The Healer

Basic Information

The Healer is a Combat Role most focused on keeping the rest of the adventuring party on it's feet.

Related Tropes and Roles

• Healbombing
• The Medic
• The Mezzer
• The Tank
• Character Buffer

Sources

Bibliography

1. TV Tropes Wiki

Game and Story Use

• Very few players really want to be The Healer, but nearly every Adventuring Party needs one. It sucks. That's why the 4th Edition of D&D spread out the healing abilities throughout the party, and gave the clerics the Party Leader role.
• Often overlaps with Character Buffer, The Mezzer or The Tank, depending on exactly how your healing powers work.
  • Healbombing is when healing spells work as potent weapons against Undead or other unnatural beasts. If that works really well in your system, sometimes The Healer is also The Nuker.
• A modern Combat Medic finds things a bit tougher than a Fantasy healer, because you can't just wave your hands and magically restore someone to full hitpoints. So, in a game without supernatural healing, emphasis instead ends up being on not getting hit in the first place. Cyberpunk 2020 does that, with healers that really can't do anything but stabilize an incapacitated character, so everyone loads up on armor and firepower.
  • In fact, pulling this combat role will drastically alter the feel of your campaign, away from the hack-and-slash typified by … certain RPG systems … and towards a more realistic feel. This comes with the caveat that in such a setting you will need to create non-violent solutions to a lot of problems as resorting to violence becomes far less of a preferred option.

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Building This Character

• The build of this character is going to be based entirely on how healing works in your setting.
  • You may be "just" a Doctor, focusing on Mental Attributes and the Medicine and Surgery skills.
  • More likely (and more fun) you've got healing magic. So you'll need stats and powers that maximize it.
  • Healing powers with very short range may mean you need Athletics, Acrobatics, or Stealth to move around and get to the wounded.
• Don't forget the Armor and Hit Points. If you go down, the rest of the party will likely follow, so you need to be tough.