Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 WielderoftheFlame Mar 14, 2014 1:05:46	I have an extremely picky DM that has set an especially strict campaign. I am required to be a dwarf, ECL 1, and the class must be learned instinctively (so no clerics, paladins ect). We are still trying to cover all the basic jobs in a the party and I have to come up with a healer. I also have to try my best to be useful offensively as this DM is notorious for carelessly killing the party with a unreasonably difficult and unavoidable encounter, which is an even greater possibility than normal as we are all escaping from a drow slave camp to start. The only thing I have been able to find that would work is the favored soul, is this the best I can do or have I missed something?  As far as I know all books are legal except for Forgotten Realms and Eberon material.
#2 Slagger_the_Chuul Mar 14, 2014 1:26:08	Others will doubtless elaborate, but the short answer is that healing isn't a party role that should be your main focus.  There are methods for healing effectively outside of combat, and during combat it's better to focus on stopping your enemies so they can't hurt you in the first place. Do you know which specific classes are disallowed, or have you just been given a general comment by your DM?  Being "learned instinctively" isn't all that clear in a lot of cases; for example, is a fighter learning instinctively, or did he put in a lot of training?
#3 WielderoftheFlame Mar 14, 2014 2:09:06	I understand that there are ways to heal a party out of combat without a character with the innate ability to do so but given the circumstances of this game there is likely going to be no other way to deal with an injured party member without having a cleric or something comparable to deal with it, especially since the DM has made it clear that we are starting with no equipment beyond whatever tool the drow give us to mine with. As to which classes are learned instinctively no there is not always a black and white indictator to determine what can be learned on your own but the random starting age is generally a pretty good indicator. If they fall into the bracket with the barbarians and rogues, then they learned their trade on their own. For example. fighters are generally trained by other fighters and therefore have a higher random starting age. Its not a perfect method but its what he's using.
#4 Andarious-Rosethorn Mar 14, 2014 8:22:01	It's still a really hard thing to argue. Sorceror's and Favored souls are naturals, sure, but divine casters (other than archivists and possibly Cloistered Clerics) are easy enough to pass off as divinely inspired (rather than trained), likewise for Crusaders (which like most classes not printed in Core don't have a random starting age). Your DM sounds very gigaxian, and if it's the only game in town I guess you're damned to play it.    The point Sagger was REALLY making isn't that you shouldn't play a class that can heal it's that if you do play such a class, focus on something other than healing, and be able to heal as a backup measure. Healing isn't a primary party role, every member of your party should be designed to do one thing, and that is to make the bad guys inneffective in combat. You can do that by debuffing, by casting save or be screwed spells, by dealing copious amounts of melee damage, or potentially even by buffing. If your team does this WELL then you won't need heals often. Crusader's tend to do a  very good job of minor in combat healing (and can do it ALL day). The Vigor line of spells is exceptionally efficient by spell level at healing outside of combat.   You should check out this article and discussion. Your classical 4 member party image (Theif, Fighter, Mage and Healer) is unnecissary. Yes you'll want someone who can locate and disarm traps, yes you'll want someone who can help your party recover more quickly after fights (or potentially save someone during a fight, see "Last Breath"). However you're honestly going to be able to win against bigger encounters more often if everyone is on the page of "MAKE THE BAD GUYS FALL DOWN!"
#5 Maat_Mons Mar 14, 2014 14:21:27	The mystic class (Dragonlance Campaign Setting, p47) is basically a secular favored soul.  I like it better because its spellcasting is based entirely on wisdom, whereas favored soul uses wisdom for some things and charisma for others.  This seems particularly relevant for dwarves, with their charisma penalty.     In either case, you'll have a bit of an issue starting out that you won't have a divine focus.  You might want to choose your first-level spells known to be only things that don't require one.
#6 Krusk Mar 14, 2014 17:15:03	No idea what a naturally learned class is, but try to see if you can be a dread necro. Free unlimited healing for yourself at first level if you take tomb tainted soul. Decent HD, and armor means you will be mildley surviable. If you convince everyone else to take TTS, you can give free unlimited healing to everyone. Then you can laugh at anyone in your group who ever tried to play a dedicated healer.   Also, you get to be a full caster, so always useful.
(Reply to #4) WielderoftheFlame	Andarious-Rosethorn wrote:
#8 Krusk Mar 22, 2014 8:49:00	[/quote-] stops quotes (without the -) you can then use [quote-] new quoted material [/quote-] to quote something else, with your response inbetween.    The end effect