Hello! I am a new-ish DM and running the Kingmaker Adventure Path. I have 4 players currently with a 25 point buy for ability scores(Monk, Ranger, Sorcerer, Druid). We were going to have a cleric player but he dropped out.
What I am asking, as the DM, what changes should I make to make the Druid who is currently the main healer good enough for the road ahead of them? I don't really want to make a DMPC to be in their group following them around but I could. Do you guys have any recommendations?
Hello! I am a new-ish DM and running the Kingmaker Adventure Path. I have 4 players currently with a 25 point buy for ability scores(Monk, Ranger, Sorcerer, Druid). We were going to have a cleric player but he dropped out.
What I am asking, as the DM, what changes should I make to make the Druid who is currently the main healer good enough for the road ahead of them? I don't really want to make a DMPC to be in their group following them around but I could. Do you guys have any recommendations?
If the druid agrees to it I would change his spontaneous healing from Summon Natures Ally to healing spells like the cleric. Maybe even suggest he take the healing domain instead of animal companion.
Throw in a wand of cure light wands every few quests, and let the issue solve itself.
Wands of Cure Light Wounds are amazing.
If the druid agrees to it I would change his spontaneous healing from Summon Natures Ally to healing spells like the cleric. Maybe even suggest he take the healing domain instead of animal companion
Or throw in a unique magic item that allows the druid to also spontaneously cast healing spells.
Also, as Cheapy suggested, make sure that wands of CLWs are regularly available. Most healing is done outside of combat (especially if the cleric doesn't have selective channeling).
Wands are cheap and easy.
Also, you'd be surprised how much damage a party can avoid by a simple change in tactics. Most parties tend to like "Charge the enemy and hit each other in the face until one of you drops" I know I did until faced with a particularly gritty GM.
Simple tactics like: Attack the Melee Enemy from ranged and the Ranged Enemy in melee, or moving around so the baddie with 7 natural attacks can't ever get a full attack off, or fighting defensively or using combat expertise.
Parties can go from needing a medic after every fight to only healing once per day.
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Aside from the options above (spont healing variant, wands of cure light wounds, defensive tactics), you can consider;
1) Beefing up the Heal skill (make Treat Deadly Wound more effective or more available, healer's kits more useful). Three out of your four PCs have Heal as a class skill (the Druid, Monk and Ranger).
2) Include an alchemical healing solution, like the old Arms & Equipment Guide healing salve (but less good than that, most likely, since it was a little too good, IIRC).
3) Allow other characters access to some sort of healing option, such as a Monk alternate class ability that allows better use of Wholeness of Body, in exchange for delayed access to or reduced use of something else, or a variation on favored terrain that allows a Ranger to recover hit points overnight at an accelerated rate if he's in his Favored Terrain.
4) If the Sorcerer has the celestial bloodline, allow him to blow a feat to improve the use of his Heavenly Fire. Eldritch Heritage might be an option for the Sorcerer to gain Heavenly Fire, even if he's not a celestial bloodline Sorcerer, but that's eating up two feats and might be harsh on the Sorcerer.
5) Allow for Arcane healing options. Make them less effective than the equivalent cleric abilities. Say, a transmutation effect that turns some lethal damage into nonlethal damage, allowing it to be more quickly recovered between fights, or an out of combat necromancy effect that allows subjects in the area to share hit points over a couple of minutes, so that less-wounded people can donate some hit points to more wounded allies, so that everybody has a chance to recover hit points overnight.
If the druid agrees to it I would change his spontaneous healing from Summon Natures Ally to healing spells like the cleric. Maybe even suggest he take the healing domain instead of animal companion.Hello! I am a new-ish DM and running the Kingmaker Adventure Path. I have 4 players currently with a 25 point buy for ability scores(Monk, Ranger, Sorcerer, Druid). We were going to have a cleric player but he dropped out.
What I am asking, as the DM, what changes should I make to make the Druid who is currently the main healer good enough for the road ahead of them? I don't really want to make a DMPC to be in their group following them around but I could. Do you guys have any recommendations?
I wouldn't do that. Spontanously casting healing is sort of the thing of the cleric and feels wrong on a druid really.
As was said most healing is done outside of combat, and then usually with a wand of CLW. Theres no difference there. And for emergency in combat healing... well the druid will have to prepare some healing spells then.
But I don't really think you need to make any changes really to allow the druid to be an effective healer. Ok, if he used Wis as his dump stat and went full martial, then maybe :)
Try to change the players thinking. You are worrying about damage that has yet to be dealt, focus your efforts on preventing that damage altogether. In pathfinder only the most dedicated of builds will be able to keep up with damage output, damage prevention is the most efficient way to handle it which is really great because that means every party isn't forced into having a "dedicated healer".
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Kingmaker? Just having a druid in the party helps prevent a lot of bad stuff and if they toss out the occasional healing spell that should be enough.
Plenty of down time to rest and recover in that adventure path.
Plus with a Monk and Ranger hopefully your PC's will be smart enough to use alternative tactics other then run in and fight to the death. Stealth comes to mind. :)
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Are you allowing anything from old 3.5 D&D books? Not every spell in the Spell Compendium is incompatible with Pathfinder. A good example is the Level 1 Druid/Cleric spell Lesser Vigor and it's higher level counterparts. The spell grants fast healing 1 for 10 rounds +1 round per level (max 15rds,) which gives you 11hp over 11rds at minimum caster level. Wands of Lesser Vigor are better for healing out of combat than CLW for this reason, but the CLW wand is probably going to be more useful in the middle of a fight.
Don't forget the Sorcerer has Use Magic Device.
At level 11 he cannot fail on using a wand (unless distracted) +5 Char +14 skill ranks. 1 is not auto fail and a wand only 'break for a day' if the skill check fails.
Even at lower levels he's got ~50+% chance of using it. Say level 3. +4 Cha, +6 skill ranks =10. Natural 1's would suck but its not the end of the world.
Just make sure they keep some potions around because anyone can pour a potion down someone's throat. Whereas only 2 people can use the wand - and if a natural 1 is going to come up you can bet it will come up when the Druid is on -5hp! :)
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Just remembered you have a Ranger in the party! He has Cure Light Wounds on his spell list so he can freely use it too.
No problems with healing in this party. :)
This too. Spread out the healing somewhat. The druid may want to jump in and do a few things as well. The feat for the sorc is a great idea.
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As a "healer druid" I can say, encourage the druid to buff the heck out of everyone's weapons in battle, and hope that makes sure things die faster. Also, have cure light wounds on the ready at all times.
Funny thing is, our group has a cleric. But their an evil cleric, and only heal if they feel like it.
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If the player is really keen on making their druid an effective healer, even at the expensive of some of offensive potential, they could take a look at the Purist Druid from Kobald Quarterly 15. They swap out wild shape for channelling positive energy, and can spontaneously cast cure spells. It's not a particularly optimal character choice, but I'm giving it a try in a PBP. Mine has more of a caster druid feel.
The Ranger in the party can also have a wand of CLW.
The Druid could take a one level dip as a Cleric just to gain access to positive energy channeling. The 30’ radius burst is a more efficient way to heal your party than CLW since you don’t have to touch them as you cast the spell one-at-a-time. You may need the advantage against undead anyway.
That said:
A Druid with the Brew Potion Feat can create potions of CLW, as well as buff potions like "Barkskin", "Bears Endurance", "Bulls Strength", "Cats Grace", etc etc etc.
Remember too, that Druids have "Stabilize" as an Orison...CLW is a 1st level spell AND they have "Goodberry" as well...verrrry useful at low levels since it can be a cheaper alternative to potions of CLW. Remember that "Goodberries" last 24 hours...AND as a bonus you'll save on food costs and encumbrance.
If you have a potion brewing Druid, make sure that he / she is not taking all the material costs alone out of WBL.
I recall in the past when I played a melee character, I bought my own wand of CLW (CMW later on) to give to the party healer to minimize arguments over costs.
A character I have in a FR campaign is a level 9 Elf Ranger-6, Justice of Weald and Woe-3 archer / sniper type of character with the leadership feat and a level 3 Pixie Druid with the Brew Potion Feat as a cohort.
Thanks so much everyone for your suggestions! I'm no longer worried, though I still want my players to be >:)
Kingmaker in particular allows the party to move at its own pace. As others have said, so long as you make healing disposable items like wands available, it should be a complete non-issue for a party of that makeup.
...Beefing up the Heal skill (make Treat Deadly Wound more effective or more available, healer's kits more useful). Three out of your four PCs have Heal as a class skill (the Druid, Monk and Ranger)...
This is what I would recommend if you really want to make a change. For example, I have seen:
Every time a cure X is cast (including wand/potion/scroll) make a heal check. DC=10+lvl of cure. For evey 5 points that you beat the DC, it does an extra 1 point of curing. That includes the level 0 stabilize. Heal check can only be used on any character 1 per hour. It was something like that anyway. I may have the specifics a little off.However, as others have said, I don't think you need to do anything except be sure wands are available.
Kingmaker and 4 PC only healer is ranger and Druid...
Well as make folk have said Wands of cure light wounds.
You are not realy rushed in this path.
My answer is "Leadership" you need like 13 folk to fill out all the post so 4 PC with each Leadership still leaves 5 post open for NPC.
More light healer as cohorts such as Achemist, Witch, Bard, and Rouge for spice.
Craft Wand wouldn't be a bad feat for the druid to pick up, either. He can craft them at a reasonable price, and that will help spread the <3 around while costing the party quite a bit less.
It could also conceivably help with action economy. In addition to healing wands, by placing a few key druid buffs into wands, the sorcerer could handle these buffs as well (via UMD), which gives you two potential casters/options when the druid might be otherwise tied up.