Getting The Most Out of The Heal Skill (in Pathfinder)

The Heal skill is one of those aspects of Pathfinder that most people just ignore. Aside from using it to tell how injured someone is, or how a particular corpse in a dungeon died, it seems like something that just isn't going to come up. However, like many skills in the book, you can do a lot with the Heal skill if you're willing to invest in it.

And sometimes it can be what saves your party.

Stop squirming, I need to get this thing out before you get a negative level...

The Heal Skill: What Can It Do?

Skills aren't magic, and while the Heal skill can restore hit points to a PC, you can't do it quickly. This makes it a poor choice for combat healing (most of the time, more on that later), but there is a lot of stuff you can use this skill for.

Stuff like:

- Provide First Aid: As a standard action you can make a DC 15 Heal check to stabilize a dying character, or to stop them from bleeding due to a bleed effect.

- Treat Poison: While tending a character who has been poisoned, every time they roll a save against the poison, you roll a Heal check. If your check exceeds the poison's save DC, then the subject gets a +4 competence bonus. Particularly useful for those who don't have other means prepared to neutralize a poison.

- Treat Disease: This works similarly to treating poison, and it can be a life-saver at lower levels when you can't cure disease with a wave of a hand just yet. It also takes 10 minutes as an action, so it's not great for in-combat use.

- Treat Deadly Wounds: This one takes a full hour, and expends 2 uses of a healer's kit. If you succeed, you restore a number of hit points equal to the creature's level, and if you beat the DC 20 by 5 or more then you add a bonus number of hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier. You have to do this within 24 hours of the wounds being delivered, and you can only do this once per day per target.

There are a few other uses of this skill (treating wounds from caltrops, long-term care, etc.) but these are the four most common uses. And chances are that most tables have only ever used the first-aid option. It's easy to think of this skill as one that falls by the wayside as you gain more expedient means of curing hit point damage, neutralizing poisons, and dealing with deadly wounds... but if you really want to invest in it, you can rev this skill up to the next level.

It's All About The Right Feats...

The feat you need to really juice this up is Healer's Hands, and it's found in the book Planar Adventures (the same book that gave us Magic Trick from How To Turn Floating Disk Into a Battlefield Spell). All you need is 1 rank of Heal and 1 rank of Knowledge (Planes), and you can take this feat. In short, it allows you to:

- Treat deadly wounds as a full-round action (instead of taking an hour).

- You don't take a negative for not using a healer's kit.

- You can use this action on a creature more than once per day, and if you beat the DC by 10 or more (it's a check of 30, for those keeping track), then you also get to add your ranks in Knowledge (Planes) to the hit points you heal.

You feeling better there, Jim?

Now, as a caveat, you can only use this feat's benefits a number of times per day equal to your ranks in Knowledge (Planes), and it only works on creatures that could be healed by positive energy. But say you're a level 10 character, you invested all the skill ranks, and you've got a high wisdom. Every time you treat deadly wounds on a fellow party member (without even needing a healer's kit, mind you), that's probably between 23 and 25 hit points you're giving them back (10 for their level, 10 for your ranks in Knowledge (Planes), and 3-5 depending on your Wisdom modifier).

At 10 times per day, that essentially gives you between 230 and 250 hit points you can restore without magic every day. Not a bad ability, eh? Especially if you add things like Healer's Gloves for that +5 competence bonus on your checks to make sure you hit that DC 30 reliably.

Then There's Skill Unlocks...

I'm the first to admit that there are not a lot of DMs who are willing to give players skill unlocks. First debuted in Pathfinder Unchained, they are an optional rule, but if they're in-play at your table then you can crack the Heal skill wide open.

And why is that, you might ask?

What you need to do is, when you get 5 ranks in the Heal skill, you take the feat Signature Skill. This gives you access to the skill unlocks for Heal, which start at 5 ranks. And every 5 ranks beyond that, you unlock another signature ability. Those are:

- Target recovers additional hit points and ability damage as if they'd rested a whole day.

- Target recovers additional hit points as if they'd rested a whole day with long-term care.

- Target recovers hit points and ability damage as if they'd rested for 3 days.

- Target recovers hit points and ability damage as if they'd rested for 3 days with long-term care.

We're going to have to do some math here to work this one out to its full conclusion. Because when you rest for a full day, you recover double your level in hit points, and 2 points of temporary ability damage. When you rest for a full day with long-term care, you recover at twice that rate.

So let's look at that level 5 unlock.

Assuming you make the DC 20 check on your fellow party member, you're automatically going to heal them for 5 hit points (their level). But with this skill unlock, you now heal them double their character level instead (10 points), and 2 points of temporary ability damage, as well. If you made the DC 25 check and you have a Wisdom modifier of +5, then you'll have healed them another 5 points, for a total of 15 hit points as a full-round action. 20 hit points if you manage to hit that DC 30 (unlikely, but possible with the right build).

And you'd be able to do that 5 times per day... putting your healing capacity at between 50 and 100 hit points, as well as 10 temporary ability damage, you could heal per day with no magic and not even a healer's kit!

The numbers just get more gross from there, my friends.

So what about at level 10? Well, the skill by itself heals them for 10 hit points. With the skill unlock, though, they recover 40 instead of 10, because it's treated as if they had a day of rest with long-term care (quadruple the normal healing). They also gain back 4 points of temporary ability point damage. Then if you hit the DC 25 check, you get to add your +5 modifier to bring that up to 45 hit points, and if you hit the DC 30 modifier you could bring that up to 55.

So the total here is between 400 and 550 hit points worth of healing in a day, as well as 40 points of temporary ability score damage.

The math only gets more nuts from there. At level 15 we're looking at more than 900 hit points per day of straight healing, and more than 70 points of temporary ability damage. At level 20, assuming your game goes that far, you could in theory heal over 2k hit points per day, as well as fix more than 200 points of temporary ability score damage.

Who says every party needs a cleric?

Useful, or Broken?

On the one hand, it could be argued that the skill unlocks provide you a meaningful way to make skills a bigger part of the game, and in this case to meaningfully heal fellow party members without the presence of a divine caster or potion spammer. However, when combining the skill unlock rules with this extraplanar knowledge of healing, you may find yourself dealing with a party that is all but immortal if they survive a given fight.

Tis but a flesh wound... have at thee!

Independently, the feat and unlocks are okay, if not great. My two cents, if you intend to use a system like this to replace the need for clerics and divine casters except in instances of permanent ability drain or negative level drain, then limit the number of times the character can use the feat Healer's Hands to their Wisdom modifier times per day (or perhaps double their Wisdom modifier per day, if you're feeling generous). That gives them the ability to meaningfully heal fellow party members with a skill, instead of magic, but doesn't give them the ability to wade through battle after battle for a full day without once casting a healing spell.

Just my two cents on finding a middle ground with this trick!

That's all for this week's Crunch topic! For more of my work, check out my Vocal and Gamers archives, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio! Or if you'd like to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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The Pill-Popping Paladin

Farran had cleaned the blood from his sword, and smoothed the nicks from the blade with a whetstone. He washed the sweat and stink from his body. He polished his armor and shield until they shone, and the dents from the day's battle were little more than irregularities in the steel skins. He said his prayers. When all was said and done, though, he could not banish the sound of the demon's roar from his mind. The madness in its gaze, and the hunger as it tore at his shield even as ichor spilled across the temple's floor, were seared into his mind like a brand. He raised his pipe, lit it, and breathed deep.

The smoke filled his lungs, and it quieted the memories. He would sleep tonight, and with the blessing of the gods, his sleep would be dreamless.

The gods were good, to bless us with such bounty.

Drugs are one of those mechanics that most players simply don't toy with, excluding the sheer number of PCs who get completely hammered before, during, or after an adventure. But while ale and wine flow commonly in most games, it's fairly rare for player characters to touch the harder stuff. Why? Well, because it gives you a temporary benefit, but it damages one of your stats, and has the potential to cause addiction.

Of course, paladins have ways around that.

The Pill-Popping Paladin

Hard drugs in Pathfinder can give small, but effective, bonuses. Silvertongue, invented by yours truly, gives you a 1d2 bonus to your Charisma score for an hour, for example. Zerk provides a +1 bonus to your initiative, and +1d4 to your Strength, for the next hour. These drugs also do 1d4 and 1d2 Constitution damage, respectively. Also, as I pointed out in The Best Drugs in Pathfinder, every time you take a dose of one of these substances, you have to roll a Fortitude save to avoid addiction. That can be problematic, because drug addiction can have crippling effects on a character.

It's important to remember, though, that drug addiction is considered a disease, and can be cured by applicable magics. Paladins are immune to diseases both normal and magical as of 3rd level, however, which renders the Fortitude save a moot point. Even better, paladins who cast spells (since there are archetypes that give up spellcasting) have the ability to restore ability damage. This gives them the ability to reap the benefits of drug use, without all the negatives that come with it.

Antipaladins are worse. So much worse..

 

But even though paladins can do this, mechanically, are they allowed to thematically? After all, drug use is one of those things we tend to think goes against a paladin's code... but why would it? Especially if the substances a paladin is using, like elven absinthe or harlot sweets, are not illegal to buy, or use, and there are no proscriptions against those substances in that paladin's faith?

The closest argument that could be made regarding drug use is that it may be seen as dishonorable to give yourself an advantage with a performance-enhancing substance. However, if that is true, then where do you draw the line? Is wearing enchanted armor, or wielding a magical sword, giving you too much of an advantage for you to still be honorable? Is using magic against a creature who cannot cast spells using an unfair advantage? Are you allowed to accept morale bonuses from the bard, or transmutation spells from the wizard, to help in the heat of battle? Are you allowed to drink strong coffee to stave off the penalties from fatigue (which is an actual ruling)?

What Drives The Drug Use?

The mechanical quirk is fun, but hardly game breaking. The benefits gained from imbibing drugs are small, variable, and they do cause damages that have to be healed. Even if you get a free pass on the addiction roll, there's still the question of why your paladin feels the need to shoot up.

Is your paladin a front-line warrior, who prepares for every possible situation? In much the same way he'd carry healing potions, and alchemical weapons, why wouldn't he pack battlefield drugs to help him keep going when the chips were down, and lives were on the line? Does your paladin take drugs to help stave off the long-term effects of staring into the abyss of horror and damnation that he took vows to protect others against? Or does your paladin take drugs in order to reach a higher state of consciousness, communing more clearly with the gods in an altered state of consciousness?

Are the drugs a crutch, or a tool? An escape, or a prison? Those choices are yours to make, and they remain particularly interesting choices.

For more inspiration, check out 5 Tips For Playing Better Paladins!

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That's all for this installment of Unusual Character Concepts. Hopefully this one gave you something to chew over, whether you're a player, or a game master.

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my most recent collection of short stories The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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The Best Drugs in Pathfinder

Pathfinder is a game that has accounted for everything. Need birth control for your wayward bard? Done. Need to know what the costs and upkeep are for a manor estate? We've got that too. Days of the week? Natural disasters? What happens when you lose a limb? Done, done, and done. There are in fact so many rules buried in the books that it's easy to lose track of some of the more common aspects of life in Golarion. Like great alchemical items, useful non-magical equipment, and more rules that players keep forgetting.

That's why today we're going to talk about drugs.

And why you should totally be doing them (in character).

You hear about the various controlled substances floating around Golarion a lot at lower levels. In adventure paths like Curse of the Crimson Throne you're even tasked with breaking up drug rings. However, while these addictive alchemical substances can be hell on your fortitude save, many of them offer some rather handy temporary bonuses for users. While they're certainly not a solution for every situation, the bonuses are almost as hard to resist as the addiction saves.

Alcohols

Given that practically every campaign starts in, near, or rolls through a tavern at some point it goes without saying that the PCs are going to get completely hammered at some point in time (this takes a number of drinks equal to 1 + double the PC's constitution modifier). Normal alcohol does you no favors and just like out of game results in you getting sick and addicted if you abuse it.

These exotic alcohols are not your run of the mill rotgut, however.

Pick Your Poison

Dwarven Fire Ale (Gamemastery Guide): A favorite of berserkers and northerners of all races, a single draught of this potent elixir provides cold resistance 5 for 1 hour, and 1d4 rounds of rage, as per the spell. It does 1d2 con damage.

Elven Absinthe (Gamemastery Guide): Never outdone in eloquence, the absinthe brewed and drunk by elves provides +1d4 charisma for 1 hour, but does 1d4 con damage when the effects wear off.

Dreamtime Tea (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Rival Guide): While it might not be every adventurer's cup of tea, this beverage induces sleep in 2d12 minutes. While sleeping users gain dreams that function as augury, but they have only a 60% chance of success and the tea does 1d3 wisdom damage.

Midnight Milk (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Lost Cities of Golarion): Midnight milk is a sleep aid, but it also lets you gain rest more quickly than you would (useful for spell casters). When drunk the user is fatigued for an hour and takes a -4 on resistances to sleep effects. If the user sleeps he has vivid dreams for 1 hour per dose used in the last month (including this one), and then awakens refreshed as if he'd just had 8 hours of sleep. The drug also does 1d2 wisdom damage.

Controlled Substances

Hardcore drug users in Golarion have a plethora of choices, from the magical fluids of exotic creatures to the refined saps of jungle vines. While these substances provide potentially life-saving bonuses, the crippling after effects make them something that should be used sparingly.

Only buy from high quality ruffians whom you trust.

Aether (Gamemastery Guide): Aether is a great aid to spellcasters who just need a little more juice. For one hour after taking a dose a spellcaster increases the DC of all spells by +1 (seriously though, here are some less harmful ways to increase your spell DC). The catch is that for 1d4 hours the caster must make a concentration check of DC 15 + the spell level to cast any spell, and aether does 1d2 constitution damage.

Angel's Trumpet (Pathfinder Player Companion: Alchemy Manual): This rare and unusual performance enhancer has a grab bag of bonuses. Users gain a +2 alchemical bonus to initiative, a +4 alchemical bonus on diplomacy and bluff checks, a +4 alchemical bonus on saves against fear and compulsion, and are fatigued for 1 hour. Additionally if the user fails a save on fear that has a duration other than instantaneous or permanent then the condition is ignored, but the user is dazed for a number of rounds equal to the duration. The bad stuff is that for 1d4 days after usage you gain light blindedness, and the drug does 1d4 constitution and 1d4 wisdom (once, not per day).

Blood Sap (Rival Guide): Extracted from swamp roots this potent red syrup can energize warriors for short bursts. For 30 minutes users gain a +1d4 strength bonus and +1d3 dexterity bonus, but then they're slowed (as the spell) for 3 hours. It also does 1d4 constitution damage.

Bloodbrush Extract (Pathfinder Player Companion: Numeria Land of Fallen Stars): Magic users and item crafters may find this unique substance invigorating, as well as recreational. For 2 hours users have a +2 on knowledge checks for planes, arcana, or religion and on spellcraft checks. The freed mind isn't concerned with mortal things though, so the users are distracted for purposes of perception checks. The drug also does 1d2 wisdom damage.

Daemon Seed (Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Book of the Damned): Only the desperate and the mad would think to taste the fluids found in a daemon's spine, but Golarion lacks for neither. The memories in the spinal fluid provide users with a +4 profane bonus on skill checks and saves, as well as a +1d6 profane bonus to a randomly selected skill. Users also have a 15% chance of going blind and deaf for 1 hour, and gaining a negative level (DC 20 to resist).

Flayleaf (Gamemastery Guide): Used by adventurers who know their enemies will try to dominate their minds, a single dose provides a +2 bonus on saves against mind affecting effects for 1 hour, and users are fatigued. It does a single point of wisdom damage.

Harlot Sweets (Rival Guide): Despite their amusing name, these lozenges provide users with a +1d4 bonus charisma and +1 dexterity for an hour. They also do 1d2 intelligence damage.

Honeydust (Bastards of Golarion): Used widely across Golarion this sweet scented dust provides a +1d2 bonus to charisma and a -2 on saves against illusions for 1 hour. There's a 75% chances that the user is sickened after an hour, and it does 1d2 wisdom damage.

Keif (Gamemastery Guide): Widely used by those who need an edge in a fight, keif provides a +1d2 bonus on strength, and imposes a -2 penalty on saves against illusions and mind-affecting effects. It also does 1d2 constitution and 1d2 wisdom damage.

Golden Keif (Gamemastery Guide): While it provides all the same bonuses as regular keif, golden keif has an additional gift for drug users. It provides a +2 alchemical bonus against non-keif drugs (including rolls to resist addiction), and if the user is under the effects of another drug that gives penalties to saves or skill checks then those penalties are reduced by 1. Golden keif does 1 constitution and 1 wisdom damage.

Mumia (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Lost Kingdoms): In case the name didn't give it away, Mumia is made from the flesh of mummified corpses. Those who can overcome their distaste for the drug's base components will be able to cast all spells at +1 caster level, and will gain +1d8 of temporary hit points along with a +2 alchemical bonus to saves against spells and effects that have the curse or disease descriptor. Mumia also renders users fatigued for 1 hour. The drug does 1d2 wisdom damage, but for every week one remains addicted there's a cumulative +5% chance that he or she will become a ghoul. Use at your own peril.

Opium (Gamemastery Guide): Used as a real-world painkiller, opium is a commonly used drug for those who need relief in Golarion. Users gain +1d8 temporary hit points and a +2 alchemical bonus on fortitude saves for an hour, but users are also fatigued. It does 1d4 constitution and 1d4 wisdom damage.

Scour (Gamemastery Guide): A favorite of duelists, thieves, and those who'd rather be quick than dead, scour provides a +1d4 bonus to dexterity and imposes a -1d4 penalty to wisdom for 3 hours. It also does 1d6 constitution damage.

Shiver (Gamemastery Guide): A popular street drug in Korvosa, shiver is a crap shoot. There's a 50% chance that the user will sleep for 1d4 hours, or gain immunity to fear for 1d4 minutes. It does 1d2 constitution damage.

Silvertongue (Bastards of Golarion): The mechanics for this drug were created by your author. Silvertongue is commonly used by those who can't afford to mis-speak in public, and it provides users with a +1d2 bonus to charisma for 1 hour, and it provides a +2 alchemical bonus against mind-affecting effects. It does 1d4 constitution damage, and addicts are easily picked out by their mercurial smiles.

Starspore (Numeria: Land of Fallen Stars): Starspores are released from a mold that grows on adamantine and other star metals. The spores have the powerful effect of opening up the senses, granting 60 feet of darkvision and the ability to see invisible creatures for 1 hour. Users also take 1d2 constitution damage, gain vulnerability to sonic damage, and experience 1 wisdom drain. A hefty price indeed.

Wyrm Keif (Pathfinder Player Companion: Dragonslayer's Handbook): Introducing a vial of dragon's blood to keif as it's being concocted creates a very different beast. For 1 hour it provides 25 temporary hit points, and for 1 day it provides a +2 alchemical bonus on saves against sleep and paralysis. It also does 1d2 wisdom damage.

Zerk (Gamemastery Guide): This unusually named drug provides a +1 bonus to initiative for 1 hour. Addicts will also receive a +1d4 bonus to their strength. Zerk does 1d2 constitution damage.

Other Rules About Drugs

Before you start running out to create your very own hopped up heroes and heroines it's important to keep in mind that drug use has another risk; addiction. Whenever you take a drug you have to roll a fortitude save to resist becoming addicted. If you succeed then bully for you, the effects and the damage persists as normal. If you fail though, then you become an addict.

Like this, only smelling terrible.

Addiction comes in three forms; minor, moderate, and severe. It's a disease, and has to be overcome like any other disease with magic or fortitude saves. Also, if you take another dose of a drug while you still have ability damage from the last dose, your save takes a -2. Additionally while you're addicted you can't naturally heal ability damage caused by the drug you're taking. This can lead to all sorts of problems, and one bad roll can set you on a path to selling off your best gear just so you can keep your fix going.

On the other hand it is entirely possible to put together a performance-enhanced paladin with no risk whatsoever. You can have that idea for free.

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