Healer

Alignment

Any nonevil.

Hit Die

d8.

Class Skills

The healer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Linguistics (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Survival (Wis).

Skill Points at 1st Level

(6 + Int modifier) × 4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level

6 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the healer.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Healers are proficient with all simple weapons and with light armor.

Spells

A healer casts divine spells (the same type of spells available to clerics), which are drawn from the healer spell list given below. When a healer gains access to a new level of spells, she automatically knows all the spells for that level listed on the healer's spell list. Essentially, her spell list is the same as her spells known list.

To cast a spell, a healer must have an Intelligence score of 10 + the spell's level (Int 10 for 0-level spells, Int 11 for 1st-level spells, and so forth). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a healer's spell is 10 + the spell's level + the healer's Intelligence modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a healer can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Healer. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Intelligence score.

Unlike clerics, healers do not acquire their spells through prayer, they prepare them through study. Each healer must get a good night's sleep and spend 1 hour each morning in quiet contemplation to regain her daily allotment of spells. Once this is done, she can cast any spell she knows at any time (assuming she has not yet used up her spells per day for that spell level) without preparing it ahead of time the way a cleric or wizard must.

Tome of Accumulated Medical Knowledge

A healer must study her medical tomes each morning during her hour of quiet contemplation. If she does not have access to any medical tomes (or chooses not to study them) at this time, she still regains her spell slots but may cast only cure spells until she spends at least 15 minutes skimming a medical tome (a cure spell is any spell with "cure" in its name).

A healer begins play with a tome containing all spells on the healer's spell list. New spells may be added to her collection (and therefore her own spell list) via feats or by copying another healer's notes. Each spell takes up 1 page per spell level (0-level spells take up half a page each), and there is no limit to the number of pages a healer may have in her collection.

The books are not magical, and my be copied by any normal copying method. To the layperson, spells in medical texts appear as anatomical diagrams with long technical procedures and notes hastily scribbled in the margins (ie. exactly what they are). The books weigh 2.5 lbs. per 100 pages, and each page costs 5 silver including binding materials.

Referring to a medical text while performing a Heal check adds 10 rounds (1 minute) to the check while finding the useful page, but provides a +2 competence bonus on the roll.

Healing Hands (Su)

A healer with a Wisdom score of 12 or higher can heal wounds (her own or those of others) by touch. Each day she can heal a total number of hit points of damage equal to her healer level × her Wisdom bonus. A healer may choose to divide her healing among multiple recipients, and she doesn't have to use it all at once. Using healing hands is a standard action.

At 10th level and above, a healer may choose to use any or all of this healing power to deal damage to undead creatures. Using healing hands in this way requires a successful melee touch attack and doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity. The healer decides how many of her daily allotment of points to use as damage after successfully touching an undead creature.

Medical Insight (Ex)

Whenever a healer casts a spell that directly cures hit point damage, she adds her Wisdom modifier to the amount of damage healed. For instance, if a 3rd-level healer with a 16 Wisdom casts cure light wounds, she cures 1d8+3 points of damage normally, plus an additional 3 points of damage due to her Wisdom bonus. This bonus applies only to spells of the healing subschool that she casts as a healer, not to those that she may have by virtue of levels in another class.

The benefit of this ability is lost if the healer does not have a number of ranks in Heal equal to or greater than her Healer class level. It is regained if the balance is restored.

Skill Focus (Heal)

A healer's focused training grants her this bonus feat at 1st level. If she already has that feat, she may choose a different one.

Rote Healing (Ex)

At 3rd level, a healer has learned to cast spells of the healing subschool with minimal concentration. She may cast any such spells of 1st level or lower without provoking attacks of opportunity. This ability applies only to spells of the healing subschool that she casts as a healer, not to those that she may have by virtue of levels in another class.

This ability improves by one spell level every two levels.

Augment Healing

At 4th level, a healer adds +1 point per spell level to the amount of damage healed by any spell of the Healing subschool that she casts.

Transfer Spell

At 8th level, a healer gains Transfer Spell as a bonus feat. If she already has this feat, she may choose a different metamagic feat for which she meets the prerequisites.

Effortless Healing

At 10th level, a healer has learned to cast spells of the healing subschool with minimal concentration. She no longer has a limit to the number of times per day she can use her Rote Healing ability.

Divine Preparation

At 12th level, a healer gains Divine Preparation as a bonus feat. If she already has this feat, she may choose a different metamagic feat for which she meets the prerequisites.

Reach Spell

At 16th level, a healer may cast any spell allowed by her Rote Healing ability at any distance up to 30 feet. The spell effectively becomes a ray, so she must succeed on a ranged touch attack to bestow the spell upon the recipient. Note that she still provokes attacks of opportunity when making a ranged attack, even if she doesn't provoke due to the casting itself.

Cure Death (Su)

Once per week, a 20th-level healer can bring a dead creature back to life as if casting a true resurrection spell. Casting time is one hour, and no materials are required.

Healer Spell List

Healers choose their spells from the following list.
0 Level: bleed, detect poison, enhance water,* stabilize.
1st Level: comprehend languages, cure light wounds, deathwatch, diagnose disease, karmic blessing, remove fear, remove sickness, rite of bodily purity, sanctify corpse, sanctuary.
2nd Level: abeyance, aid, calm emotions, cure moderate wounds, delay disease, delay pain, delay poison, gentle repose, life pact, lesser restoration, path of glory, remove paralysis, share language, stabilize, status, stave off corruption, surmount affliction.
3rd Level: accept affliction, communal delay poison, cure serious wounds, protection from energy, protection from harm, remove blindness/deafness, remove curse, remove disease, sacred bond, symbol of healing.
4th Level: communal protection from energy, cure critical wounds, death ward, greater path of glory, healing warmth, neutralize poison, persistent vigor, restoration.
5th Level: break enchantment, greater vigor, mass cure light wounds, mass sanctuary, raise dead, revivify, stone to flesh, true seeing, water breathing.
6th Level: greater restoration, heal, mass cure moderate wounds, regenerate, revive outsider, vigorous circle.
7th Level: fortunate fate, mass cure serious wounds, mass restoration, renewal pact, repulsion, resurrection.
8th Level: death pact, discern location, holy aura, mass bear's endurance, mass cure critical wounds, undeath to death.
9th Level: caduceus, foresight, mass heal, true resurrection, undeath's eternal foe.

Note for GMs: This class is intentionally lacking in non-healing mechanics. It is designed with the expectation that more interesting spells will be discovered in other healers' books or the like (similar to found wizard spellbooks). The Book of Exalted Deeds and The Book of Vile Darkness are suitable repositories for unusual spells. A careful selection of spells from other d20 systems (Arcana Evolved, X-Crawl, etc.), complete with unusual spellcasting mechanics, could also prove very interesting.

Use your imagination.