear Fullplate (I recommend Green Dragon Hide) and against virtually anything save Undead you kick more arse.
Andron 11-01-06, 12:30 PM	How about a healing backpack? That's the way I've seen them portrayed often times, especially in a LARP setting. Their only job is to keep the big fighter types up and fighting, nothing else matters. Unless it's undead, then the cleric takes over. Not saying I agree with it, it is just how they get used a lot. That's why I play clerics with odd deities, or make up different effects when it comes to healing. Like being a cleric for a god of war, healing spells work, but leave scars. Another deity causes immense pain when healing. Heck, play a cleric who doesn't believe in casting healing, raise dead, reserection spells, because technically they are necromantic in nature, and necromancy is evil and unnatural.
Priest_of_Shaundakul 11-01-06, 02:36 PM	A fun, travel loving and loyal to his friends sort of lad (my old Clr16 of Shaundakul) A devotee of Horus-Re who's mission is to spread the sun, enable the groundwork for a firm system of law and good and banish the followers of Set. Also Crafts wooden statues in his spare time. A righteous empowerer of others and teacher of the draconic histories(my current Clr14 of Bahamut)
Salla 11-01-06, 04:23 PM	Clerics are the best healers in the game (discounting the healer), yes, and their ability to do so is very important. However, just because you're good at one thing doesn't mean that's the only thing you do. If you don't want to be the party healer, use the PHBII's alternate ability to spontaneously cast domain spells rather than healing spells. That said, when I cleric, I usually do the healing AFTER the fight, not during. I'm in the thick of it the rest of the time, beating the crud out of things. :)
Elemental_Elf 11-01-06, 05:11 PM	I always play Melee and Buff oriented Clerics, so my Party doesn't expect much healing from me during the battle. I too hate the stereotypes that many people place on classes; Clerics are Band-Aides, Wizards are Fireball experts, Rogues are Search/Spot/Pick Lock experts... It annoys me when a person defys stereotypes and makes a cool character only to have the rest of the party scoff at the idea and still expect the character to do the stereotypical jobs or be further ridaculed and excluded from the fun. Thank god my group isn't like that! We have a Dwarf Bard who focuses a lot of time and effort maintaining a Bar in a some out-of-the-way town, lol. :D