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View Full Version : Cleric(RSoP) RAW question, and would your DM allow it



UMDPenguin
2007-11-28, 10:43 AM
We will be starting a new game soon so i have been pouring over the books looking for something cool to play. (yes i am a min-maxer, but not to the point of being an ass. i just see no reason not to be the best you can be. too many years of WoW )

Anyway i think i want to play a full on healing cleric, not one that can out-fight the fighters. For this reason i was looking at Radiant Servant of Pelor. A few minutes ago i saw a variant in the PHBII that would let you give up standard spell converting to cure spells and let you do it to domain spells instead.

My thought, is could you choose Healing as the convertable domain, and be able to cast any spell as a healing domain spell, basically getting the radiant servant healing bonuses on every healing spell i cast? Or do the converted domain spells not actually count as a domain spell. I know it is very good and probably too powerful, but i was curious if i am interpreting it wrong, or if it is correct RAW and my DM may just disallow it.

Reinboom
2007-11-28, 11:43 AM
The RAW is shaky, I think, by reading the variant alone.
It refers to the 'domain spell' separately, completely, and when speaking about the spontaneous casting, it never refers to being able to convert spell slots into domain spells, just losing spells slots to cast spells from your domain list instead. It's rather strange wording.
A spell isn't a domain spell unless cast from your domain slots.
Here (http://forums.gleemax.com/wotc_archive/index.php/t-295728.html) is a (albeit, old) wizards topic discussing that.

So, you would only get the benefit if cast from your domain slots.

..I still would allow it.

Dode
2007-11-28, 12:11 PM
Yes you can according to the RAW. Though it isn't really a Cleric issue so much as an RSoP thing.

Being a healbot isn't particularly enjoyable though, no matter how good you are at it.

UMDPenguin
2007-11-28, 12:15 PM
yeah i am kind of hoping my DM will go for it. Of all the power builds out there i have never really seen "the ultimate healer". Healing always seems to be something the clerics and druids can do while not dominating at everything else. I want to dominate at healing and only healing. If there is another class that is better for that and i somehow missed it please tell me.


To give any WoW people an idea i used to play a holy paladin, which in that game is great healing, great buffs, great armor... but you couldn't kill a fly in under 5 minutes. :)

UMDPenguin
2007-11-28, 12:20 PM
Yes you can according to the RAW. Though it isn't really a Cleric issue so much as an RSoP thing.

Being a healbot isn't particularly enjoyable though, no matter how good you are at it.

i think i could make healbotting enjoyable... just gotta bust out the RP goodness. it would be a decent balance though. it will be my second weekly game, my first wich is currently going (just reached lvl 6) i am batman. The DM already despises my web, glitterdust, and grease. I am new to this group and i get the feeling almost every wizard they have played with in the past was mainly a blaster.

Roderick_BR
2007-11-28, 12:23 PM
By what I understood, you just changes your spontaneous healing conversion to the spells of your domain, like, you can spontaneously change that Bless spell into a Energy Resistance (Fire) from your Sun domain. It doesn't say your normal spells are treated as domain spells.
So, swapping healing spells for healing domain spells changes nothing, except, maybe, the ability to spontaneously cast spells from one more domain.

Toliudar
2007-11-28, 12:44 PM
As SweetRein said, there's still discussion on this issue. As a DM, I'd allow it on a trial basis, because I don't see it doing anything other than speeding up the time between encounters...and how bad is that, really?

Prophaniti
2007-11-28, 01:42 PM
We always have fun with the Healer class from the Miniatures Handbook (don't know if its in any others) you get big bonuses to every healing spell you cast and a unicorn(!) its pretty good for the healing thing. I wonder where they got the name from?:smalltongue:

UMDPenguin
2007-11-28, 03:46 PM
thanks for the thoughts. i'll check out the healer and i'll be asking my DM tomorrow evening if he'd allow that or my RSoP idea.

Chronos
2007-11-28, 05:00 PM
I wonder where they got the name from?Oh, that? It's because the unicorn follows you around like a pet. You know, like if you tell a dog "Heal!", it follows along at your side. You do the same thing with the unicorn, so you're a Healer.

martyboy74
2007-11-28, 06:00 PM
After all, beside handing out true resses one a week there's not much else you can do in the class.

Keld Denar
2007-11-29, 01:40 PM
I would say no. The ability of RSoP only works for domain spells, spells specifically memorized in the domain slots. The difference between memorizing a cure light wounds and casting it, a normal cleric spontaniously casting cure light wounds from a prepared bless, and a domain cleric with the healing domain spontaniously casting cure light wounds from a prepared bless is nothing. None were domain slots to begin with, so none are augmented by RSoPs ability. Since you can not convert domain slots into anything, you must prep them as healing domain spells in the domain slot to gain this benefit.

As a suggestion, I would not gain more than 5 levels in this prestige class. At 6th level, the empowered turns to maximized. Depending on your DMs reading of Empower Spell (see the Empower thread here) this could be a significant nerf to your ability until you hit RSoP 10, when you get Empower back (Supreme Healing). If your DM is of mind that the +1/level part of all cure spells is multiplied by 1.5 (as is suggested by the magic missile example) then you will lose power. If your DM reads Empower Spell as only affecting the dice roll (the d8s, as implied by the text of the feat) then you will gain power with Maximize Spell.

In addition to healing, consider buffing. Proactive damage prevention is the duty of a mindful cleric. Things like Extended Mass Conviction, Extended Mass Shield of Faith, Magic Vestiments, and Greater Magic Weapon are all wonderful buff spells. Starting combat with a Prayer, Recitation (make sure everyone follows your god), or Rightous Wrath of the Faithful will allow your melee friends to do much more damage, take less damage, and all around be better characters. If you can get the Purification Domain (from your 5th level of RSoP bonus domain) you get Recitation as a 3rd level domain spell, which means you can quicken it with a Lesser Rod of Quicken. Dropping Righteous Wrath + Quickened Recitation in the opening round of combat is like being a bard and a cleric and a wizard all in one round. Grabbing a Bead of Karma and popping it every day during the morning buff suite will make your buffs last longer, have higher effects, and be harder to dispel.

Another thing to do if no one needs immediate healing, is counterspelling. Especially if you can grab a level of Church Inquisitor from CD. The Inquisition Domain grants a +4 on dispel level checks, making you able to use Dispel Magic very effectively as a counterspell. Daily castings of Battlemagic Perception will allow you to always know what spells are being cast, and then you can counter them or not on a whim. Recast Battlemagic Perception after every combat you use it in.

Take the Augmented Healing feat. By the time you get Mass Cure spells, it'll be amazing. Its an extra +10 healing to EACH TARGET with Mass Cure Light Wounds. Nuff said.

If you choose not to advance RSoP past level 5 (Char Level 11) an alternative to going back to straight cleric would be Sacred Exorcist. It gets full turning progression, full casting, and some neat spell-like abilities. That'll take you all the way up to level 20 if you need to.

Anyway, GL with your healing! I hope your party appreciates you!