I just got schooled...

[efuincarnate]

Fourm surfing, and I came upon this. The bar has been raised a bit higher in my eyes. At least for me..

I am attempting to play the Healer class...
 
 
This one [Monsters and Miniatures Healer Base Class, p8]
Some extra information here [Class Chronicles: Scouts and Healers]
 
The Healer is easily confused for a Cleric at first glance in that they  both wield divine magic and serve a deity. Where they differ is not in  dogma, but in duty and responsibility. A Cleric -can- heal, and many do  so frequently, but has the responsibility to spread their deities word  and bring out their deities will in the world around them. To facilitate  this, a Cleric is trained in arms and armor and may call upon their  deity for a number of powers and abilities to enforce their gods will.
 
A Healer -can- instruct the people concerning dogma, and Mikael has on  many occasions carried out SOME of the duties associated with his  clergy. The Healer, however, has the responsibility to heal the wounded  and to bring restoration to the world in which he lives in his deities  name. To facilitate this, a Healer is gifted in divine healing magic in a  way that suits their calling and the Healer is a greater practitioner  of the curative magic than a Cleric.
 
A Healer has armor restrictions, no medium or heavy armor.. absolutely  NO metal armor of any kind and no shields. A Healer practices the  ascetics of vulnerability in order to maintain empathy with a suffering  world. They must always heal any good creature that requests their aid.  Healers, unlike Clerics, almost never suffer divine retribution of their  god apart from gross negligence of their duties or a gross violation of  their oaths.
 
 
Spell lists: Healers have a very limited spell list compared to clerics
 
Abilities: Healers gain a number of abilities that augment their healing  prowess, most of these abilities I have attempted to recreate without  DM assistance because I believe it's important to take initiative, and  if it can be done without DM aid... do it.
 
lv 1: Healing Hands: A healer adds their CHA bonus as bonus HP cured on any spell that restores hp
[I took the Healing domain to represent this, and took a high cha to reflect it]
 
Lv 2: Automatically gain Skill Focus: Heal
[I took this as a mandatory lv 1 feat in order to achieve this result]
 
lv 3: Cleanse Paralysis as a Spell Like Ability
[I keep Remove Paralysis memorized always]
 
lv 4: Cleanse Disease as a Spell Like Ability
[I keep Remove Disease momorized always]
 
lv 5: Cleanse Fear as a Spell Like Ability
[I keep Remove Fear memorized always, and scrolls!]
 
lv 6: Cleanse Poison as a Spell Like Ability
[I have no way of reproducing this until level 7]
 
lv 7: Effortless Healing: Casting cure spells no longer provoke Attacks of Opportunity
[I have no way of reproducing this save Defensive Casting]
 
lv 8: Unicorn Companion: A Healer is granted a Unicorn from the realm of their god
[Uh... not.. able.. to do this... not sure I want to]
 
lv 9: Cleanse Blindness as a Spell Like Ability
[I keep Remove Blindess/Deafness memorized always]
 
lv 10: Cleanse Spirit: Greater Restoration as a Spell Like Abilty
[Not able to reproduce this]
 
lv 13: Cleanse Petrification: Stone to Flesh as a Spell Like Ability
[Not able to reproduce this]
 
lv 15: New Limb: Regeneration as a Spell Like Ability
[Would keep Regeneration memorized always]
 
lv 20: New Life: True Resurrection as a Spell Like Ability
[ not able to reproduce this]
 
 
I understand most of these are not even an issue since I'll never see  those levels. But I hope to show I was sincerely perusing a totally  different Base Class through willful self-limitations on the Cleric  class.
 
If you would like an Application for this particular class, let me know.. I'll hop right to it.
 
 
Mikael Galeno's Class is Healer, he was a graduate and, very brief  doctor, at the Healer's College in Heliogabalus, Damara known as End's  Rest just prior to the rampage of Dendar.                                                                                                                                




 This, is simply stellar.  I thought I had put some effort and forethought into my concept, until I saw this. No idea as the answer to your question, the DMs will sort you out I  am sure, but this is simply IMPRESSIVE. And the Character I have met many times ig, and you play him superbly.  Please keep the bar set so high!  It gives us something to strive too. Well done sir., well done.

[Aethereal]

Offering praise is well and good, but I seem to be missing the core aspect that drives your public showering of it as so much more awesome than what many others put into the excellent character concepts we see on EFU.

If this were a common practice, surely this forum would be full of the stuff that is more usually reserved for the Screenshots and Obituary thread.

Not that I necessarily disagree with any sentiment here.

[efuincarnate]

Not sure what your response is about?  Your a great role player, and  have an amazing back story and mechanical build to all your Characters!   Hope that helps?  It is a forum post, takes a click of the mouse to see  it, not a huge investment of time or effort..

I would actually  appreciate a thread, not screen shots, but a thread dedicated to  something like this. To those of us with limited time to play, what may  seem like obvious mechanics to some, is a world of mystery to others.   This sincerely helped me look at character creation differently, and I  am thankful  for seeing it.

[Hubble Bubble]

I would like to point out that the Healer class and hundreds of others are easily found in the public domain. A lot of players, myself included, take inspiration from a variety of source books when developing our characters.

[Doc-Holiday]

I don't think efuincarnate is suggesting that everyone should stop and marvel at this post as some sort of "better than everyone else so lets all take notice" type of character post, nor do I think efuincarnate is trying to say that the content is uniquely rare in terms of the inspirational source material access.
 
 
From these statements:
 
"...The bar has been raised a bit higher in my eyes. At least for me..'"
 
"I thought I had put some effort and forethought into my concept, until I saw this."
 
"This sincerely helped me look at character creation differently, and I  am thankful  for seeing it."
 
 
I believe it's reasonable to conclude that efuincarnate is trying to share with the rest of the community a post that helped them understand character creation in a new and fresh way that has inspired them concerning their own characters.
 
While it may be true for many who review and give consideration to the elements of character creation that efuincarnate is enthusiasticly sharing as being common, normative, or obvious. They are not so for them, and as such I think it would profit efuincarnate and the community as a whole to rejoice in efuincarnates discovery and encourage that person towards greater personal rp achievements. These achievements will add to the richness of the community and further inspire others.
 
We are not all at the same place, in the same condition, at the same time. Some run ahead, others lag behind. If someone is running ahead and pioneering new paths, they should be encouraged; and when they falter, lifted up. When someone lags behind, they should be helped in their weakness and given encouraging incentive to pick up the pace, and it does no profit to them and the community if, when they attempt to pick up the pace, to be called out as slow and their failings remembered to them.
 
While it was my post efuincarnate learned from, I do not consider myself more than a back-of-the-pack jogger trying to catch-up with everyone else. I have been inspired to try a little harder by others and I am honored and humbled that my often fumbling efforts have inspired another. But in the end this is what being part of a community is like.

[Aethereal]

I would actually  appreciate a thread, not screen shots, but a thread dedicated to  something like this. To those of us with limited time to play, what may  seem like obvious mechanics to some, is a world of mystery to others.   This sincerely helped me look at character creation differently, and I  am thankful  for seeing it.

Oh thanks, though I was not asking for any accolades! :) Nor was any negative sentiment intended. I just found it a bit weird to single out such a thing, but clearly my perspective was limited as your follow up post reveals our differing frames of reference.

In fact, it's not a bad idea to have a thread that helps with character 'concepting.' I thought I saw something of the like spread across various threads in the past - maybe something for the Player Compendium at least.

To help you find more resources though, just as Hubble Bubble mentioned, try the D&D tools site [Classes page linked] for a whole list of possible classes to build flavourfully for.

I enjoyed warping the Malconvoker among other things in the past.

[PlayaCharacter]

This is probably a good thread in which to mention the FRCS Underdark Sourcebook, which really helped me wrap my head around the setting back in the Chapter 1 days. It's ah... not difficult to find a copy. In a used bookstore, of course.

[efuincarnate]

See, now there are at least multiple more things I never considered..source books/links.  Thanks for that..compileing a bookmark now. Sad to say,  I usually use those silly little books that came with the game or our fourms, as my source material, as far as stats, class, race etc..I only just discovered the forgotten realms wiki with my last character. Thanks all for the links.