Homunculus and Infernal Healing

[Anthony Masters]

Is it possible to heal a homunculus with a potion of infernal healing?
I was convinced that it should work but my GM said that magical granted fast healing works only on living tissue and that the fast healing (Ex) of some constructs works different.

[Kalindlara]

Well, the rules as written are on your side. The spell doesn't even say "living creature touched"... just "creature touched".

That said, unless this is for PFS, it's still his campaign. There's only so much you can do there. :)

[Anthony Masters]

Thanks for moral support. I was a little uncertain if I was reading it wrong. If worst comes to worst I have to take the Spirit's Gift feat and give the homunculus fast healing via a shaman spirit since I have no other reliable way to repair it.

[Kalindlara]

What class are you? If you have access to the make whole spell, that should help. I think there may be a greater version too.

[DualJay]

There is a greater version. Technology guide, I believe.

[Kalindlara]

Knew I saw one somewhere.

Thank you! :)

[DualJay]

And here they are. Level 2 for wizard/sorcerer and cleric oracle for the normal one, level 4 for the same classes for the greater one.

Construct Trait:

Constructs are immune to death effects, disease, mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), necromancy effects, paralysis, poison, sleep, stun, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless). Constructs are not subject to nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or energy drain. Constructs are not at risk of death from massive damage.

Infernal Healing would work, as it is a will negates spell.

[Kalindlara]

I was just there... I can't believe it didn't occur to me to scroll down.

This is why I should sleep. :)

[Anthony Masters]

I’m playing an Alchemist (Homunculist). I guess there is nothing I can do without relying on others.
And I don’t want to invest in use magic device and wands and scrolls. I thought a potion of infernal healing was a cheap alternative.

[Kalindlara]

Well, as I said, the rules are still on your side. Try talking to the GM outside the game - maybe he can be persuaded.

[Anthony Masters]

Thanks, I guess it helps if he sees that others agree with me. Maybe I can persuade him, most of the times he is pretty reasonable.

[Gisher]

Anthony Masters wrote:

I’m playing an Alchemist (Homunculist). I guess there is nothing I can do without relying on others.

And I don’t want to invest in use magic device and wands and scrolls. I thought a potion of infernal healing was a cheap alternative.

As a Homunculist, you have another possibility to consider. The Homunculist's familiar is specifically described as a living homunculus. Living creatures can be healed through cure light wounds, channeling, etc.

You might be interested in the author's description of what he meant by "living homunculus."

[Joesi]

Anthony Masters wrote:

I’m playing an Alchemist (Homunculist). I guess there is nothing I can do without relying on others.

And I don’t want to invest in use magic device and wands and scrolls. I thought a potion of infernal healing was a cheap alternative.

Alchemists don't have infernal healing available to them though, so I'm not sure why you consider that an option you can use yourself. I guess you just buy them? That seems a bit expensive (then again infernal healing is extremely effective/efficient)

Fast healing should work on constructs. There's nothing that says it doesn't, since it's explicitly described as being not similar or in any way equivalent to regular magical healing.

More importantly, in the construct description it says "A construct with the fast healing special quality still benefits from that quality.".

The only thing that could possibly indicate constructs not gaining HP from fast healing would be that fast healing is considered to be "just like natural healing", which constructs seemingly don't have (at least if that's what "constructs cannot heal damage on their own" means), but considering the point I made in the previous paragraph, it seems that fast healing is an exception (unless they're talking about creates that always have fast healing, but it doesn't specify that.

Anyway, because alchemists can't cast infernal healing (nor craft potions of such), you'd be better off crafting troll stypics. If you have proper/good crafting rule adjustments in place and very high alchemy score, and the master alchemist feat (which a GM might let you take early, since in my opinion level 5 is a silly requirement) you could craft these very quickly.

Obviously logically speaking (can't always look at only the rules) to use a troll styptic the thing would have to have a mouth and possibly esophagus and/or other organs, as well as be made of something reasonably biological, but that is not an issue if you're using it on a homunculus.

Anyway, that all said, if the DM doesn't think it should work (for whatever reason), there is also one "alternative", although it perhaps seems unlikely if he denied any possibility of using fast healing:
It would be to ask him if your homunculist could gain the ability to use the mending spell (as a level 1 extract), or Make whole (as a level 2 extract most likely). It makes sense, since why would a homunculist exist without the ability to heal his homunculi? It wouldn't make sense without such an ability.

Realize that the rules are guidelines, and that the DM should be reasonable with you. If you're somehow the strongest or "overpowered" already I could see him denying it, but otherwise it seems kinda mean.