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Hello All,
I was wondering if someone could help me out with this question. It would be awesome if someone could point me to something official as I can't seem to find it. It has come up in both of our last two gaming sessions and is actually making things a bit tough. Here is why... We had a character with Mummy Rot and Infernal Wounds inflicted by a Bearded Devil. (Council of Thieves Adventure Path) In both cases it states you need a certain Caster Level Check to be able to heal if the player is inflicted with these conditions. Now, this was a tough roll to make for our Cleric but they figured they would just get around it by Channeling Positive Energy since it is Supernatural not a Spellike ability. Not wanting to bog down the game I made a call based on what I interpreted as the "Spirit of the Rule." Since it seemed it was supposed to be tough to heal and if you can just overcome it by channeling that would be to easy, I made them make a caster level check. It made things tough, it was a close call, but the good guys won and they are all fine but I promised I would look into this more and try to get this one solved before future encounters.
It also came up again when our other Cleric that channels negative energy was doing this to effect a creature with Spell Resistance. That was easily solved since it specifically mentions it under the Spell Resistance section, "only effects Spells or Spell Like abilities."
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I believe you handled it correctly - given that Undead affected by the Positive Channel get a saving throw, I believe the intent is for the burst to be handled as a cure spell for each recipient - the Su part being the ability to burst the healing out to all within 30'
Assuming the fight is over then the easiest way to get rid of the nasty bleed is to use the Stabilize Orison as the caster level check is not spell level dependant
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as a supernatural ability, channel positive and channel negative would overcome spell resistance, that parts correct.
I would have let the channel positive heal the damage from the Devil. A heal skill check can stop the bleed damage, not a difficult one. A caster level check is required when casting a spell. the same isn't required when using a supernatural ability.
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Thanks guys. Any idea where I could look to find something where it clarifies it in the rules? I have no problem house ruling it since we are a long going campaign and I have gone that way before. I know the bleed effect from the Devil can be treated with a heal check but the Mummy Rot can't. I do find it funny that the caster level check to cast a spell on someone with the "Infernal Wounds" condition is harder to do than a heal check to stop it. But, I guess you are most likely using the skill out of combat and have more time. Also as pointed out an Orison will suffice, but I just can't see how a 10th level caster would have to roll a "10" to heal someone with Mummy Rot but a 1st level cleric just channels positive energy. I could be wrong and missing the intent, it just does not make sense to me. I tend to error on the side of the players since I just want the story to move forward most times but I do on occasion like to instill a sufficient level of fear just to keep them on their toes and this surely did. They used a potion, cure serious wounds, when the character had one round left to live and it worked. So we were all happy and the characters have a healthy fear of Mummies...as they should of course. :)
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I would have ruled the same way, in the belief that it fits the spirit of the rule. Healing should be impeded; having the 9th-level High Priest failing to cure the afflicted, while his level 1 altar-boy saves the day with a channel, doesn't appear to fit the intent.
I also thought one of the aims of PF was to do away with the strict need for certain rigid classes; making tracking and trapfinding available to all, opening up new spellcasting classes, that play differently (spontaneous divine caster? Cool! Holy warrior for alignments other than LG? About time!) while still filling a necessary role.
Clerics already provide far more healing than other classes, and can do so without preparation (spont cures, channeling). So much so, that many groups already always fill the divine caster role with a cleric, at the expense of other healing classes, who are 'allowed' in as fifth, sixth, etc member.
Having clerical healing also able to bypass effects that specifically hinder everyone else (eg Infernal Wounds and Mummy Rot), is not needed, not easily explained, and simply means the alternate healing classes are even less likely to be played.
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RAW, i don't think there's anything published that'll clarify it for you. if it were, it would be in the cleric section on channelling energy. Since its a new ability that they came up with for Pathfinder, it might have corner cases that they didn't consider in testing or thought were clear with intent.
I'll happily hit FAQ to try and elicit a solid answer.
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I'll happily hit FAQ to try and elicit a solid answer.
Sure, I will take any thoughts I can get. I am not too caught up in rules questions but I have a feeling based on things I am doing for this campaign, it will come into play a bunch since we have one character that channells positive energy and one who channels negative energy. Heck, we even have a Tiefling who is healed by both!