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Is there anyway for a Cleric to Channel as a Move Action rather than a Standard action? Are there any Feats that allow this? Is there anything from 3.5 that allows Turn Undead as a Move Action?
Last night for a combat that lasted less than 3 rounds (and in whhich my cleric got to act twice) I "had" to Channel twice, which meant I couldn't do much else. I don't begrudge this (well maybe a little :) but I would like to find a way to still heal the party but also contribute and shine in a battle.
I have thought about getting Sacred Healing and Sacred Purification from the 3.5 PHB2, Sacred Purification allows as Swift action a limited form of channeling (only d8+Cha mod) that also damages undead (something that would have been useful last night).
Apart from Sacred Purification from 3.5, if there is nothing else, what do you think would be a fair Feat to allow Channelling as a Move Action? Some suggestions are below:
Quick Channelling
Benefit: You can Channel divine energy as a Move action rather than a Standard Action.
Some suggested restrictions....
1) Channelling as a Move Action requires expenditure of 2 Channelling uses. The cleric may still channel as a Standard action if they desire for the usual single use cost.
2) A cleric cannot Channel as a Move action and then also Channel as a Standard Action in the same round.
3) Channelling as a Move Action only heals / inflicts half the number of Hit Points than usual (round down), thus a 7th level cleric normally able to channel for 4d6 would channel for 4d6 divided by two.
Should all 3 restrictions apply, just 1 & 2? Or just 1?
This is more of an exercise in thought as I don't like to use homebrew stuff, but thoughts are appreciated.
Type: General
Sources:
- Complete Divine
- Defenders of the Faith
- Faiths & Pantheons
- Ghostwalk
You can turn or rebuke undead with a moment's thought.
Prerequisite: Ability to turn or rebuke undead.
Benefit: You can turn or rebuke undead as a free action. You may still make only one turning attempt per round.
** spoiler omitted **
Would NEVER allow that. Only cost is a feat, then you can heal/harm as a free action.
This feat was made when turning was vastly different from today, and it would IMO be too powerful as is.
I have to agree, i would say that if you wanted to use this 3.5 feat it would have a prereq of either turn undead or control undead, and only apply to one or both of those.
In terms of creating a feat for pathfinder i would say a feat that let you channel for d4's as a move action, and maybe a second tier that let you channel d4's as a swift action but costing 2 uses of channel energy.
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I allow Quicken Channelling (same feat different name) in my Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign. I have found it to not be broken or even a problem. At first level it looks uber powerful, by 3rd level it looks pretty good at best. By 5th or 6th level it starts looking pretty weak. After a while it becomes an after thought.
the d6's don't increase fast enough for it to keep up with the damage that is comming in. Also, the limitations on Channeling already keep it in check. The limited times per day, the healing enemies or harming allies also keep it's usefulness down.
In my last few games (the party is now at 12th level) when the Cleric turned as a free action, usually the amount of healing was so small that at best it stabilized someone and most folks noted that it wasn't even a full hit from what they were taking damage from, let alone a full round of attacks. not saying it was worthless, just not seeing any problem with it.
the d6's don't increase fast enough for it to keep up with the damage that is comming in. Also, the limitations on Channeling already keep it in check. The limited times per day, the healing enemies or harming allies also keep it's usefulness down.
(you did mean healing allies or harming enemies, right?)
Interesting. The same can be said for Fireball, in that the d6's don't increase fast enough for it to keep up with monster HP, and Fireball is also limited by number of times per day, and has no chance to heal enemies.
And yet, the only way for a wizard to use Fireball as a free action requires him to prepare it as a 7th level spell.
Frankly, I would rather let wizards have free-action fireballs (at 3rd level) than let clerics have free-action group heals, despite your assurance that it isn't broken - even if it works in your campaign, it is abundantly clear that it breaks the existing game mechanics in that converting thigs from standard actions to free actions costs considerably more than just a feat.
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(you did mean healing allies or harming enemies, right?)I read it as he meant you are limited in that using it to heal your allies may also heal your enemies (so you may not want to use it even if you can). Equally you are limited in using it to harm your enemies that you may harm your allies.
This is my intended interpretation.
As for the fireball vs. healing exactly. If you believe that fireball is the best thing a character can do ever free or standard then by all means don't allow free channeling. But let me assure you that no one in any of the several groups I play with has ever seen free channeling to be anything more than a "that's cool" moment. It has never broken the game any more than channeling itself does. I can name several abilities (Barbarian auto confirm crits) feats (Improved Precise Shot), spells (ray of enfeeblement, black tentacles, wall of force etc) that are far more impressive than a free action fireball or channel.
Next time your cleric channels (and apparently that is pretty much all they will do in the round) ask yourself how broken it would be if they could cast bless in the same round or swing a weapon or cast Cure xxx wounds on someone also. Let me know how that looks, cause on my side of the ravine it has gone pretty well.
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By the way, in our last game of Rise of the Runelords our cleric rolled 1 on his channel twice in a row. how aweful would it have been if he had done that as a free action, healed everyone in the 2nd level party and the monsters they were fighting 1 hp each and then cast or attacked. Not seeing the broken here sorry.
If you feel that it is too strong to heal as a free/swift/move action, you could decrease the number of dice healed.
Quicken Spell costs 4 spell levels, which would translate to 4d8 less healing. Spending a feat to be able to heal 1d8 at 9th level seems woefully underpowered, and quickened spells still benefit from increased caster level. 2d8 less healing is probably reasonable.
** spoiler omitted **
Would NEVER allow that. Only cost is a feat, then you can heal/harm as a free action.
This feat was made when turning was vastly different from today, and it would IMO be too powerful as is.
Do as you wish. I just answered the question. This feat belongs to sources published by the Wizards, thus officially belonging to the compatibility rules stated in PRPG.
Now, if you want to use a downgraded version of this, you could either (or both):
- consider its rerequisites, translated into Pathfinder RPG lingo, as the "Turn Undead" feat, thus costing two feats
- consider its benefit, translated as well, as "turning undead" meaning that you can't use it as a free action for any other use (healing or harming)
As I always say, to each group their own rules...