Just curious what the community's thoughts are on using a cohort cleric as party of 5's primary healer? We are a melee heavy bunch. Level 11 (cohort cleric would be level 9).
Paladin - will be backup healer
Barbarian
Fighter
Rogue
Wizard
Has anyone in a group this size (or larger) had a cohort as primary healer? What are your thoughts? Thanks!
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Completely off topic but the title of this thread sounds like it could be a PFRPG themed television drama. Yeah, I see no problem with having a cohort healer be the party's primary source of healing. I myself have used NPC clerics when I could not get anyone in my group to play a PC cleric. I knew another DM who did so also, and named thecleric Band-Aid.
Just curious what the community's thoughts are on using a cohort cleric as party of 5's primary healer? We are a melee heavy bunch. Level 11 (cohort cleric would be level 9).
Paladin - will be backup healer
Barbarian
Fighter
Rogue
WizardHas anyone in a group this size (or larger) had a cohort as primary healer? What are your thoughts? Thanks!
Honestly the paladin could likely handle the healing, but the cleric cohort surely can with the right build espically backed up by a paladin.
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Just curious what the community's thoughts are on using a cohort cleric as party of 5's primary healer? We are a melee heavy bunch. Level 11 (cohort cleric would be level 9).
Paladin - will be backup healer
Barbarian
Fighter
Rogue
WizardHas anyone in a group this size (or larger) had a cohort as primary healer? What are your thoughts? Thanks!
Clerics are pretty much uber healers now, even a cohort cleric is going to be able to solve most of your problems without too much difficulty, I would think.
Yeah, I see no problem with having a cohort healer be the party's primary source of healing. I myself have used NPC clerics when I could not get anyone in my group to play a PC cleric. I knew another DM who did so also, and named thecleric Band-Aid.
Off topic, but I love npc's with interesting names. I once ran a campaign where the party encountered an unnamed npc "captain of the guard" type. When they asked his name I was unprepared and said "Captain Blah" as a joke. Well, long story short, Captain Blah became the longest-running party npc I've ever had the pleasure of running. We still talk about him years later.
Back on topic. I as a player would actually prefer a same-level npc cleric to a cohort cleric that is at best 2 levels behind us. We'll probably be fine since we have the paladin as backup plus we might be able to get a wand of cure critical wounds or something for the rogue. I just wondered if anyone has first hand experience with a similar situation and how it went.
Thanks for the feedback so far!
Our group (currently at level 8) is surviving with a Paladin and Rogue with UMD as the healers. We seem to be doing well at the moment (assuming we can get to a magic shop before our wands run out).
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Yeah, I see no problem with having a cohort healer be the party's primary source of healing. I myself have used NPC clerics when I could not get anyone in my group to play a PC cleric. I knew another DM who did so also, and named thecleric Band-Aid.Off topic, but I love npc's with interesting names. I once ran a campaign where the party encountered an unnamed npc "captain of the guard" type. When they asked his name I was unprepared and said "Captain Blah" as a joke. Well, long story short, Captain Blah became the longest-running party npc I've ever had the pleasure of running. We still talk about him years later.
I also like creatively named NPCs, I usually keep a list of names at the table, just in case I need a name or two. On the other hand I once played at a table with a DM who named every NPC we met "bob." That actually became a running joke with our group. To this day we use the phrase "average Bob" instead of "average Joe."
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Has anyone in a group this size (or larger) had a cohort as primary healer? What are your thoughts?
i ran my group through the entirty of Savage Tide with 4 PCs (Fighter, multiclass rogue, multiclass druid, and wu jen) and ran a Favored soul as a 5th NPC for the group because no one wanted to play the Cleric and they wanted a dedicated healer.
I ran a favored Soul because, as a spontaneous caster with spells known, I only had to determine spells once/level instead of everytime they rested (less work for the DM). I also made sure to downplay the FS's abilities. For example, even through righteous might was on her spell list, I didn't use it very often. She mostly just took care of healing and afflictions.
It worked well.
-Skeld
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Just curious what the community's thoughts are on using a cohort cleric as party of 5's primary healer? We are a melee heavy bunch. Level 11 (cohort cleric would be level 9).
Paladin - will be backup healer
Barbarian
Fighter
Rogue
WizardHas anyone in a group this size (or larger) had a cohort as primary healer? What are your thoughts? Thanks!
I LOVE it! At PentaCon in Fort Wayne, Indiana two years ago, my gaming group got into an epic game (25th level) and none of us wanted to play a cleric. So, I took leadership and epic leadership and took a 20th level cleric of pelor as my cohort. I was playing a goliath lion totem barbarian 1/warblade 23 who wielded (on occasion) a blue brilliant energy greatsword. My cleric cohort was a goblin (with green skin), named Adoy Retsam, and I carried him in a backpack everywhere I went. He did NOTHING but fire off Mass Heal, Miracle, and Fire Storm (or any other healing spell we needed).
Oh, Adoy also had TERRIBLE grammar...
I ran a favored Soul because, as a spontaneous caster with spells known ... She mostly just took care of healing and afflictions.
It worked well.
-Skeld
One of the players in a game I was in had a favored soul. I always called him the heal battery.
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Another good class for NPC healers is the Archivist from Heroes of Horror. It's an Intelligence-based divine caster with a prayer-book(basically a spellbook like wizards have). They can learn spells from any of the divine classes, get some useful party-boosts at higher levels, and with Intelligence as their primary stat, they can have a few decent skills to fill party gaps. I created one for a group and gave it the knowledge skills that no one ever bothered to take(Nobility, Engineering, etc).
The downside is they can't channel like a Pathfinder cleric, but that could be a win-win if they're just running around casting cure spells most days.
I LOVE it! At PentaCon in Fort Wayne, Indiana two years ago, my gaming group got into an epic game (25th level) and none of us wanted to play a cleric. So, I took leadership and epic leadership and took a 20th level cleric of pelor as my cohort. I was playing a goliath lion totem barbarian 1/warblade 23 who wielded (on occasion) a blue brilliant energy greatsword. My cleric cohort was a goblin (with green skin), named Adoy Retsam, and I carried him in a backpack everywhere I went. He did NOTHING but fire off Mass Heal, Miracle, and Fire Storm (or any other healing spell we needed).
Oh, Adoy also had TERRIBLE grammar...
"Your grammar improve, it must, yes." Heh.
As a side note, I briefly pondered what would happen if all five of us took leadership and had cleric cohorts. Nothing like a party where each member has their own dedicated pocket healer. Hmmm...
