Healer (monster, 3.5)

[Shpadoinkle]

Yes, this is basically the Healer monster from the Dragon Warrior aka Dragon Quest games.

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Tiny Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 1d10 -1 (4 HP)
Initiative +2
Speed: 30 ft, Swim 30ft
Armor Class: 15 (+2 size, +3 Dex), touch 15, flat-footed 12
Base Attack: +0
Attacks: Tendril +3 melee, 1d3-4
Full Attack: Tendril +3 1d3-4
Space/reach: 2½ ft./0 ft. (5 ft. with tendril)
Special Attacks: Healing ray
Special Qualities: Amphibious
Saves: Fortitude +1, Reflex +5, Will +0
Abilities: Str 3, Dex 16, Con 8, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 11
Feats: Weapon Finesse
Skills: Spot +2
Environemnt: Any temperate/tropical near water, underwater
Organization: Solitary, Group (2-8) or symbiotic (see text)
Challenge Rating: 1/2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually True Neutral
Advancement: 2-4 HD (Tiny)
Level Adjustment: +1

Healers are small creatures somewhat resembling jellyfish. Typically a healer's bell is blue and has yellow-orange tendrils hanging from below it, but other colors have been seen. The bell is approximately one foot in diameter, and the tendrils are approximately two to three feet long. A healer weighs about ten pounds.

Healers are omnivorous and can eat nearly anything. They typically live near shallow waters, both salt and fresh, and can occasionally be spotted near the shores or a bit further inland. They are able to breathe both air and water, and are able to survive on land indefinitely as long as they have enough water to drink, though they occasionally complain of discomfort if they have to go for more than a day without being able to submerge themselves.

When travelling on land, healers actually float above the ground. However, this ability is limited and not fully understood, and healers are only able to float about five feet above any solid surface. Rough terrain hampers them in the same manner it hampers humanoid creatures.

Healers speak Aquan. 10% of healers can speak Common.

COMBAT
Healers are extremely weak combatants and prefer to avoid fighting directly. Instead they tend to distract any dangerous opponents and escape. Healers are often found in the company of predatory animals however, and use them as bodyguards of sorts. On rare occasions a healer (or group of healers) has been known to 'adopt' a sentient creature.

Healing Ray: The special ability of Healers is that which gives them thier name. Healers are able to cast Cure Light Wounds as a spell-like ability as a first level caster three times per day, with a range of 25 feet. This is a ray effect and requires an attack roll to hit if used at range, but none is required if the target is in the same square or a square adjacent to the healer. As healers are not very intelligent, they will often use this ability at the first sign of danger whether the target is actually injured or not.

OTHER
A healer can be taken as a familiar if the master has the Imrpoved Familiar feat. The minimum level for having a healer as a familiar is 4.

Healers can be raised and tamed, though this is difficult and takes at least three months of daily training. At the end of the training period, the trainer makes a Handle Animal check against a DC of 20. If successful, the healer is considered to be tame and can be taught tricks and tasks like any other animal. If unsuccessful a second check, also DC 20, can be made after an additional three weeks of training- if the second check fails, that individual healer is considered 'untrainable,' and additional attempts to train it are automatically unsuccessful. A trained healer can be purchased for 350 GP.

Even trained healers are flighty and attempt to avoid danger, though they'll stay near thier trainer or owner if danger threatens.

Edit: Fixed space/reach, fort save, and dropped the CLW ability from 10/day to 3/day. Admittedly 10 times per day is a bit excessive now that I think about it. Also added raising/taming and familiar info, and changed the language info.

[Jane_Smith]

You know, I see this as a favorite pet/bred critter for holy temples/gardens/groves/etc, especially if undead are known to be in the area. Would be kinda funny to see these critters adopt a vampire or the like and follow them around tossing cure's at him whenever he goes into a fight...


Edit;

Also, what would you say it would cost for a adult, infantized, or egg/etc of them if someone wanted to buy one on the market? Do they lay eggs/give birth normally to even allow them to be taken and sold? Can they be made familiars? >.>

[PhoenixRivers]

Special Attacks should either list: SLA's, or Cure Light Wounds.

Otherwise, nice.

[JackMage666]

Also, the Fort save should be +1, not +2 (+2 base with -1 Con Mod)

If it's usable 10/day, it might as well be at will. If you want it to be slightly more balanced for a party to adopt one, I'd made it Cure Minor Wounds as a touch action, even - Still healing, but much slower and much more balanced for a low level party to want one.

[Drolyt]

The Cure Light Wounds should be at will. As for the monster, nobody would play this and it doesn't make a very effective enemy. I'm not sure what to do with it.

[DracoDei]

If the party buys one, then there is a world of difference between 10/day and at-will.

[Drolyt]

If the party buys one, then there is a world of difference between 10/day and at-will.

Make it so it doesn't follow orders? I have no idea on the fluff of this creature, maybe the 10/day makes sense in that context. It's just that no other creature has 10/day on a spell like ability.

[Debihuman]

The standard number of times a creature can use a spell-like ability is 3 per day though some good creatures have 7 per day (Astral Deva for example). I think for balance that 10/day might be a tad excessive, but they really aren't useful for more than a deus ex machina encounter. I doubt that capturing one and holding it against its will (as it is a sentient creature and they can speak Common) would be a good act for a party. However, it gives an overwhelmed party a chance to recover without expending their own resources. In an underwater campaign, these might be interesting but as minor encounters. Unfortunately, it has the potential to be overused and misused easily.

It seems to be an aquatic creature. Should have the Aquatic subtype? Does it need to be kept wet? If so, you should mention this.

Grapple is -12. Space/reach is wrong. Tiny creatures don't take up 5 feet.
Space/reach: 2½ ft./0 ft. (5 ft. with tendril)

Debby

[Drolyt]

How powerful of a healer is this supposed to be? Give it Heal 3/day at like 15th CL and it won't really be that unbalanced, it basically would allow the creature to heal almost anything to full health a few times a day, not really broken for a one off monster. It would mean that it's CR would scale with the CR of whatever it is healing...

[Shpadoinkle]

How powerful of a healer is this supposed to be? Give it Heal 3/day at like 15th CL and it won't really be that unbalanced, it basically would allow the creature to heal almost anything to full health a few times a day, not really broken for a one off monster. It would mean that it's CR would scale with the CR of whatever it is healing...

Like I said in the original post, they're based on the monsters from the Dragon Quest games. In DQ they're low-level encounters and essentially harmless by themselves (unless you only have one character and encounter a large group of the), but annoying because they're hard to hit and keep healing themselves and the other enemies. There are stronger versions of them that you can run into later that cast DQ's equivalant of Heal.

[Drolyt]

Like I said in the original post, they're based on the monsters from the Dragon Quest games. In DQ they're low-level encounters and essentially harmless by themselves (unless you only have one character and encounter a large group of the), but annoying because they're hard to hit and keep healing themselves and the other enemies. There are stronger versions of them that you can run into later that cast DQ's equivalant of Heal.

Like I said I don't know anything about those games. At any rate the way you make it sound they should just have cure light wounds at at will.
Edit: Give them lower Con, higher Dex, and one more hit die. Then even if they do have Cure Light Wounds at will they wouldn't be attractive as a player race. Don't allow them to be cohorts or anything either.