Hello everyone,
I am DMing a homebrew where most of my players are evil and worship Zon-Kuthon. I have a good group of players, there hasn't been any PvP and the PCs have a good reason to stay on the plot. However, their only cleric is an evil one and as such, can't cast Cure Light Wounds (at least, that's how I understand the rules).
I want to give my PCs something to help heal them, maybe around half the power of a cleric. I could give them potions or a wand, but I think that's boring. Since many of them worship Zon-Kuthon, I was thinking about an item that maybe heals but in a "hurts so good" kind of way. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions?
Thanks!
I think he can still prepare cure light wounds, though he cannot spontaneously cast cure light wounds. That said, there is probably a better way already, but as this is the homebrew forum... I'll try basing an item on...
Discipline Telepathy [mind-affecting]
psychic warrior 3, telepath 3, tactician 3
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will half; Power Resistance: Yes
Power Points: 5
DESCRIPTION
You transfer your hurt to another. When you manifest this power and then make a successful touch attack, you can transfer 50 points of damage (or less, if you choose) from yourself to the touched creature. The damage you transfer may not exceed the damage you currently have. You immediately regain hit points equal to the amount of damage you transfer.
You cannot use this power to gain hit points in excess of your full normal total. The transferred damage is empathic in nature, so powers and abilities the subject may have such as damage reduction and regeneration do not lessen or change this damage.
The damage transferred by this power has no type, so even if the subject has immunity to the type of damage you originally took, the transfer occurs normally and deals hit point damage to the subject.
Augment
You can augment this power in one or both of the following ways:
For every additional power point you spend, you can transfer an additional 5 points of damage (maximum 70 points per manifestation), although you must still have that amount of actual damage to transfer.
If you spend 6 additional power points, this power affects all creatures in a 20-foot-radius spread centered on you, transferring the full amount of damage to each creature, although no matter how many targets you affect, you only heal the highest amount transferred to any one target.
The Rod of Dominion.
This simple, small rod is wrapped in red leather and hangs from a thin golden chain that is tied around the wrist. It is seen as holy to followers of Zon-Kuthon.
Three times per day, the rod's wielder may transfer his hurt to another creature. He may transfer 10 points of damage (or less, if he so chooses) from himself to the creature damaged. The damage transferred may not exceed the damage the character currently has. He immediately regains hit points equal to the amount of damage transferred. The transferred damage is empathic in nature, so powers and abilities the subject may have such as damage reduction and regeneration do not lessen or change this damage. A successful will save, DC 13, halves this damage. However, it does inflict the wound curse.
For a number of days equal to damage transferred/10, whenever the victim is the target of a conjuration (healing) spell or magical healing effect, the caster of the healing effect must succeed at a caster level check, DC 16. If the check fails, the healing effect functions half as strong as normal. Similarly, natural healing, fast healing, and regeneration function only half as well as normal. This is a curse effect and can be removed by remove curse.
If a creature willing forgoes a save and takes full damage, he never takes the curse.
...I have no idea how expensive it should be.
First of all, let me state that as healing spells don't have the good descriptor, nothing prevents an evil cleric of an evil from casting them. They merely can't spontaneously convert existing spells into cure spells, and thus must prepare all their healing in advance.
As for the recovery items, I think all it would take it a little reskinning. Instead of healing potions, they could find enchanted needles and thread to suture wounds close. Anyone can use one, even on themselves, but the process is rather painful. Likewise, perhaps cure wands they find work by being a simple metal wand that heats red-hot upon use of the command word, allowing for the cauterization of wounds.
Then again, these may be dangerous tools in the hands of an evil party. Torture someone within an inch of their life, and they still won't talk? Well, better use these torturous healing methods on them! And if that doesn't do it, more torture via mundane methods... followed by more torturous healing! And so on....
First of all, let me state that as healing spells don't have the good descriptor, nothing prevents an evil cleric of an evil from casting them. They merely can't spontaneously convert existing spells into cure spells, and thus must prepare all their healing in advance.
As for the recovery items, I think all it would take it a little reskinning. Instead of healing potions, they could find enchanted needles and thread to suture wounds close. Anyone can use one, even on themselves, but the process is rather painful. Likewise, perhaps cure wands they find work by being a simple metal wand that heats red-hot upon use of the command word, allowing for the cauterization of wounds.
Then again, these may be dangerous tools in the hands of an evil party. Torture someone within an inch of their life, and they still won't talk? Well, better use these torturous healing methods on them! And if that doesn't do it, more torture via mundane methods... followed by more torturous healing! And so on....
That's what is confusing me: I thought Cure Light Wounds was done by channeling positive energy, but evil clerics cannot channel positive energy. That's what makes me think they can't cast CLW.
And I wouldn't put it past them to torture NPCs using whatever healing items I give them. The last game I ran with them, they captured a kobold and "tortured" it by tricking it that it was turning good by being in the proximity of the paladin.
Let's see...
When laying your hand upon a living creature, you channel positive energy that cures 1d8 points of damage +1 point per caster level (maximum +5).
Aha, so that's where you got that idea from, presumably. The "channel" in the above spell description is mostly just that, description rather than mechanics, as mechanically it's Conjuration. That said, even if you were going to take such a literal reading of the text, nothing actually prevents an evil cleric of an evil deity from channeling positive energy; they just aren't able to do so using their default Channel Energy class feature. If they found some other item or character option that enabled them to channel positive energy like a good cleric, nothing in the default cleric rules would keep it from functioning.