[3.5, Base Class] Healer [P.E.A.C.H.]

[unosarta]

The Healer

after reading about the healer class sucking like you cant even imagine, and then reading the class and seeing that it does suck for straight up healing, I thought it would be fun to try to write up a homebrewed healer class. Enjoy.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th| 9th

1st|
+0|
+2|
+0|
+2|Lay On Hands|3|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

2nd|
+1|
+3|
+0|
+3|Aura of Vigor 1|4|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

3rd|
+2|
+3|
+1|
+3|Healers Edge|4|3|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

4th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4| |5|4|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

5th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4| |5|4|4|2|-|-|-|-|-|-

6th|
+4|
+5|
+2|
+5|Aura of Vigor 2|5|4|4|3|-|-|-|-|-|-

7th|
+5|
+5|
+2|
+5| |6|5|4|4|2|-|-|-|-|-

8th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+2|
+6|Empowered Healing|6|5|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-

9th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+3|
+6| |6|5|5|4|4|2|-|-|-|-

10th|
+7/+2|
+7|
+3|
+7|Aura of Vigor 3|6|5|5|5|4|3|-|-|-|-

11th|
+8/+3|
+7|
+3|
+7| |6|6|5|5|5|4|2|-|-|-

12th|
+9/+4|
+8|
+4|
+8| |6|6|6|5|5|5|3|-|-|-

13th|
+9/+4|
+8|
+4|
+8| |6|6|6|6|5|5|4|2|-|-

14th|
+10/+5|
+9|
+4|
+9|Aura of Vigor 4|6|6|6|6|6|5|4|3|-|-

15th|
+11/+6/+1|
+9|
+5|
+9|Maximized Healing|6|6|6|6|6|5|5|4|2|-

16th|
+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+10| |6|6|6|6|6|6|5|5|3|-

17th|
+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+10| |6|6|6|6|6|6|5|5|4|2

18th|
+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+11|Aura of Vigor 5|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|5|5|3

19th|
+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+11| |6|6|6|6|6|6|6|5|5|4

20th|
+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+6|
+12|Supreme Healing|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|5|5|5[/table]

Hit Dice: d6
Class Skills: The healer’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Skills Per Level: (2 + Int modifier) ×4 at first level. 2 + Int modifier every additional level

Class Abilities

Spell Casting: A healer casts divine spells, which are drawn from the healer spell list below. A healer can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time, the way a wizard or a cleric must.

To cast a spell, a healer must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a healer’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the healer’s Charisma modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a healer can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Charisma score.

A healer casts as a sorcerer, and as such is able to cast any spell he knows without preparing spells ahead of time. Unlike the sorcerer however, the healer knows every spell on the healer spell list.
Healers meditate or pray for their spells. Each Healer must choose a time at which he must spend 1 hour each day in quiet contemplation or supplication to regain his daily allotment of spells.

Lay on Hands [Su]: the healer has a pool of healing that he may use to heal living beings, and harm undead. He has a pool equal to his charisma modifier [minimum 1] times his healer level, times two. So a level 2 healer with a charisma of 18 can heal 16 points of healing a day. Also, the healer may spend 1 hour of rest to refill his pool of healing for the day. He may do this any number of times a day. You may also, as a touch attack, steal the life energy of a living subject. You are able to deal an amount of damage equal to your charisma modifier, and gain that many points of healing back to refill your pool. If you attempt to use this effect on undead it subtracts points of healing from your pool and heals the undead. If you steal enough energy to kill a target, it becomes undead, but not necessarily under your control. You may still attempt this when your pool is full and gain points, however, you must use those points this round for healing, or else they dissipate.

Aura of Vigor[Su]: at level two, all allies within 30 feet heal 1 point plus half of the healers charisma modifier healing per round. This increases by one point of healing every round, every four levels to a maximum of 5 points of healing plus half of your charisma modifier at level eighteen. Also, anyone who is affected by your aura also heals 1 point of ability damage per minute spent in the aura. This must be continuous time spent in the aura. For every hour a creature spends in your aura they heal 1 point of ability drain. This must be continuous time spent in your aura. You may turn this aura off or on as a swift action. This aura does not effect the healer.

Healers Edge[Su]: at third level, you must choose whether to gain the healers edge effect for spells, your Lay on Hands ability or for your aura of vigor ability.

if you choose to gain the healers edge ability for your spells, then you gain a bonus to all of your healing spells equal to your wisdom bonus plus your caster level [this stacks with spell effects that give a bonus to spells numeric effects based on caster level].

If you choose to have this ability affect your Lay on Hands ability, then you gain bonus healing points equal to your wisdom modifier times your healer level, and the steal health effect of your lay on hands ability steals health equal to twice your charisma modifier.

If you choose to have this ability affect your Aura of Vigor ability then you may increase the healing of your Aura of Vigor by half of your charisma modifier [for a bonus to your Aura of Vigor ability equal to your charisma bonus] and may empower your aura of vigor ability a number of times per day equal to half of your healer levels. When you empower your aura of vigor it increases the amount of healing per round by a number equal to your caster level. This effect only lasts a number of rounds equal to your charisma bonus.

Empowered Healing[Su]: at eighth level all spells of the healing sub-school are empowered as if under the effect of the Empowered Spell meta magic feat. This ability doesn’t change the spell level of the healing spell you cast. This doesn’t stack with the Empowered Spell Meta-Magic feat.

Maximized Healing[Su]: at fifteenth level, all spells of the healing sub-school are maximized as if under the effect of the Maximized Spell meta-magic feat. This does not change the spell level of the healing spell you cast.

Supreme Healing[Su]: at twentieth level a healer may double the healing of any healing ability he uses for a number of rounds equal to half of his healer level. He may only do this once per day.

HEALER SPELL LIST

0th level: Cure minor wounds, light, create water, virtue, purify food and drink, mending, detect poison

1st level: bless, cure light wounds, detect evil/good/chaos/law, endure elements, magic weapon, protection from evil/good/chaos/law, remove fear, sanctuary, shield of faith

2nd level: aid, bears endurance, bulls strength, cure moderate wounds, delay poison, eagles splendor, gentle repose, owls wisdom, remove paralysis, lesser restoration, status, shield other

3rd level: create food and water, cure serious wounds, daylight, magic vestment, remove blindness/deafness, remove curse, remove disease, protection from energy

4th level: cure critical wounds, death ward, divine power, freedom of movement, greater magical weapon, neutralize poison, restoration, sending, spell immunity

5th level: atonement, break enchantment, mass cure light wounds, raise dead, spell resistance, scrying

6th level: mass bears endurance, mass bulls strength, mass cure moderate wounds, mass eagles splendor, heal, mass owls wisdom, stoneskin

7th level: mass cure serious wounds, regenerate, repulsion, greater restoration, resurrection, greater scrying, spell turning

8th level: anti-magic field, mass cure critical wounds, discern location, greater spell immunity

9th level: mass heal, true resurrection, prismatic sphere

[Trodon]

wow this is a cool class do u mind if i use it for a game sometime?

[unosarta]

thanks for that :smallsmile:. I have no problem with anyone using any of my stuff.

[Karma Guard]

You need to list what type of abilities the class's are. Ex, Su?

The spellcasting, while WE get what it means, needs neatening up.

The range for Aura of Vigor feels odd; 30 feet is the norm, but it's more of a nitpick than anything.

Healer's Edge needs a lot of cleaning up. It's really messy looking, even if it gets the point across. :I

Is there an alignment component? What's the flavor of the class? Any usual deities or whatever? How do people think about the Healer as a class?

[unosarta]

You need to list what type of abilities the class's are. Ex, Su?
i knew i forgot something. thanks for reminding me.


The spellcasting, while WE get what it means, needs neatening up.
um, hmm, how do you mean? they cast using charisma, know all spells on their spell list, and cast spontaneously. what is confusing/un-neat about that part?


The range for Aura of Vigor feels odd; 30 feet is the norm, but it's more of a nitpick than anything.
i suppose i could shorten it up.


Healer's Edge needs a lot of cleaning up. It's really messy looking, even if it gets the point across. :I
i guess i could try to clean it up. uggh, formatting is so annoying :smallwink:


Is there an alignment component? What's the flavor of the class? Any usual deities or whatever? How do people think about the Healer as a class?
i wanted a healer that is unaffected by the usual healer stereotypes, so i decided not to have a forced alignment. plus i generally dislike forced alignments. the flavor of the class? its a healer. he/she heals. some people might not have many nice thoughts about them though, considering the reverse aspect of lay on hands. and since its charisma based, i decided not to have a specific deity tied to the class, it just seemed, so anti-spontaneous caster, i guess.

[Omegonthesane]

Animate Thread!
Am I allowed to do that in the homebrew forum?

This class is pretty interesting, and mechanically I have few gripes, but it needs to list what weapons and armour the guy is proficient with. My guess is simple weapons and light armour, but maybe you wanted to be more generous than that. Also, there's a misprint for spells per day at 8th level. Citing the table itself:

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th| 9th
7th|
+5|
+5|
+2|
+5| |6|5|4|4|2|-|-|-|-|-

8th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+2|
+6|Empowered Healing|6|5|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-

9th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+3|
+6| |6|5|5|4|4|2|-|-|-|-[/table]

whereas it was probably meant to go

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th| 9th
7th|
+5|
+5|
+2|
+5| |6|5|4|4|2|-|-|-|-|-

8th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+2|
+6|Empowered Healing|6|5|5|4|3|-|-|-|-|-

9th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+3|
+6| |6|5|5|4|4|2|-|-|-|-[/table]

Also, either you should drop the "people drained to death turn into undead", or specify what kind of undead they turn into and give the Healer a means to control them. Something like, "If you steal enough energy to kill a target, it becomes a zombie under your control. You may control up to 4 HD per Healer caster level of zombies created in this way. If you exceed this number, the newly created zombie falls under your control, and any excess zombies are destroyed (you choose which zombies are destroyed by this effect)."

That, and: "You cannot steal more energy from a target than 10 + their current hitpoints; any excess 'drain' is wasted. For example, if you tried to drain 40 hitpoints from a 1st level commoner with 2 HP, you would only add 12 HP to your lay on hands pool, because after losing 12 hitpoints the commoner would be dead."

EDIT: Well boop, the guy who made this class hasn't posted since June... Anyone interested in commandeering it as a framework for anything?

[Zovc]

The healer's not even proficient with simple weapons? I think Aura of Vigor is too good. The healer should be able to cast cure spells at a range, instead of having to run around touching people.

The healer should probably cast off of Wisdom or Intelligence (Heal, the skill, uses Wisdom) so that you can't just put every point into Charisma.

[Athaniar]

I do think necromancy is universally frowned upon.

Concerning this class, however, I think it is good that it isn't alignment-restricted. Why wouldn't a hobgoblin army have healers, for example?

[Myou]

I think you really need to add some buffs to this spell list, because otherwise the healer really does only heal.

Which makes it even more boring to play than the cleric if you're focused on healing. Because at least the cleric can prepare a few other spells.

[Omegonthesane]

The healer's not even proficient with simple weapons? I think Aura of Vigor is too good. The healer should be able to cast cure spells at a range, instead of having to run around touching people.
In order,
1) I think that was an oversight of the creator, not an intentional feature. Note the spells/day misprint that never got fixed.
2) Come to think of it, yes... at low levels, when single-digit HP/round actually matters. However, once it stops influencing combats, it's just a matter of whether or not you want players to start every encounter at full HP.
There's also the issue that it makes Lay on Hands semi-redundant except for dire emergencies (or when you can't fit the whole party within 30 feet of the healer due to some plan).
3) Not needed as long as Aura of Vigor is up, but it sounds like a nice and fluffy replacement if AoV were to be removed. However, as I said, we can probably count on getting no advice from the original creator.

The healer should probably cast off of Wisdom or Intelligence (Heal, the skill, uses Wisdom) so that you can't just put every point into Charisma.[/QUOTE]


I think you really need to add some buffs to this spell list, because otherwise the healer really does only heal.

Which makes it even more boring to play than the cleric if you're focused on healing. Because at least the cleric can prepare a few other spells.

Not quite true. The Healer here can still buff, and more importantly, can still fight. 3/4 BaB really isn't that bad. Though, as I pointed out when I reanimated, it should be proficient with at least simple weapons and light armour. Any more than that it needs, and any specific suggestions of spells?

Maybe some undead creation spells...

[Zovc]

In order,
1) I think that was an oversight of the creator, not an intentional feature. Note the spells/day misprint that never got fixed.
2) Come to think of it, yes... at low levels, when single-digit HP/round actually matters. However, once it stops influencing combats, it's just a matter of whether or not you want players to start every encounter at full HP.
There's also the issue that it makes Lay on Hands semi-redundant except for dire emergencies (or when you can't fit the whole party within 30 feet of the healer due to some plan).
3) Not needed as long as Aura of Vigor is up, but it sounds like a nice and fluffy replacement if AoV were to be removed. However, as I said, we can probably count on getting no advice from the original creator.

1) Yes, there wasn't any real merit to the nitpick. If anything, it was just snappy. (I agree that it should be simple weapons and light armor, though, as seen in the miniatures handbook.)
2) That means the ability is broken, it is too good at low levels, and allows the party to "soft rest" in between encounters at any level. The ability would make more sense allowing the healer to use the heal skill to get everyone back to tip-top shape, requiring a series of skill checks, and even then, its purpose is defeated by rest (which gives the healer back spells). "If you're not supposed to rest, you shouldn't be able to rest," I guess is what I'm trying to say.
3) That's because Aura of Vigor should not be there. :3 I'd say using the spells at a range of 30' is fine for level 1, maybe increasing later.


Not quite true. The Healer here can still buff, and more importantly, can still fight. 3/4 BaB really isn't that bad. Though, as I pointed out when I reanimated, it should be proficient with at least simple weapons and light armour. Any more than that it needs, and any specific suggestions of spells?

Maybe some undead creation spells...

To be honest (and I'm not very well-versed with spells), the only spell I see missing is Vigor (and it's more powerful variants).

Why on earth would a class that is 100% about healing create undead? The class's purpose is positive energy. I completely disagree with the notion of this class having any friendliness to undead.

I don't think it'd be outrageous to give the class 4 + Int skills.

[Omegonthesane]

1) Yes, there wasn't any real merit to the nitpick. If anything, it was just snappy. (I agree that it should be simple weapons and light armor, though, as seen in the miniatures handbook.)
Minus the "no metal armour" disadvantage. Really, what kind of creed says "healers r vulnerablez yay"?


2) That means the ability is broken, it is too good at low levels, and allows the party to "soft rest" in between encounters at any level. The ability would make more sense allowing the healer to use the heal skill to get everyone back to tip-top shape, requiring a series of skill checks, and even then, its purpose is defeated by rest (which gives the healer back spells). "If you're not supposed to rest, you shouldn't be able to rest," I guess is what I'm trying to say.
...Yeah, you've sold me on this. The Lay on Hands pool already allows Healers to effectively infy-heal as long as they have a decent amount of downtime. The fact is, though, the Heal skill has its DCs set too high and is made useless by healing magic anyway.
"I can maybe make you heal one more point of health per day."
"Cure Minor Wounds. That wasn't even worth a real spell."


3) That's because Aura of Vigor should not be there. :3 I'd say using the spells at a range of 30' is fine for level 1, maybe increasing later.
Maybe they start at 30' instead of AoV, increase to Short range instead of AoV 2, to Medium instead of AoV 3... and what conceivable practical purpose is served by Long range healing?
How about some positive energy bursts like the Dread Necromancer's negative energy bursts? And maybe a nonevil companion at level 6 or so.


Why on earth would a class that is 100% about healing create undead? The class's purpose is positive energy. I completely disagree with the notion of this class having any friendliness to undead.
Power over life is power over death. The strongest medicine is also a poison. The Lay on Hands ability explicitly allows you to drain life. This class isn't 100% about healing any more than a Dread Necromancer is 100% about animating the dead. Anything that makes evil healers playable and interesting is a plus, although there's a good case to be made that mindless undead are not in any way evil.

I'd add the spells that cause any specific conditions the Healer can cure onto the spell list. Not the Inflict spells, but Contagion to match Remove Disease, Blindness/Deafness to match Remove Blindness/Deafness, and probably the assassin's poison use - matched with a nonmagical ability to auto-pass Heal checks made versus poison, or similar.


I don't think it'd be outrageous to give the class 4 + Int skills.
I'm too sleepy to think in detail about what class skills it needs, but Intimidate and Bluff would be nice. Not all healers are going to operate in a diplomatic fashion.

[Lappy9000]

"I can maybe make you twice your normal healing (1hp/level; now 2hp/level) per 8 hours of rest or four times your normal healing (1hp/level; now 4hp/level) per 24 hours of rest."

"Cure Minor Wounds. That wasn't even worth a real spell. Good thing natural healing is so much better."Fixed it for yah' :smallbiggrin:

[Omegonthesane]

Fixed it for yah' :smallbiggrin:

Thanks for correcting me about the exact rate of healing but 1st level the cantrip does it faster, and in a fairly spammable fashion.

Also, 24 hours of rest is 24 hours in which, at some point, the orcs will stab you in the face, preventing you from healing a single hitpoint naturally and probably killing you in the bargain. In the context of any adventure, the Heal skill is completely trumped by magic, in speed and function. I appreciate the Heal skill is useful for civilians and retirees, but we're talking about player characters here.

Counting only additional healing from the Heal skill in 8 hours, because you're never going to get 24 hours downtime except between adventures, and assuming you pass every heal check ever, and not allowing any optimisation for the caster like Radiant Servant of Pelor's
Empowered Healing, and not allowing magic to win unless it equals or bests Heal skill's healing 100% of the time

1st level: 1 HP in 8 hours VS 1 HP in 1 round. Magic wins by virtue of speed.
2nd level: 2 HP in 8 hours VS 3-10 HP Cure Light Wounds in 1 round. Magic wins
3rd level: 3 HP 8 hrs VS 4-11 HP CLW 1 round. Magic wins
4th level: 3 HP 8 hrs VS 5-12 HP CLW 1 round. Magic wins
5th level: 3 HP 8 hrs VS 6-13 HP CLW 1 round. Magic wins
6th: 6 HP 8 hrs VS 6-13 HP CLW 1 round. Magic wins on speed. In 7/8 cases, magic wins on actual healing as well.
7th: 7 HP 8 hrs VS 7-14 HP CLW + CMinW 2 rounds, or 9-24 HP CModW 1 round. Magic wins
8th: 8 HP 8 hrs VS 10-25 HP CModW 1 round. Magic wins and 2nd level spells aren't a big loss to a cleric of 8th level
9th: 9 HP 8 hrs VS 11-26 HP CModW 1 round. Magic wins
10th: 10 HP 8 hrs VS 12-27 HP CModW 1 round. Magic wins
11th: 11 HP 8 hrs VS 12-27 HP CModW 1 round. Magic wins
12th: 12 HP 8 hrs VS 12-27 HP CModW 1 round. Magic wins on speed and, in 63/64 cases on actual healing (natural double 2 means it draws)
13th: 13 HP 8 hrs VS 13-28 HP CModW + CMinW 2 rounds, or 16-37 HP CSW 1 round. Magic wins
14th: 14 HP 8 hrs VS 17-38 HP CSW 1 round. Magic wins
15th: 15 HP 8 hrs VS 18-39 HP CSW 1 round. Magic wins. Though now CSW stops scaling.
16th: 16 HP 8 hrs VS 18-39 HP CSW 1 round. Magic wins
17th: 17 HP 8 hrs VS 18-39 HP CSW 1 round. Magic wins
18th: 18 HP 8 hrs VS 18-39 HP CSW 1 round. Magic wins on speed
19th: 19 HP 8 hrs VS 19-40 HP CSW + CMinW 2 rounds, or 23-51 HP CCW 1 round. Magic wins
20th: 20 HP 8 hrs VS 24-52 HP CCW 1 round. Magic wins
21st: 21 HP 8 hrs VS Epic spell that finishes the campaign in 1 quickened action. :smalltongue:

Now to see what happens when we take into account other functions of the Heal skill.
Ability damage: Extra 1 ability score point healed for a full 8 hours of rest, because as I already stated if you're getting 24 hours of rest ever then you aren't currently adventuring and probably aren't playing the same game as me. If you only have one damaged attribute, then at 4th level Lesser Restoration (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/RestorationLesser.htm) does it better, curing 1d4 ability damage to one attribute in 3 rounds. If that isn't enough for you, then at 8th level 100GP diamond dust will power Restoration[url] (Clr 4 Pal 4) which completely heals all your damaged attributes, as well as removing all ability drain from 1 score (and nonmagical treatment can never help ability drain) and restoring 1 lost level (again, beyond what Heal skill can do at all).

Treating poison. At low levels the Heal skill wins on this one, although [url=http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/delayPoison.htm]Delay Poison (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/restoration.htm) helps after 4th level. At 6th level Druids get Neutralize Poison (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/neutralizePoison.htm), thereby transcending the Heal skill. At 8th level, Clerics get it too.

Treating disease. Until 6th level, Heal skill wins. Then Paladins get their useless 1/week SLA Remove Disease (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/removeDisease.htm), and more importantly Clerics and Druids get it as a real spell, doing the work of hours of mortal healing in 1 round.

Restoring lost limbs. The Heal skill can't even do this. Magic can (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/regenerate.htm).

I hope you can now see why I don't much value the Heal skill in an emergency. NPCs aren't people who tend to need large amounts of HP in a really really quick manner, or who tend to be travelling and not counting on 24 hours' rest ever, so it's fine for them.

[Omegonthesane]

Besides, your table has absolutely nothing to do with Heal checks. You're only using natural healing without involving the Heal skill at all. Plus, you left out what is likely the most used part of the Heal skill; stabilizing characters below 0 hp.
I was counting only what the Heal skill does in addition to natural healing. After all, HP gain from natural healing is equal on both sides of the equation and therefore can be removed. I was also operating under the assumption that my "Nobody gets 24 hours' rest in an emergency" postulate was true. Heal skill's big strength is that you can hit multiple people with it, and the Mass C*W line has that covered at higher levels, not to mention every cleric worth the name having at least six CLW slots at high levels due to having 20+ Wisdom by mundane means or by magic.

And yes I was deadly serious about relying solely on magic if you're an adventurer, but not literally relying solely on CMinW.

[zenanarchist]

I'm actually designing a class very similar to this, but based around an angelic template sort of thing.

Our spell lists are almost identical but our abilities are completely different. You'll see it in my signature when it's finished.

It's a healer/melee class, similar to the Priest, but he has no damaging or summoning spells at all.

[Shpadoinkle]

Yeah, the Aura of Vigor ability seems awfully strong, even at level 2. Plus, it would be yet another thing to keep track of in combat, and for many groups keeping track of everything you need to is a nightmare already. "Am I within 30 feet of you this round? Oh wait, what about last round? I don't think I counted the HP from your aura for last round," etc. I'd really have to reccommend dropping it.

Maybe replace the arua with the ability to remove disease and poison X times/day? Disease and poison don't come up that often in games I'm in, but it tends to suck a lot when they do.

There's a reserve feat in Complete Arcane, I think, called Touch of Healing. What it does is let you heal people by touch as long as you have a healing spell of 3rd level or higher memorized and available to cast, but only if the person being healed is at lower than half thier maximum HP. Not an exceptional ability, but it can definitely stretch out your healing spells if someone gets messed up really bad. I think getting it as a bonus feat at level 5 would be good. Maybe upgrade it around level 12 so that it can be used on anyone at less than 3/4ths thier maxmum HP (by the time the party is level 12 getting back up to full HP after a fight shouldn't be a huge deal, just from the number of healing potions and wands and stuff they can afford, so I don't think it's overpowering)

Another idea I've seen floating around regadring healers is the ability to cast Cure X Wounds spells as though they had a range of 30 feet. The healer can hang back a bit without having to expose himself to the same danger the frontline fighters do.