unlimited lay on hands

[newbie]

Came across a situation during gameplay where the cleric would stand behind the warrior and cast lay on hands every turn to heal him. Is this normal or should I disallow such action? It made the battles very easy for the group and they blew through every encounter with the cleric having unlimited healing by laying on hands every turn on someone.

[Raven_Crowking]

Came across a situation during gameplay where the cleric would stand behind the warrior and cast lay on hands every turn to heal him. Is this normal or should I disallow such action? It made the battles very easy for the group and they blew through every encounter with the cleric having unlimited healing by laying on hands every turn on someone.

Remember that every failure increases the disapproval range by 1.

So, at first the cleric only gets disapproval if he rolls a natural 1. But if the Lay on Hands check fails, he now gets a disapproval on a 1-2. Then a 1-3 and so on. And, if a roll falls into the disapproval range, it also automatically fails.

Remember, too, that the die roll determines how serious disapproval is. On a natural 1, the cleric is rolling 1d4 on the disapproval table. On a 3, though, the cleric is rolling 3d4.

Almost almost almost final thing: If the cleric is hovering there and the warrior fumbles in a way that hurts an ally, the cleric is that ally.

Almost almost final thing: Opponents who are aware of what is happening can take steps to prevent it. That means that they can target the cleric with missiles or spells. Or they can seek to surround the warrior so as to attack the cleric.

Almost final thing: Depending upon the nature of the cleric's god, this might qualify as sinful use of divine power, which means that you can raise the disapproval range even if the cleric doesn't fail a roll. Disapproval range can be lowered by 1 point for a 50 gp sacrifice (to a minimum of 1). What does this mean? If your victory is due to the heavy aid of a god, be sure that god wants a cut of the treasure. Maybe all of the treasure.

Final thing: Remember that XP rewards are based on risk. If there is no real risk, you need not give more than 1 XP for the encounter.

TL;DR: The dice should sort the problem out. If they do not, the game gives you tools to at least disincentivize the behavior..

[rytrasmi]

The cleric in my campaign is so stricken with failed rolls and disapproval, she’s going to abandon her god and find a new one.

I think a lot of monsters would figure this out and concentrate attacks on the cleric. Maybe not a blob monster but definitely goblins and such. Imagine LARPing this: it would be pretty easy to strike the cleric especially as he/she has to be very close to the fray to lay on hands.

[BanjoJohn]

Any good (or lucky) cleric should be casting bless self and then holy symbol (if high enough) and going to town on the monsters. Leave the healing for later