Healer Build for a New Campaign

[valen0121]

Hi Everyone,

I’m getting ready to join a new D&D 3.5 campaign in a couple of weeks. I will be playing a Healer from the Miniatures Handbook. The only divine classes the DM is allowing are Favored Soul and Healer. We will be starting at 1st level. I will either play a human or less Aasimar. For stats, I can have one 18 in one stat and an 8 in another. I have 52 points to split between the 4 remaining stats that will range from 10-16. Then I can add racial adjustments. All characters will start off with 2 feats. All Wizard of the Coast books are allowed.  DM will have to approve any 3rd party books. If I stay straight Healer, I will be able to select 2 spells with each level of advancement from any spells that deal with healing, providing protections, removing affliction, and
providing for needs. I’m looking for feats and spell suggestions. I’ve read through the Healer’s Handbook and a majority of the builds are for multiclassed healers.

Aasimar
Stats: Str 8, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 20

Human
Stats: Str 8, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 18

Feats: Augment Healing (Complete Divine, Dynamic Priest (Dragonlance Legends of the Twins)

Thanks,
Valen

[Karlton]

I would considser playing a star elf if I were you, because Seeker of the Misty Isle (CD) rocks at ekspanding your healers spell list.

However, if I had to choose between lesser aasimar and human as you describe, i would pick human and dump wisdom. Seriously, with Dynamic Preist, healer is a SAD charisma-based caster, and you would not benefit much from having a cha higher than 8. In fact, you may as well place your mandatory 8 in wisdom, and throw some of your points in strength for better carrying capacity and attack rolls.

Healer 8/Combat Medic 5/Seeker od the Misty Isles 7 makes for a surprisingly less incompetent adventurer than many believes, but don't expect Miracles. Only Gates.

[Maat Mons]

He's allowing favored soul, but not mystic (Dragonlance Campaign Setting, p47)?  That's odd.  They're both spontaneous casters that use the cleric spell list. 

When you say "all characters start off with 2 feats," do you mean that human's don't get their normal bonus feat? 

I appreciate your desire to get your casting all on one ability score, but very few of your spells are things anyone will need to save against.  It seems to me you could skip dynamic priest, dump charisma, and not lose much.  (This assumes you're not getting offensive spells from somewhere.) 

How much leeway do you have on these extra spells you add to your list?  For example, cure moderate wounds is a 1st-level spell on the runescarred berserker (Unapproachable East, p31) spell list.  Better yet, haste provides an AC bonus and is a 1st-level spell on the trapsmith (Dungeonscape, p53) spell list. 

The mastery of day and night feat (Player's Guide to Eberron, p125) auto-maximizes your cure spells with no increase in level.  The earliest you could take that is 3rd level.  You'd need maximize spell as one of your 1st-level feats to qualify. 

[valen0121]

I should have said everyone gets a free racial feat like a human plus the 1st-level general feat. the DM said no to any preitgae class that allows me to add addtional spells to my spell list and Domain spells do not exist. He has approved the prestige class, Helping Hand of Mishakal (DL: Orders of the Stars). The DM tweak the pacifist restriction, I can attack anyone who attacks me 1st. I will stick with the Dynamic Priest feat (bonus spells for high charisma, bonus to healing spells, and spell DCs). We will be dealing with a lot of Undead.
Other party members will be an air gensai psion, human warblade, half orc barbarian, halfing rogue, elven swordsage and a kobold sorcerer.

[Meiliken]

Has your DM given any good logical reasoning for the amount of nerfing he is doing?  Refer him to page 6 of the DMG right hand side, top of the page.  "A DM must follow the rules in the publications unless he has a good logical reason for going against it."  If he doesn't or can't, then do whatever you want(within the rules), the rules forbid him otherwise.  I can't stand DM's who think they can do whatever they wish all willy nilly. 

[DancingFish]

In-combat healing sucks. Like, really, really sucks. Playing a Healer, you'll want to be able to do something else in combat, say, crowd-control or heal while dealing damage. That means... Multiclassing time*.

Go
Human
Stats: Str 14, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 18

Your first level should be, confusingly, a Crusader level. Yep, a Crusader. Grab a guisarme (reach + trip), get a spiked gauntlet, now you threaten in 10ft radius.
You can heal with your Martial Spirit Stance + Crusader's Strike - they're good enough for early levels. Then you enter Healer... For 4 levels.

Lots of undead? Great. Being Crusader1/healer4 you enter Crusader for a level, then immediately follow by three Knight of the Raven levels. Now you added the Sun domain to your spell list, can turn undead (that's something you should NOT be doing, instead grab Travel Devotion and jump around the battlefield, positioning yourself strategically).

Being Crusader2/Healer4/KotR3 you may think "Hey, I want more spells on my list". Good for you. Enter the Prestige Paladin. One level dip is all you really need - it adds a caster level and ALL THE PALADIN SPELLS to your spell list. Now you can re-enter KotR and be happy... Or enter Ruby Knight Vindicator and be happier.

Feats:
1st: Dynamic Priest
3rd or 6th: Mounted Combat, the other is open

9th: Travel Devotion. Or something else.

*It actually works better with Favored Soul and 3 PrPaladin levels, due to the nice Charisma synergy that ensues.