3 Bloodlines For Healing With Sorcerers (in Pathfinder)

One of the most common complaints I've heard from players who favor arcane magic is that they dislike that arcane magic can't heal. While there are entire screeds that have been written on the subject of game balance, and keeping certain powers exclusive to certain classes, archetypes, or builds, that frustration still lingers. After all, it's magic... why is there something it can't do?

Well, for those who like to twist and mold things into new and unexpected forms, I figured I'd present the results I've had on this topic. Some of them may be familiar to you, and others strange, but this is what I've come across so far. Hopefully it helps ease some of these frustrations.

Also, if you enjoy this week's advice, you might also get a kick out of 5 Tips For Playing Better Sorcerers!

#1: The Celestial Bloodline

Can you stand before my fire?

This is both the most familiar method of getting healing from a sorcerer, and honestly the least impressive. The Celestial bloodline, which debuted in the original Core Rulebook, grants you Heavenly Fire as your first-level sorcerer bloodline power. It's a ranged touch attack that deal 1d4+1 per 2 sorcerer levels of damage to evil targets, and it heals that much damage for good targets.

At low levels, that can be a seriously potent ability. It's life-saving, in a lot of cases, and it allows your sorcerer to stay out of harm's way as long as they have good-aligned allies on the field. As a spell-like ability, it also triggers feats like Fast Healer, which can give it a little extra oomph, but overall it's pretty weak on its own. There are ways to boost it, such as the monster feats that empower spell-like abilities, but for a lot of players the reward simply isn't worth the investment it takes to jack it up to meaningful potential.

#2: The Unicorn Bloodline

Because a healing arcane caster really is a unicorn.

This bloodline, which dropped in Heroes of Golarion not all that long ago, this is the easiest way to play a healing sorcerer. Unicorn sorcerers get cure spells as part of their bloodline, and as a bonus they can randomly restore bonus hit points to allies they can see whenever they cast a spell. If no one is willing to step up and play a divine caster, then a unicorn-blooded sorcerer is a great, out-of-the-gate replacement as long as someone is comfortable being a healer and party buff for everyone else.

And, of course, adding in metamagic rods and a couple of feats to really juice your healing (Healer's Touch out of the Legacy of Fire Player's Guide comes to mind) can turn you into an absolute support monster.

#3: The Phoenix Bloodline

Hold still... this might sting a bit.

If you've been listening to the gossip round the Internet, you've likely heard of the trick to turn this damage-dealing bloodline into a party heal. But in case you didn't, I'll lay out just what makes the Phoenix bloodline from Heroes of Golarion so much fun.

Your bloodline arcana states that whenever you cast a spell that deals fire damage, you can instead choose to heal targets for half damage. So you could, in theory, drop a fireball on the party and mass heal them. Which, if you maximize and empower it, is going to stack some pretty impressive numbers in a big hurry. Especially if you have the ability to exclude certain squares from your area of effect spells.

What can really unlock your potential, though, is taking a Cross-Blooded sorcerer. Found in Ultimate Magic, a Cross-Blooded sorcerer lets you mesh together two bloodlines, gaining both arcana. By combining the Phoenix bloodline with the Elemental (Fire) bloodline, now you suddenly have access to a wide variety of spells that could all be turned into fire spells... including cantrips! So if Ray of Frost Fire is a great way to avoid spamming wands of Cure Light Wounds to heal up after a tough fight, then this might be just what you've been looking for at your table.

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5 Handy Healing Items You Should Be Aware Of (In Pathfinder)

Staying on your feet long enough to finish the fight is a challenge, even for groups that field a cleric, warpriest, or oracle. That goes double if you find yourself in a time crunch, or can't take a moment to catch your breath and refresh your spells between battles. While most of us carry a plethora of wands to take care of incidental damage when the dust settles, and holdout potions for when we really need a quick infusion, there are a lot of wonderful, mystical solutions out there you should keep an eye out for... other than that impossibly expensive ring of regeneration, that is.

Things like...

#1: Aegis of Recovery

Hold person you say? Hold on, I got a bonus for that.

The aegis of recovery, located in Ultimate Equipment, is an item that tends to be undervalued. Its main function is that it provides a +2 bonus on saves made against a lot of ongoing effects after you fail your first save. This includes against poisons, daily saves versus disease, and against spells like hold person. Where it can really be a life saver, though, is that if you're ever brought below 0 hit points the aegis crumbles to dust, and heals you for 2d8+3 points of damage. For 1,500 gold, that can pull your butt out of the fire when it matters.

There's also a greater version of this item, which provides +5 bonuses and heals you for 5d8+7 points of damage. It costs 3,750 gold, but if you find one, you may as well hang onto it. Just in case.

#2: Trollblood Elixir

Even prestidigitation can't make this taste good.

Trollblood elixir, as the name suggests, is a thick, viscous, disgusting liquid. However, it can be just the thing if you find yourself sitting next to a severed limb, or lingering on death's welcoming mat.

Found in the Giant Hunter's Handbook, trollblood elixir runs you about 4,550 gold pieces, and it's a one-shot item. However, once you finally toss it back, it gives you fast healing 5 for one minute (or the equivalent of 50 hit points worth of healing). You aren't feeling good while it does its thing, but that's a small price to pay. More important than the total amount of healing, though, it can reattach severed limbs if they've been cut off for less than an hour, which can be just what the cleric ordered if you fail the wrong save against some seriously nasty stuff at higher levels.

While not practical for cuts and scrapes, this is one of those things you either acquire just in case.

#3: Boots of The Earth

These boots were made for stomping!

One of the most ridiculously valuable items for its cost, boots of the earth are found in Inner Sea Gods. These dwarven boots have marble soles, and as a move action the wearer can plant their feet to draw strength from the earth beneath them. This grants them a +4 bonus against trip, bull rush, and reposition combat maneuvers, but more importantly it grants them fast healing 1. As long as you keep your feet planed and stay conscious, these bonuses keep going.

These boots only cost 5,000 gold pieces, and that is a steal for what they do.

#4: Gorget of Umbral Hunger

All right, it doesn't heal THAT much.

Coming in at 6,500 gold, the gorget is not a great value for your money if you're buying it in a shop. If you come across it in a treasure hoard, though, it can be something worth hanging onto. Found in Merchant's Manifest, the gorget activates when it's in an area of dim light, or darkness. It grants the wearer fast healing 1, but it can only heal 20 points of damage per day before it's exhausted.

Not ideal, but since it will heal damage from any source (unlike a lot of other items that grant you temporary fast healing but which are shut off by things like cold iron or silver), and dim light is easy enough to find, it can be useful. Maybe not as good as the other entries on the list, but worth thinking about all the same.

#5: Determination Armor

I am here to kick ass, and chew bubblegum. And I'm all out of bubblegum.

I first came across the determination armor enchantment back when it was in the Advanced Player's Guide, and it's one of those things almost no one gets to use. After all, it costs you 30,000 gold, and that's on top of the other enchantments your armor has to have. However, this enchantment gives you a once-per-day breath of life spell that goes off when you get downed.

Ask any group that needed that spell, but didn't have it, how critical this can be to stopping the tide of battle from turning against you. Now imagine having it on-hand as a get-out-of-boned-free card once per day. It's an expensive insurance policy, but one you're glad to have when you really need it.

That's all for this week's Crunch installment. Hopefully it helps some of the groups out there trying to keep their HP up so they can press on in the face of hardship! If there are any I missed (magic items specifically, not spells and class features) feel free to leave them in the comments below!

For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or just go to my Gamers profile to see all my tabletop articles. You should also stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio, where I get together with other gamers to make videos for players and dungeon masters alike!

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Give Your Cleric A Healing Familiar (In Pathfinder)

Clerics are one of the most important aspects of any game. These divine casters come in all shapes and sizes, and when the party gets knocked down, it's the cleric's job to help get them back on their feet again. The task is occasionally a thankless one, but good clerics are indispensable.

They do face a difficult problem, though. Because more often than not healing your compatriots means you're putting yourself in harm's way. And that might mean you don't just lose your unwary barbarian; you'll also lose your medic. Assuming he can even reach the downed party member in time to administer aid.

At what point is it too risky to try saving a patient?

 

Now, there are some ways around this. For example, the metamagic feat Reach Spell allows you to prepare spells with an extended range, turning touch spells into close range ones. However, those spells are always going to raise the level of the spell, and that can get costly. And if you're going to eat a feat slot or two anyway, you might as well get a little more bang for your buck. Or, in this case, a familiar.

How Can You Give A Familiar To A Cleric?

It's actually pretty simple. In my post How To Power Up Your Pathfinder Characters With The Eldritch Heritage Feats, I mentioned that it was a prime way to get your hands on class features or abilities no one would expect you to have. The feats require Spell Focus in the skill associated with a given bloodline, as well as a minimum Charisma score (which shouldn't be a problem for clerics who want to make use of their Channel Energy class feature).

In this case you need to take Skill Focus (any Knowledge), and then Eldritch Heritage (Arcane). This gives you access to the 1st-level power of the Arcane bloodline, which is Arcane Bond, at level 3. This grants you either a familiar, or a bonded item, as a sorcerer of your level (which, in this case, is your character level -2). That means at level 5, you have a familiar who is capable of delivering touch spells. It also means that at level 9 you could take the Improved Familiar feat, if you were so inclined.

You know, for reasons.

 

What's the point in having a familiar? Well, you know how your compatriots are always rushing into battle, and typically spreading themselves all over the battlefield? This can be a huge pain for a cleric to keep up with. However, if you have a familiar with a high movement speed (and something like a fly or climb speed as well), then you can cast, and send your familiar out to dispense healing, buffs, or possibly dread curses if you want to use your familiar offensively. This allows your cleric much greater reach across the battlefield, especially if he's stomping around in medium armor.

But doesn't that just put your familiar in danger? A creature who is significantly more at risk than you are, with your divine gifts and scale mail?

Clearly you've never tried to take out a normal familiar, much less an advanced one. Hitting a Cassissian Angel who doesn't want to be hit, especially if it's bound to a good-aligned cleric, isn't going to be easy. Because there's the base creature's dexterity modifier, size modifiers, and natural armor, and on top of that there's the bonus to natural armor it gets from being a familiar. A bonus which will only go up as the cleric levels. Then you can stack even more bonuses onto it. A wand of Mage Armor, and another of Shield, are great boons to familiar AC. So is an amulet of protection, or of natural armor. In fact, with a minimal amount of preparation and use of resources, it's possible to give your familiar the highest AC in the party. Especially if you have access to domain spells and abilities like those granted by the Protection domain.

The House of Pain Now Delivers

It's important to remember that having a familiar comes with certain drawbacks. You're eating a minimum of two feat slots, and possibly a third for an improved familiar, and that can be an issue. It will always have half your hit points, and your saves, so it will be just as vulnerable (or strong) against certain threats as you are. And though familiars can be quite crunchy, their touch AC can be their downfall if they're being targeted by a spellcasting sniper.

I've got you now, you little bastard.

 

On the other hand, familiars can be a great boon to their masters. Improved familiars have their own spell-like abilities, and they gain their own set of actions during combat. They can share spells, and they can act as a mobile delivery system. So the next time a party member runs off before you can give them bull's strength, or someone goes down just out of your delivery range, you've got a friend who can reach out and touch someone.

Lastly, don't forget, your familiar isn't just a class feature; it's a character! As I said in Animal Companions, Cohorts, and Familiars, Oh My!, there are all kinds of ways to use these creatures to add flavor to your story, as well as a trick to your mechanical bag.

 

Also, while we're on the subject, don't forget to check out 5 Tips For Playing Better Clerics!

That's all for this week's Crunch installment. Hopefully folks enjoyed it, and at least a few of your out there are considering bringing this to bear in your game. If you'd like to help support me, and Improved Initiative, why not drop by The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page? All it takes is a pledge of at least $1 a month to get yourself some sweet swag, and to make a big difference. Lastly, if you haven't followed me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter yet, well, why not start today?