Battle Healer (3.5e Class)

Battle Healer

The hurts of the world are many fold. Minor accidents are common, and usually easily dealt with. However, when conflict and all-out warfare occur, they leave misery and hurt in their wake that can stagger the imagination. While good-aligned clerics are called upon to heal, the complex obligations and abilities often get in the way of pure solace and remediation. Not so the healer. One of the healer’s great purposes in life is to provide protection, and failing that, healing, to all good people who require her aid.

Author's Note

This class was created by altering The Healer. My DM felt that Effortless Healing was too strong, and was uncomfortable with the spell-like ability in the previous class, so those were removed. Potent Healing was reworked to help keep die rolls to a minimum. Extra survivability was added to the class by allowing better armor and shields (to make up for losing Effortless Healing).

Making a Battle Healer

Background: Some battle healers are unofficially attached members of religious organizations. Others wander the lands freely, either alone or in adventuring companies. Many also take up service in armies that combat evil, repel invasions, or otherwise “fight the good fight.” Healing all allies, while at the same time eschewing the use of violent spells, requires a selfless quality and dedication to good. A healer must be gentle, but also strong in her convictions.

Other classes: The battle healer is rarely snubbed in an adventuring company. All realize that her presence could be the advantage that enables them to see their next quest through to the end. Battle healers sometimes clash with clerics, since clerics represent a more dogmatic view of faith and reverence toward the deities.

Abilities: Charisma is this class' spellcasting attribute, and thus is most important. Strength and Constitution are good for a battle healer that expects to stand in front of the party. Wisdom and Intelligence may be better for one that expects to stay to the rear.

Races: The need for healing knows no racial boundaries, and healers include members of all the common races.

Alignment: Any good alignment

Religion: Healers revere good-aligned deities or righteous causes.

Starting Gold: 2d4->×6 gp average

Starting Age: Simple

Table: The Battle Healer

Hit Die: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spells per Day
		Fort	Ref	Will		0	1^st	2^nd	3^rd	4^th	5^th	6^th	7^th	8^th	9^th
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Healing Hands, Lay on Hands	4	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3		4	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	Perfect Health, Skill Focus (Heal)	5	4	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Augment Healing	5	4	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5th	+4	+4	+1	+4		5	5	4	3	—	—	—	—	—	—
6th	+4	+5	+2	+5	More Perfect Body	5	5	4	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
7th	+5	+5	+2	+5	Potent Healing	6	5	5	4	3	—	—	—	—	—
8th	+5	+6	+2	+6		6	5	5	4	4	—	—	—	—	—
9th	+5	+6	+3	+6		6	6	5	4	4	3	—	—	—	—
10th	+5	+7	+3	+7		6	6	5	5	4	4	—	—	—	—
11th	+5	+7	+3	+7	Divine Insight	6	6	6	5	5	4	3	—	—	—
12th	+6/+1	+8	+4	+8		6	6	6	5	5	4	4	—	—	—
13th	+6/+1	+8	+4	+8		6	6	6	6	5	5	4	3	—	—
14th	+7/+2	+9	+4	+9		6	6	6	6	5	5	4	4	—	—
15th	+7/+2	+9	+5	+9		6	6	6	6	6	5	5	4	3	—
16th	+8/+3	+10	+5	+10		6	6	6	6	6	5	5	4	4	—
17th	+8/+3	+10	+5	+10		6	6	6	6	6	6	5	5	4	3
18th	+9/+4	+11	+6	+11		6	6	6	6	6	6	5	5	4	4
19th	+9/+4	+11	+6	+11		6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	5	4
20th	+10/+5	+12	+6	+12		6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	5	4
Class Skills (6 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) The battle healer’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Survival (Wis).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the battle healer.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Battle healers are proficient with all simple weapons, with light, medium, and heavy armor, and with shields (not including tower shields).

Healing Hands (Ex): Whenever a battle healer casts a spell that is beneficial (that is, is considered harmless), she heals an amount of damage equal to her Charisma modifier. For instance, if a 5th level battle healer with 18 Charisma casts Cure Light Wounds, she cures 1d8+5 points of damage as normal, plus an additional 4 points of damage due to her Charisma bonus. If that same battle healer casts Protection from Evil, the spell has its normal effect and 4 points of damage are healed due to her Charisma bonus. This bonus applies only to spells that she casts as a battle healer, not to those that she may have by virtue of levels in another class.

Spontaneous Casting: The battle healer can channel stored spell energy into healing spells that she did not prepare ahead of time. The battle healer can “lose” any prepared spell in order to cast any cure spell of the same spell level or lower (a cure spell is any spell with “cure” in its name).

Lay on Hands(Su): Beginning at 1st level, a battle healer with a Charisma score of 12 or higher can heal wounds (her own or those of others) by touch. Each day she can heal a total number of hit points of damage equal to her battle healer level × her Charisma Bonus. A battle healer may choose to divide her healing among multiple recipients, and she doesn't have to use it all at once. Using Lay on Hands is a standard action.

Alternatively, a battle healer can use any amount or all of this healing power to deal damage to undead creatures. Using Lay on Hands in this way requires a successful melee touch attack and doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity. The Healer decides how many of her daily allotment of points to use as damage after successfully touching an undead creature.

Perfect Health (Ex): At 3rd level, a battle healer gains Immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases.

Skill Focus (Heal): A battle healer’s focused training grants her this bonus feat at 3rd level. If she already has that feat, she many choose a different one.

Augment Healing: At 4th level, a battle healer gains Augment Healing (from the Complete Divine) as a bonus feat, even if she does not have the normal prerequisites for that feat. If she already has the feat, she can choose a metamagic feat.

More Perfect Body (Su): At the 6th level, a battle healer gains immunity to all poisons, of any kind.

Potent Healing (Su): At 7th level, double any max rolled dice on a healing spell. In other words, if a battle healer rolls 3d8 on a healing spell and gets a 2, a 7, and an 8, then the healer doubles the 8 to a 16.

Divine Insight (Su): At 11th level, the battle healer can use her Wisdom to increase the Armor Class of her targets. When she casts any healing spell, her target gains an Insight AC bonus equal to that of her Wisdom modifier. This effect lasts for 1min/caster level.

Spells: A battle healer casts divine spells, which are drawn from the battle healer spell list given below. A battle healer must choose and prepare her spells in advance. To prepare or cast a spell, a battle healer must have a Charisma score of 10 + the spell’s level (Cha 10 for 0-level spells, Cha 11 for 1st level spells, and so forth). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a battle healer’s spell is 10 + the spell’s level + the battle healer’s Charisma modifier. Like other spellcasters, a battle healer can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given in Table 1-4. In addition, she receives bonuses spells per day if she has a high Charisma score. Battle healers do not acquire spells from books or scrolls, nor do they prepare them through study. Instead, they meditate or pray for their spells, receiving them through their own strength of faith. Each battle healer must choose a time at which she must spend 1 hour each day in quiet contemplation or supplication to regain her daily allotment of spells. Time spent resting has no effect on whether a battle healer can prepare spells. A battle healer may prepare and cast any spell on the battle healer spell list, provided she can cast spells of that level, but she must choose which spells to prepare during her daily meditation. Battle healers choose their spells from the following list:

0th Level Spells: Create water Cure Minor Wounds, Dawn, Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Light, Purify Food And Drink, Read Magic, Resistance, Virtue

1st Level Spells: Aura Against Flame, Bless Water, Conviction, Cure Light Wounds, Delay Disease, Endure Elements, Entropic Shield, Faith Healing, Goodberry, Healthful Rest, Invest Light Protection, Ironguts, Lesser Vigor, Moment of Clarity, Protection From Evil, Remove Fear, Remove Paralysis, Resurgence, Sanctuary, Shield of Faith, Suspend Disease

2nd Level Spells: Angelskin, Avoid Planar Effects, Benediction, Body Aura, Calm Emotions, Clarity of Mind, Close Wounds, Conduit of Life, Cure Moderate Wounds, Divine Protection, Delay Poison, Ease Pain, Estanna's Stew, Filter, Healing Lorecall, Lesser Restoration, Protection From Negative Energy, Remove Addiction, Remove Nausea, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Remove Disease, Resist Energy, Sending, Shared Healing, Shield Other, Stabilize, Protection From Arrows, Warning

3rd Level Spells: Bolster Damage Reduction, Channeled Divine Shield, Cloak of Bravery, Create Food And Water, Crown of Protection, Cure Serious Wounds, Dispel Magic, Delay Death, Energy Aegis, Invest Moderate Protection, Glyph of Warding, Hold Person, Lesser Visage of the Deity, Magic Circle Against Evil, Mass Conviction, Mass Lesser Vigor, Mass Entropic Shield, Mass Resist Energy, Mass Resurgence, Neutralize Poison, Remove Curse, Restoration, Protection From Energy, Shield of Warding, Status, Tiny Hut, Tongues, Vigor

4th Level Spells: Aura of The Sun, Break Enchantment, Channeled Divine Health, Cure Critical Wounds, Convert Wand, Dispelling Screen, Freedom of Movement, Greater Resistance, Lesser Globe of Invulnerability, Leomund’s Secure Shelter, Mass Cure Light Wounds, Panacea, Remove Fatigue, Righteous Aura, Sheltered Vitality, Spell Immunity, Stoneskin, Sustain

5th Level Spells: Atonement, Dispel Chaos, Greater Status, Greater Vigor, Healing Circle, Indomitability, Invest Heavy Protection, Life's Grace, Mass Cure Moderate Wounds, Mass Sanctuary, Raise Dead, Renewed Vigor, Revivify, Stone to Flesh, Spell Resistance, True Seeing, Wall of Dispel Magic

6th Level Spells: Antimagic Field, Energy Immunity, Forbiddance, Globe of Invulnerability, Greater Dispel Magic, Greater Restoration, Heal, Hero’s Feast, Mass Cure Serious Wounds, Regenerate, Superior Resistance, Visage of the Deity

7th Level Spells: Antimagic Ray, Energetic Healing, Fortunate Fate, Mass Cure Critical Wounds, Mass Restoration, Mass Spell Resistance, Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion, Renewal Pact, Repulsion, Resurrection, Sequester, Vigorous Circle,

8th Level Spells: Death Pact, Discern Location, Freedom, Greater Wall of Dispel Magic, Greater Spell Immunity, Holy Aura, Mass Heal, Mass Spell Barrier, Mind Blank, Prismatic Wall, Protection From Spells, Superior Resistance, Surelife

9th Level Spells: Absorption, Effulgent Epuration, Foresight, Greater Visage of the Deity, Mordenkainen’s Disjunction, Miracle, Pavilion of Grandeur, Prismatic Sphere, Sublime Revelry, True Resurrection, Undeath's Eternal Foe

Ex-Battle Healers

A battle healer who grossly violates her ethos (such as by refusing to heal an ally or a good-aligned creature) loses all spells and class features (except for proficiency with simple weapons, shields, and armor). She cannot thereafter gain levels as a battle healer until she atones.

Suggested Complement

Feats: Augment Healing, Cure Boost, Expanded Caster Stamina.
Prestige Class: Rejuvinator, Priest of the Unhindered Path.
Multiclass: Bard.

Epic Battle Healer

Note: This class does not currently support epic levels

Table: The Epic Battle Healer

Hit Die: d8

Level	Special
21st	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
22nd	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
23rd	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
24th	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
25th	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
26th	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
27th	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
28th	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
29th	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
30th	<-any improvements to class features gained at this level, including any bonus feats->
6 + Int modifier skill points per level.

---

Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Classes → Base Classes