Pathfinder Player Companion: Healer's Handbook (PFRPG)

Silly question does this book give any setting information on deities and empyreal lords that specialize in healing? I've been hoping we'd get something on Dalenydra, who is in charge of battlefield healing.

Here's a list of the gods mentioned. Mind you, most of them just have a brief snippet mentioning how their faithful are proficient healers, so don't expect any new secrets.

Here's a list of the gods mentioned. Mind you, most of them just have a brief snippet mentioning how their faithful are proficient healers, so don't expect any new secrets.

** spoiler omitted **

Dalenydra and Vildeis also get mentions (and traits).

Does this have an archetype for clerics that touches channel without messing with domains?

Donato, Rysky, thank you.

Does this have an archetype for clerics that touches channel without messing with domains?

Angelfire Apostle gets all sorts of nice things to do with channel uses and doesn't touch domains.

Chess Pwn wrote:

Does this have an archetype for clerics that touches channel without messing with domains?

Angelfire Apostle gets all sorts of nice things to do with channel uses and doesn't touch domains.

Full Minion: "Oooooooooooooo."

My copy finally shipped late last week, so I may have it by this weekend. I am very much looking forward to checking out the angelfire apostle.

My current PbP GM has intimated that he'll let me retrain my Sarenraean cleric if there's an archetype in the book that I like -- I'm hoping that I can find something that'll help offset my "derpdedurr" suboptimal domain/subdomain choices (Fire/Medicine). Don't misunderstand: I like both, but they aren't all that strong. Here's hoping!

I noticed a discrepancy regarding Combat Vigor.

It allows you to spend up to 1 vigor point per 3 HD to regain 1d6 hp, max 7d6.
3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18.
As far as I can see, a PC will never be able to hit that 7d6 cap. Alternatively, it could be intended more like "spend up to 1 vigor point, plus 1 per 3 HD, to regain 1d6."

PCs with only class levels won't, it's true, but anything with racial hit dice could theoretically do so.

Does this have an archetype for clerics that touches channel without messing with domains?

I checked it when you made your separatist thread. I'm afraid none of the cleric archetypes in this book will be of any assistance.

Is the PDF going to be released at midnight? I'm Australian, and the 19 hour difference is already bad enough without a 9am launch. Please Paizo, do it for me! =D

To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed with the healer's handbook.

I was really hoping we'd get somethings in it that would make the heal skill rather useful for one. Instead we get more screw it, we've got magic!

Like the best god as far as traits and stuff goes for a healer is one of the evil gods that lets you treat deadly wounds twice a day per person. And for some reason there wasn't really anymore on that guy in this book but a small blurb that was like "Some healers are evil" and a couple less useful feats that nod towards a more evil healer. (Though insidious healing is pretty good)

Ways the Heal skill could have been more useful..

1) Uses for Interrogations
2) Speeding up the heal skill checks. Obviously no where near the point of magic, there is limitations after all that should be impossed
3) A fighting style for a more evil healer that capitalizes on their knowledge of anatomy.

Probably a lot more other ways too.

There is also a lack of mundane healing items. Things that might need a high craft alchemy for example to provide some sort of healing effect while not being magical.

To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed with the healer's handbook.

I was really hoping we'd get somethings in it that would make the heal skill rather useful for one. Instead we get more screw it, we've got magic!

Like the best god as far as traits and stuff goes for a healer is one of the evil gods that lets you treat deadly wounds twice a day per person. And for some reason there wasn't really anymore on that guy in this book but a small blurb that was like "Some healers are evil" and a couple less useful feats that nod towards a more evil healer. (Though insidious healing is pretty good)

Ways the Heal skill could have been more useful..

1) Uses for Interrogations
2) Speeding up the heal skill checks. Obviously no where near the point of magic, there is limitations after all that should be impossed
3) A fighting style for a more evil healer that capitalizes on their knowledge of anatomy.

Probably a lot more other ways too.

There is also a lack of mundane healing items. Things that might need a high craft alchemy for example to provide some sort of healing effect while not being magical.

I guess they are caught between a rock and a hard place. "medical" uses for interrogations are already an alchemist archetype feature, so you're going to trivialise something. Craftable healing without magic faces a simular problem. in a universe where people would say, go see a cleric when we would say go see a dockter obviously magic is more prominent. if you'd then create a situation where adventurers wouldn't even need one. that would be weird.

Your point about evil leaders tho, paizo has no excuse on that one. i loved the old item that turned healing into an adiction. such a good interpetation of "evil healing" we need so much more of that.

So cool to know about the cleric archetype, I'm excited to see it since I really like having 2 domains.

are there feats or stuff that boost or change channel generically so that anyone with channel can access it?

There are no new channel or lay on hands based feats.

Darche Schneider wrote:

To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed with the healer's handbook.

I was really hoping we'd get somethings in it that would make the heal skill rather useful for one. Instead we get more screw it, we've got magic!

Like the best god as far as traits and stuff goes for a healer is one of the evil gods that lets you treat deadly wounds twice a day per person. And for some reason there wasn't really anymore on that guy in this book but a small blurb that was like "Some healers are evil" and a couple less useful feats that nod towards a more evil healer. (Though insidious healing is pretty good)

Ways the Heal skill could have been more useful..

1) Uses for Interrogations
2) Speeding up the heal skill checks. Obviously no where near the point of magic, there is limitations after all that should be impossed
3) A fighting style for a more evil healer that capitalizes on their knowledge of anatomy.

Probably a lot more other ways too.

There is also a lack of mundane healing items. Things that might need a high craft alchemy for example to provide some sort of healing effect while not being magical.

I guess they are caught between a rock and a hard place. "medical" uses for interrogations are already an alchemist archetype feature, so you're going to trivialise something. Craftable healing without magic faces a simular problem. in a universe where people would say, go see a cleric when we would say go see a dockter obviously magic is more prominent. if you'd then create a situation where adventurers wouldn't even need one. that would be weird.

Your point about evil leaders tho, paizo has no excuse on that one. i loved the old item that turned healing into an adiction. such a good interpetation of "evil healing" we need so much more of that.

However their world has a very big no clerics allowed place where being a cleric can get you killed. Other places where magic doesn't work right, and they've developed technology like guns and stuff. And whats wrong about not needing a cleric? I mean, a cleric (Or person who can use healing magic) should be preferable, but needing one is another thing all together.

Isn't there games where the Mcguffin is a flower that only grows on a certain mountain at a certain time that the party must go get to heal the dying queen?

And Yeah, there is an alchemist archtype that has the ability to inject serums. Having the ability to use the heal skill for interrogations isn't going to trivialize it. They've got a lot going for them after all. Being able to use the heal skill would just be another method. Cause there is a lot of them.

You've got Inquisitors, and wizards, sorcerers, mesmerists, psychics etc. All kinds of spells casters basically can trivilize the alchemist faster, and easier than a few more uses to using the heal skill. I mean there is a reason why Zon-Kuthon is oddly the best god for a healer who uses the heal skill. Since with him, you can treat deadly wounds twice in a day.

To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed with the healer's handbook.

I was really hoping we'd get somethings in it that would make the heal skill rather useful for one. Instead we get more screw it, we've got magic!

Like the best god as far as traits and stuff goes for a healer is one of the evil gods that lets you treat deadly wounds twice a day per person. And for some reason there wasn't really anymore on that guy in this book but a small blurb that was like "Some healers are evil" and a couple less useful feats that nod towards a more evil healer. (Though insidious healing is pretty good)

Ways the Heal skill could have been more useful..

1) Uses for Interrogations
2) Speeding up the heal skill checks. Obviously no where near the point of magic, there is limitations after all that should be impossed
3) A fighting style for a more evil healer that capitalizes on their knowledge of anatomy.

Probably a lot more other ways too.

There is also a lack of mundane healing items. Things that might need a high craft alchemy for example to provide some sort of healing effect while not being magical.

You might appreciate Pathfinder Player Companion: Divine Anthology, which introduces the Medicine subdomain. That option allows one to vastly speed up the longer Heal checks, making options like treat deadly wounds a little more accessible.

'Meatball Surgery' (MASH) would be a good option. Reduce the time needed to heal but higher DC due to being slap dash.

You might appreciate Pathfinder Player Companion: Divine Anthology, which introduces the Medicine subdomain. That option allows one to vastly speed up the longer Heal checks, making options like treat deadly wounds a little more accessible.

Ah, that does help quite a bite there. Now if there was just a way to extract that from the cleric class/healing domain. Particularly for use of that god of pain and torture's trait or Rogues who took the healing skill trick.

The tian option to be a semi medium looks cool. And it's a trait? That's actually pretty good. Sure the taboo is going to make it a bit more awkward, but it does give a hand when you need it.

Arcane Physician is the Wizard archetype I've been looking for for years. Activating cure wands and transforming potions into healing potions is amazing. In a relatively low-magic setting where your GM rolls for what potions you find, this would be a godsend.

groan

Confirmation email reached me Wednesday: Ordered -- 11 Jan; Shipped -- 23 Jan.

Result -- Still not here!

sigh

Channel Eeyore Energy

Well, okay . . . . Guess I'll just sit here in the rain and wait . . . .

:D

Soonsoonsoon!

To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed with the healer's handbook.

I was really hoping we'd get somethings in it that would make the heal skill rather useful for one. Instead we get more screw it, we've got magic!

I just picked it up as well, and I kind of feel the same, honestly. I was really hoping I'd like the Angelfire Apostle, but honestly if basically doesn't even come online until 9th level, and even then, it's not that terribly impressive.

Lack of basically anything for the Heal skill, very little practical help for Evil Divine Healers, the majority of the Archetypes read to me as intended for DM run NPCs.

I did like some of the spells, but at the same time, they tend to be at the higher level where it's less likely I'd get to play with them much, and at that point, might not even be all that impressive.

I guess they are caught between a rock and a hard place. "medical" uses for interrogations are already an alchemist archetype feature, so you're going to trivialise something. Craftable healing without magic faces a simular problem. in a universe where people would say, go see a cleric when we would say go see a dockter obviously magic is more prominent. if you'd then create a situation where adventurers wouldn't even need one. that would be weird.

The problem there is that much of the flavor and fluff about these locations is really more about emphasizing that healing is very scarce rather than being ANTI-Cleric. It was originally designed around the premise that there really where not a lot of "healers" outside of Clerics, Paladins, and Druids.

Introducing more non-divine or non-religious healers doesn't improve those locations, it just means they are now invalidated for their original point, or the setting needs to be totally retconned to include reason that Witches, Oracles, Alchemists, etc. . . are likewise banned from Rahadoum on pain of death as well. Or similar places as well, for whatever the pertinent reason is.

John Compton wrote:

You might appreciate Pathfinder Player Companion: Divine Anthology, which introduces the Medicine subdomain. That option allows one to vastly speed up the longer Heal checks, making options like treat deadly wounds a little more accessible.

Ah, that does help quite a bite there. Now if there was just a way to extract that from the cleric class/healing domain. Particularly for use of that god of pain and torture's trait or Rogues who took the healing skill trick.

It's not exactly mundane but Believer's Boon can give you the Medicine Subdomain's Blessed Surgery power once a day.

Well. I got it last weekend.

Opinion: Everybody but the cleric got cool stuff in here. sadface

The angelfire apostle has a great deal of potential, mind you, but I'd argue that it's an archetype suited for a non-melee/all mentals cleric.

The new divine bonds for the paladin are awesome.

The healer's satchel items are excellent.

Darche Schneider wrote:

To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed with the healer's handbook.

I was really hoping we'd get somethings in it that would make the heal skill rather useful for one. Instead we get more screw it, we've got magic!

Like the best god as far as traits and stuff goes for a healer is one of the evil gods that lets you treat deadly wounds twice a day per person. And for some reason there wasn't really anymore on that guy in this book but a small blurb that was like "Some healers are evil" and a couple less useful feats that nod towards a more evil healer. (Though insidious healing is pretty good)

Ways the Heal skill could have been more useful..

1) Uses for Interrogations
2) Speeding up the heal skill checks. Obviously no where near the point of magic, there is limitations after all that should be impossed
3) A fighting style for a more evil healer that capitalizes on their knowledge of anatomy.

Probably a lot more other ways too.

There is also a lack of mundane healing items. Things that might need a high craft alchemy for example to provide some sort of healing effect while not being magical.

You might appreciate Pathfinder Player Companion: Divine Anthology, which introduces the Medicine subdomain. That option allows one to vastly speed up the longer Heal checks, making options like treat deadly wounds a little more accessible.

.... with an arbitrary and ridiculous trait tax.... Acolyte of the Apocryphal (Faith).

Honestly, the best option in here is druidic herbalism, the third nature bond option for druid... It's so good that I expect PFS and the devs to nuke that s#!t from orbit in short order quite soon.

.... with an arbitrary and ridiculous trait tax.... Acolyte of the Apocryphal (Faith).
An NPC with an appropriately flavorful background may skip this requirement.

I read through those and was very confused initially..... in order for you to have to spend a valuable trait on a domain choice it must surely be reasonably better than the original?!

Needless to say theyre not!

The healer's satchel items are excellent.

I did like that one, although it was overwritten a tad. Writing for Wayfinder and / or RPG Superstar has gotten me extra-sensitive to wordcount. :)

Review up. I really liked a lot of stuff in the book. Even if some of it was a bit rough around the edges (the new Druid option has some economic balance issues that demand houseruling), I loved the design decisions to expand options for basic class features and make explicitly compatible synergistic archetypes.

Glanced at this at my local store today. I'll wait and see what ends up being legal for PFS before buying it.

The witch hexes to remove conditions are tempting for my witch. I keep taking the Extra Hex feat to get all the buff/heal hexes, then using spells for offense in combat. I made her a cheery teenage girl with a cute bunny familiar, just to play against type. I call her my cheerleader witch. I use the Scar hex (fluffed as a small rabbit bite) to be able to buff or heal my allies from a distance, so those extra condition removal hexes would be nice to do from anywhere on the battlefield in the middle of a fight.

I only skimmed the rest of the book quickly, and nothing really jumped out at me as particularly exciting. I'll look it over more in the future.

As someone who's only really interested in mundane healing at the moment, could someone give me an idea of what the Healer's Satchel magic item actually does?

If it's relatively lacklustre I'll skip this book for now.

As someone who's only really interested in mundane healing at the moment, could someone give me an idea of what the Healer's Satchel magic item actually does?

If it's relatively lacklustre I'll skip this book for now.

The vanilla version acts like a healer's kit that replenished itself every day, and allows the user to expend uses to increase the amount of damage restored when treating deadly wounds, related to your Wisdom modifier. The specialized version offers four other things to do with Heal checks related to diagnosis, first aid, long-term care, and treatment.

Corbynsonn wrote:

As someone who's only really interested in mundane healing at the moment, could someone give me an idea of what the Healer's Satchel magic item actually does?

If it's relatively lacklustre I'll skip this book for now.

The vanilla version acts like a healer's kit that replenished itself every day, and allows the user to expend uses to increase the amount of damage restored when treating deadly wounds, related to your Wisdom modifier. The specialized version offers four other things to do with Heal checks related to diagnosis, first aid, long-term care, and treatment.

Much appreciated.

Does the Riled mercy suppress barbaric rage or bardic performance?

So, random question, not about mechanics. I really like the art on page 27, of the dwarven shaman. I checked online for all the people listed under Interior Artists but have yet to figure out who did that one. Would I be able to get some guidance?

Just an issue with RAW, but the Benefactor shaman "cannot gain a hex that is a curse effect or that has the word “curse” in its name as a hex or a wandering hex"

One of the new hexes they gain access to is "Suppress Curse", which has the word "curse" in its name.

Just an issue with RAW, but the Benefactor shaman "cannot gain a hex that is a curse effect or that has the word “curse” in its name as a hex or a wandering hex"

One of the new hexes they gain access to is "Suppress Curse", which has the word "curse" in its name.

Don't have my book handy so I can't see the precise wording, but I would imagine that this would be a case of the specific rule trumping the general rule.

DeBurke wrote:

Just an issue with RAW, but the Benefactor shaman "cannot gain a hex that is a curse effect or that has the word “curse” in its name as a hex or a wandering hex"

One of the new hexes they gain access to is "Suppress Curse", which has the word "curse" in its name.

Don't have my book handy so I can't see the precise wording, but I would imagine that this would be a case of the specific rule trumping the general rule.

Agreed.

I do like the brief information this book gave us on the empyreal lord Dalenydra, though it felt odd to me to see that she has warpriests. I thought that given her attitude towards war, she's be one of the last deities to have them among her clergy.

I do like the brief information this book gave us on the empyreal lord Dalenydra, though it felt odd to me to see that she has warpriests. I thought that given her attitude towards war, she's be one of the last deities to have them among her clergy.

They're combat medics.

Just a clarifying question regarding the Specialized Healers Satchel, is this one item? Or are there four different items specialized in one of the following diagnosis, first aid, long term care, or treatment?

You would think they would each be individual items but the way they are worded it's the opposite. I'd assume it's a typo and they meant to start each description with "this" rather than "the", makes a lot more sense and flows a lot better that way.

From upcoming PFS Campaign Clarifications:

Page 28—Under the healer’s satchel item, each of the four specialized satchels (diagnosis, first aid, long-term care, and treatment) is a different magic item that costs 3,000 gp.

Nice :3

As I read it, one item. But apparently what I read is not what Paizo meant.

As I read it, one item. But apparently what I read is not what Paizo meant.

More's the pity. Still, a solid item. I like it.

Thanks for clearing that up. Makes it a little less worth it, but still a good item.

I do like this book. A lot of neat lore stuff. Like how Dalenydra has warpriests or the non-cleric priest stuff.

The Evil Healers stuff could be good for making a villain.