Vow of Peace Healer build help

[Falcos]

Hi all! As you may have gleaned from the title, I'm building a Healer with Vow of Peace. There are a few reasons for this, but the big one is for the challenge in gameplay of being relevant in a level ten-to-eighteen campaign with the combination.

So, starting at level ten with the Elite Array, I had the idea of going Silverbrow Human (One of my two pet races, and more interesting to me than vanilla Human), and have a few build goals I'd like the playground's intelligence on, if I may request it. :)

Firstly, I wish to have a form of flight, preferrably a flying mount. The best way I can find for this is the Wild Cohort feat from the WotC archives, but I'm open to other ideas if anybody has any.

Secondly, I was thinking of going into the (Second party, but still permitted by the DM) "Healing Hand of Mishakal" PrC, and want advice on that choice and on where to go after it.

Thirdly, I'm not sure if I should take the unicorn or not before PrCing out.

And fourthly and finally, I'm not sure on my Feat choices (which, as it stands, are Sacred Vow, Vow of Nonviolence, Vow of Peace, Nymph's Kiss, Wild Cohort, Spontaneous Healer, Ocular Spell, and Touch of Healing, using two flaws as per the DM's gracious ruling).

I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm noobish or anything else, but I'm wanting ideas for polish for what will be my longest non-DMing campaign to date.

Any and all help, feedback, criticism, and anything else that isn't pointed sticks will be appreciated. Thank you all in advance. :)

[Karl Aegis]

Second party? This is the first time I heard Wizards of the Coast had any subsidiaries. What is the name of the subsidiary?

You can get a sphinx mount at level 12, but you don't have ride as a class skill. It is pretty trivial to buy the required skills from items, but it is still wealth you could spend elsewhere.

What do you expect to be doing in this scenario? Healers don't really go into combat and your vow means you'll want to be avoiding combat. No combat means no healing. I have no idea what you expect to be doing on the adventure. Tracking maybe?

[Falcos]

My DM friend told me it was second-party, I thought it was third. However, he knows DnD better than I, so I leave it to you to interpret. The book is "The Holy Orders of Krynn".

As for what I intend to be doing, combat healing. Nothing in the Vow of Peace prevents that as long as I don't incapacitate or harm enemies at all, which I didn't intend to. I know combat healing is a suboptimal role, but whenever I make a damaging role or a BFC role, I wind up delegating my partymates to uselessness, thus no campaign before this one lasting.

[Venger]

My DM friend told me it was second-party, I thought it was third. However, he knows DnD better than I, so I leave it to you to interpret. The book is "The Holy Orders of Krynn".

As for what I intend to be doing, combat healing. Nothing in the Vow of Peace prevents that as long as I don't incapacitate or harm enemies at all, which I didn't intend to. I know combat healing is a suboptimal role, but whenever I make a damaging role or a BFC role, I wind up delegating my partymates to uselessness, thus no campaign before this one lasting.

I gather you meant "holy orders of the stars," a dragonlance book. it's not second party, but third. it was published by sovereign press, not hasbro or any of its subsidiaries. but if your DM allows it, then it doesn't matter.

anyway, check out the handbook as always. one thing you'll learn quickly about D&D, any class or broad role in the game has its own handbook, so that's often a good first spot to check to learn new things.

healer is a brutal class to play. if you're going to stick to that role, I recommend considering an incarnate dip to gain some very important utility through stuff like the mage's spectacles. even if you start with a flying mount, the airstep sandals are handy if your pet's ever incapacitated or if you're separated, plus it gives better maneuverability.

what sort of stuff would you like your guy to be able to do?

[Falcos]

Thank you for clearing that up on the third-party issue. The more you know.

I did look over the handbook, and I think I've gleaned useful information from it, but it's more general than my specific build, so I'm still looking for advice on this build specifically if any exists.

(As a side-note, I've discovered that not everything has a handbook, and some things that do - like my favourite class, the Wu Jen - have an incomplete one only. Still many many handbooks, but sadly not complete coverage... Yet. One of my dreams is to be good enough at DnD to write two handbooks of my own: Wu Jen, and Dvati.)

Hmm. Incarnate dip is something I hadn't thought of, honestly... Would you recommend taking it early or late in my career?

As for what I want to be able to do, I want to be able to heal, buff, and defend my allies in whatever way is currently relevant, as well as being able to survive encounters myself. I picture myself as in the backline on one mount or another, only joining the fray for long enough to patch up either an ally or a now-prisoner before getting once more out of harm's way, but I'm not sure if that's the best use of Vow of Peace... I don't know if I should try to use its weapon-shattering properties and aura of peace "aggressively", for want of a better term. Out of combat, I was thinking of party face as a secondary role, and a third goal I don't quite know how to phrase, namely, that whole "Redemption" chestnut mentioned repeatedly in BoED.

Not one hundred percent relevant to the build but worth mentioning is that the DM has said that I may earn the Saint template through the methods mentioned in the aforementioned book, and that is a large goal for me, so I'm not about to start sacrificing babies or anything similar.

[Venger]

if you're handicapping yourself on purpose and your dm and party have already okayed vow of nonviolence, then you might look at book of exalted deeds' apostle of peace. it fits with what you've described thus far and won't cause you to break your healer's code.

Thank you for clearing that up on the third-party issue. The more you know.

sure, happy to do it

I did look over the handbook, and I think I've gleaned useful information from it, but it's more general than my specific build, so I'm still looking for advice on this build specifically if any exists.

(As a side-note, I've discovered that not everything has a handbook, and some things that do - like my favourite class, the Wu Jen - have an incomplete one only. Still many many handbooks, but sadly not complete coverage... Yet. One of my dreams is to be good enough at DnD to write two handbooks of my own: Wu Jen, and Dvati.)

unfortunately, while most classes/roles have a handbook, they aren't all perfect. I'd certainly like to see what a full wu jen handbook looks like. if you ever get around to it, shoot me a link, I love wu jen. same as dvati.

Hmm. Incarnate dip is something I hadn't thought of, honestly... Would you recommend taking it early or late in my career?

incarnate is a great class, and very dip-friendly. all their melds are available immediately with even a single level. I advise you take your level(s) early since you'll be able to enjoy them your whole career

as a Good incarnate, your alignment-specific melds largely focus around AC, which is something you'll be able to enjoy.

it gives you a lot of options, unlocking skills, giving several neat draconic melds if you go silverbrow (check out dragon magic, there's some real cool stuff there, like the elder spirit) giving flight, climb speed, natural attacks, and some other fun tools. incarnate handbook provides a decent overview of what the melds do.

As for what I want to be able to do, I want to be able to heal, buff, and defend my allies in whatever way is currently relevant, as well as being able to survive encounters myself. I picture myself as in the backline on one mount or another, only joining the fray for long enough to patch up either an ally or a now-prisoner before getting once more out of harm's way, but I'm not sure if that's the best use of Vow of Peace... I don't know if I should try to use its weapon-shattering properties and aura of peace "aggressively", for want of a better term. Out of combat, I was thinking of party face as a secondary role, and a third goal I don't quite know how to phrase, namely, that whole "Redemption" chestnut mentioned repeatedly in BoED.

Not one hundred percent relevant to the build but worth mentioning is that the DM has said that I may earn the Saint template through the methods mentioned in the aforementioned book, and that is a large goal for me, so I'm not about to start sacrificing babies or anything similar.

weapon shattering is a cute trick and all, but weaponizing it's not such a great idea. many monsters will be able to avoid it through things like breath weapons and such, and all you're doing is destroying your own loot.

taking potshots with dissolving spittle against nonhumanoid/nonmonstrous foes is also an option and another contribution from incarnate.

silvertongue mask helps with facing. the redemption stuff is pretty much all RP, so that's cool.

saint template's among the best in the game, but ask him about LA buyoff, or once you earn saint, you'll never level up again.

who said anything about sacrificing babies?

[Kantolin]

Put strong consideration into taking the augment healing and Magic of the Land feats (From the complete divine and the races of the wild). It takes some fifth level spells and gives them some oompf - between the two, your cure light wounds mass heals for an additional +20 on top of whatever it's normally doing, which is a noticeable boost and will help a ton.

In addition, there are two spells that are very helpful for healing as they're 'cast once and they continue to heal for awhile' - Healing Spirit(PHB2) and Darts of life (Complete Champion). These are technically not on the healer list, so ask your DM as they make tremendous amounts of sense there. Still, with the above two feats, healing spirit on its own heals for 1d8+16 per round, lasts several rounds, and you can move it where it needs to be on a given turn and cast other things that are needed.

Darts of life has a slightly wonkier interaction with the two feats; ask your DM. You could read it as the spell as a whole heals for +20, in which I'm not sure if you split it among each knife or whatever. I've always seen it read as 'Each dart you throw gets the boost of your two feats', which means it heals for a truckload of damage.
(In which you've spent 2/7ths of your career on it and a few skill points; it had better be awesome).

Add healing lorecall from the Spell Compendium to taste.

While prestige classes are nifty, a unicorn companion does bring additional healing to the table that also doesn't take your actions. Can you ride any of the 12th level healer companions? I've forgotten if this is an option, but I believe you can - if so, that may be better. Of course, otherwise you could go into sand shaper or contemplative or some other class which expands your spell list (I looked up neither of these to see if a healer qualifies, mind you, just 'expand your spell list' comes to mind)

Definitely grab sanctified spells - it'll give you some buffs, which is neat for a support character. Luminous armour is dandy, Celestial Aspect essentially gives you fly (and some other options - you could even cast it on your unicorn), and things of the sort.

Although uh... I noted Vow of Nonviolence in there. Do note that Vow of Nonviolence gives your allies direct penalties whenever they kill something anywhere near you. I'd talk to the other players and make sure everyone is on board with this, so they don't get annoyed when they really just wanted to kill the evil drow slavers but would be okay with talking to the cornered bugbear who wants to get out of this alive.

Also note that, depending on how you read it, most methods of debuffing opponents are against your vow - the sanctified spell 'sicken evil' would hits the "You also may not use nondamaging spells to incapacitate or weaken living foes so that your allies can kill them" clause.

[Venger]

Put strong consideration into taking the augment healing and Magic of the Land feats (From the complete divine and the races of the wild). It takes some fifth level spells and gives them some oompf - between the two, your cure light wounds mass heals for an additional +20 on top of whatever it's normally doing, which is a noticeable boost and will help a ton.

augment healing really boosts your numbers, but I'd advise against magic of the land. its effect is just too puny.

I'd suggest you consider mastery of day and night if you anticipate throwing around a lot of cures and your DM doesn't give you the vigor line for whatever reason.

by RAW, spell compendium does expand your list at least a little bit:

Healer (Miniatures Handbook): Add spells concerned with
healing, providing protections, removing affliction, and
providing for needs. In particular, add higher-level versions
of spells the healer can already cast, such as mass restoration.

so at the very least that means a few mass x's, and possibly a few more spells, as suggested. healing lorecall, as Kantolin mentioned, is very good.

this guy also made up a healer list, so you might check that out to find thematically appropriate stuff to add.

While prestige classes are nifty, a unicorn companion does bring additional healing to the table that also doesn't take your actions. Can you ride any of the 12th level healer companions? I've forgotten if this is an option, but I believe you can - if so, that may be better. Of course, otherwise you could go into sand shaper or contemplative or some other class which expands your spell list (I looked up neither of these to see if a healer qualifies, mind you, just 'expand your spell list' comes to mind)

you can ride all of them, yes.

sand shaper is difficult to qualify for, and while it does beef up your spell list, it's mostly with offensive stuff that you won't be able to use a lot of the time.

contemplative is qualifiable for any point after lvl 10, since you have religion as a class skill, and could easily pick a domain that has only spells you can use and/or a useful domain power.

Definitely grab sanctified spells - it'll give you some buffs, which is neat for a support character. Luminous armour is dandy, Celestial Aspect essentially gives you fly (and some other options - you could even cast it on your unicorn), and things of the sort.

str is your dump stat anyway, so I don't see a problem with taking a hit or keeping a rod of bodily restoration handy. or slots. you are a healer after all.

Although uh... I noted Vow of Nonviolence in there. Do note that Vow of Nonviolence gives your allies direct penalties whenever they kill something anywhere near you. I'd talk to the other players and make sure everyone is on board with this, so they don't get annoyed when they really just wanted to kill the evil drow slavers but would be okay with talking to the cornered bugbear who wants to get out of this alive.

definitely seconding this. I had assumed since OP was at the stage that he was asking for build advice, that his DM/party had okayed it, but you should check in with them first since this is antithetical to some ways of playing the game.

it's not that big a deal though. it only prevents you doing horrible things to humanoids/MH, since that's how the Good alignments roll in D&D.

Also note that, depending on how you read it, most methods of debuffing opponents are against your vow - the sanctified spell 'sicken evil' would hits the "You also may not use nondamaging spells to incapacitate or weaken living foes so that your allies can kill them" clause.

that actually only counts if your allies do kill them.

e.g. you can't cast "deep slumber" on an enemy, nonlethally putting him to sleep so your party skulk can CDG, but that doesn't mean that you can't cast "deep slumber" on an enemy at all.

[Hiro Quester]

If you are going to be mounted, and healing, consider rideby attack. It lets you "charge" into combat, cast a touch spell on a party member as you ride by back safely out of combat. Without provoking AoO from the opponent.

Officially you don't provoke from the opponent you charge, but your DM might let that apply to the opponent the party member is in combat with.

A Druid in flying wildshape often takes flyby attack for delivering touch spells (buffs/heals) to allies like this.

[Ellowryn]

If you want to heal in combat take a look at Combat Medic (Heroes of Battle). Its capstone is kinda useless for you i believe, and it requires a couple of subpar feats, but otherwise gives you some nifty kickers to your healing spells and other in-combat goodies.

Woops, actually looked at the class, yeah the capstone is still good for you as you wont need to wast spell slots on the Heal spell.

[Falcos]

Wow, lots of responses since I went to bed!

From the top:

Yes, I do love me some Incarnate, I'm well aware how awesome it is... I just hadn't thought of combining it with Healer here. I think I'll do so, because Soulmelds are wonderful.

The sacrificing babies comment was an off-hand one because I've seen some really really weird ways to optimize floating around these boards, and I was just saying that I wanted whatever people recommended to be Saint-compatible.

As for Vow of Nonviolence, it only has the clause that my allies cannot harm helpless opponents, meaning that killing them in combat is fine, and leaving them downed and bleeding out is also fine. My party does know the restrictions of it, and has agreed to play alongside it.

My DM has approved the Spell Compendium Healer spells, so there's that, but he has declined to add healing spells from other books that aren't on the Healer list, he's only permitting SC because the book specifically mentions Healer.

I hadn't thought of Ride-By Attack, honestly. That's an interesting factor... It sounds much more useful for that purpose than the Ocular Spell I was taking. (Healing eye lasers!)

Combat Medic and Apostle of Peace are two PrCs I'll definitely look at.

So a new question: Does the fact that I can talk to my Unicorn mean that I don't need to make Ride checks? After all, using a Ride check to tell it to do certain things isn't really a factor when I can just tell it to do that thing, right?

[Venger]

I hadn't thought of Ride-By Attack, honestly. That's an interesting factor... It sounds much more useful for that purpose than the Ocular Spell I was taking. (Healing eye lasers!)

Combat Medic and Apostle of Peace are two PrCs I'll definitely look at.

So a new question: Does the fact that I can talk to my Unicorn mean that I don't need to make Ride checks? After all, using a Ride check to tell it to do certain things isn't really a factor when I can just tell it to do that thing, right?

unless you're zapping people with personal spells, ocular spell is worthless to you, only serving to boost the spell level, so losing it is no sacrifice.

no, that's not how ride works at all.

fortunately, the DCs are so low, you should be able to make them with minimal investment. a lot of stuff doesn't even require a check at all, so you should be fine if you can find an item to give you even a small bonus to your checks.

[Falcos]

The main question about the Ride thing was the "Ride in battle" part, really.

Alright, dropping Ocular. What do you think of the rest of the feats outlined in the first post? Which ones should I drop for the recommended feats mentioned? I'm trying to think it over, but my brain has kind of locked up a bit at the feat part.