Forum > Rolemaster
Revised Profession: Healer(s)
Eladan:
I realize that this topic had some discussion under a previous thread (https://ironcrown.co.uk/ICEforums/index.php?topic=20392.0), but I wanted to started a tangent to it under the Rolemaster branch of the forum to avoid confusion with Beta. Now that my life has completed a major time sink (graduate work), I am revisiting my project to bring old professions into RMU and have what I think may be a fresh look at healers in RM. For the purposes of this discussion, I'll call the various versions the Old Healer, the RMU Healer, and the New Healer.
There are a couple of core ideas to start with:
* RM has traditionally had three pathways to magical healing - The Healer, who was most effective but suffered from playability in our games because it meant taking on other players' downtime; the Lay Healer, who as a Mentalism user was more effective in a combat role but was slightly weaker at healing; and Channeling users, who had access to the Law lists and could choose to divert some spell list development into healing.
For my groups, this always seemed redundant. To that point, I've begun drafting a revision of the Healer that is essentially a combo of the old Lay Healer/Healer professions, with spell lists that have scaling options: self-healing is the default, and the spell becomes less effective when healing others, mirroring the old diffusion of power between the two professions.
Here is an example of the Level 1 spell from my revised Blood Law:
Flowstop IV – Caster can apply any three of the following options to a bleeding wound. Caster make take an option more than once. (II) indicates an option actually counts as two for tallying purposes. Multiple Flowstop spells may not be cast upon the same wound by the same caster.
* (I) Stops bleeding on a wound bleeding up to 1 hit/round. After one hour, the clotting is permanent, but until the injury is actually healed by some means (e.g., Medicine maneuver), the target can engage in activity no more vigorous than walking without the bleeding resuming.
* (I) Mend a wound bleeding up to 1 hit/round. This combined with the option above bypasses the need to rest for the hour.
* (II) Cast this spell on a target up to 50 away. Taking this more than once increases the distance, not the number of targets.
This method of "options" actually scales quite closely to healing as it is written in the current lists. At level 8, the RMU Healer can cast Clotting True, stopping all bleeding, but needing the hour of recovery time. On my list, a level 7 my version of Flowstop XII would essentially have the same effect, allowing the Healer to stop 10 hits/rd of bleeding on himself. How does this compare to a Lay Healer though? At level 12 a Lay Healer can cast Clotting True, while my New Healer can cast my version of Flowstop XVI at level 13, allow him to spend two "point" to cast the spell on someone else, and then stopping 14 hits/rd as a Clotting spell, or 7 hits/rd instantly. Granted, the progression of my version of Flowstop can be tinkered with, but I think there's something cool here.
The concept here is to reduce the number of spells needed the healing lists, thereby allowing us to compress the number of healing lists required for someone to be effective at healing, and allowing the new Healer to have some build diversity. This brings me to my next point...
* Promoting build diversity promotes professions - Very few of my players ever played healers, in part because they didn't want to be pigeon-holed as a utility to everyone else in the party. By compressing the lists using the spell mechanics I mention above, this leaves some room for the New Healer to diversify. If we can reduce the core physical healing spells down to 3-4 lists with the new open slots (since Clotting and Cut Repair no longer take two slots, there is room to combine Blood and Concussion, Organ and Nerve, etc.
This leaves room for the New Healer to select his "specialty". If I limit professions to 6 Base lists, then he can decide whether to pick lists like "Mental Healing", "Spiritual Healing" (once the exclusive province of Clerics with Lifegiving), "Damage Deflection" (an experimental concept of mine providing shields and "extra life" to companions), or a gamut of other list concepts. In short, the New Healer can now be anything from a doctor/surgeon to battlefield medic, to something else, making the profession more appealing to more people.
I'm open to comments, concerns, critiques, and recommendations. I would also move the New Healer squarely into the realm of Mentalism, freeing up the Hybrid slot for my Revised: Astrologer (https://ironcrown.co.uk/ICEforums/index.php?topic=20055.0), but that's an OCD thing of mine...
jdale:
I think the scaling is a good approach. We actually doubled up some flowstop/clotting spells to slip a little more utility into the lay healer lists.
Ranged healing has some interesting ramifications, e.g. enemies may have hidden healers.
Reducing the number of required spell lists to treat all conditions is good and bad. The good is the character is more versatile. The bad is that it makes different kinds of injuries functionally the same. Adding functionality to the existing lists keeps it more distinct.
MisterK:
--- Quote from: jdale on January 05, 2022, 09:54:10 AM ---Reducing the number of required spell lists to treat all conditions is good and bad. The good is the character is more versatile. The bad is that it makes different kinds of injuries functionally the same. Adding functionality to the existing lists keeps it more distinct.
--- End quote ---
I wouldn't say that - they are functionally distinct since their effect is distinct. They are only similar for healing purposes, but then again, it all depends on how much you want to emphasise the need to have a pocket healer in a group when that decision has significant side effects on the healing character - in other words, unless being a healer is as much fun as being any other class, you have a design issue. Healing is fully reactive, removes a significant part of a caster's noncombat versatility, has no offensive, defensive or utility impact in combat unless you make recovery instant (which is not the default setting), and , as with all other casters, eats up a significant part of DPs to sustain. That's a bit much for something that can only be seen as a necessary evil (as in : something you would rather do without, but can't for practical reasons).
Eladan:
I appreciate the encouragement on the scaling concept. There's some balance issues to consider in terms of how many "options" are available at each level.
Ranged healing already exists in game though, doesn't it? The Old/RMU Lay Healer and Channeling lists all have ranged healing. Those professions with more limited healing like the Monk, Paladin, etc don't really need their lists modified. I also don't necessarily see the concept of hidden healers as a bad thing. Any spellcaster sitting on the back line is likely to draw hostility, although casting from Mentalism does make it more subtle, which is something to consider...
I don't necessarily think that the compression has to trivialize the type of injuries... The scaling system can be adjusted to compress slots (and therefore lists), keeping spells to treat different ailments. Totally unthought-out example:
Bone/Cartilage Healing III (New) - Caster can apply any two of the following options to a Bone/Cartilage injury. Caster make take an option more than once. (X) indicates an option actually counts as X options for tallying purposes. Multiple spells may not be cast upon the same wound by the same caster.
* (I) An injury to cartilage incurring a penalty up to -20 is cleaned, protected, and bound as effectively as if a successful Medicine maneuver was performed, and the target receives a +50 bonus on their recovery roll. Taking this more than once increases the penalty that can be treated.
* (II) An injury to bone incurring a penalty up to -20 is cleaned, protected, and bound as effectively as if a successful Medicine maneuver was performed, and the target receives a +50 bonus on their recovery roll.
* (II) Cast this spell on a target up to 50 away. Taking this more than once increases the distance, not the number of targets.
It essentially combines the two spells and allows us to add spells from another list. If we want to combine Bone healing with say Muscle healing, there are now of openings available.
Eladan:
@MisterK
--- Quote ---... in other words, unless being a healer is as much fun as being any other class, you have a design issue.
--- End quote ---
I agree with this 100%. I don't mind playing utility/support characters, but I think I'm in the minority, and that seems to be the biggest issue with healing classes in general. There may be other ways to create an appeal to them, but I think this is a viable and effective way to do it. Compressing lists and offering others that create diverse roles in a group seems like a logical option in this ongoing project to revamp the old concepts into the RMU framework.
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