Healing spells and alignment

[White Knight]

Before anyone flames me for posting in the wrong forum, please read this entire post, and think of the implications...

I just got the expansion Heart of Winter last night, and I was glancing through the manual and I noticed something interesting...namely, they put restrictions on the alignments of clerics and druids and whether they can cast the high level healing spells. The restrictions are as follows:

Raise Dead: Only non-evil chars can cast the spell
Resurrection: Only good chars
Heal: only good chars
Cure Critical wounds: Only non-evil chars

What?!? Since when has there ever been any restriction on casting healing spells by evil or neutral chars in the D&D rules? Healing and raising the dead are not by themselves in any way related to alignment. It's what you do with the spells that matter. So if I cast Raise Dead on a chaotic evil assassin so he can be alive and keep on killing, that is by definition an EVIL act, and okay if I am evil (or neutral), and not okay if I am good. Imagine if you are playing an evil party and your cleric can't perform more than the most minor of restorative magics--you are forced to quaff expensive potions of extra healing, or run to the temples every time you get a scratch in combat (also an expensive proposition). Ridiculous.

What does this have to do with BGII? Plenty...the expansion is coming out, and these rule changes may be in it. What do the druids become...just variant, summoning related mages who can't cast more than the most minor of healing magics? Would Jaheira or Cernd still be viable party members in that case? Remember Druids can't cast Raise dead, so presumably her Harper related Raise is also out, what about heal, I use that alot. The spell reincarnate is not in these computer games, so that is not an option for our hapless neutral druids. And would you still want Viconia if she can't cast any of the spells listed above? And what about Anomen if he fails his trials and becomes CN? Why not just restrict us to playing good chars only and leave it at that?

As a lifelong D&Der, it pains me to see these out and out contradictions of the rules in a computer game, whether for "play balance" or for whatever other reason. It's hard enough playing neutral or evil parties...don't make it harder.

That's it for my tirade...I just hope somebody releases a hack which gets around this stupid and ill considered rule.

[Stealthy]

Hmm, it does seem strange, especially for neutrals. I suppose you could argue that evil clerics would loot the bodies and turn the corpse into an undead. Not a lot of use for a player character party though.

------------------

Never accept an invitation from Wolfgir to a BBQ!

[Charean]

Just a thought - have you written to the folks who write the game - Black Isle or BioWare and asked them about this? Perhaps if enough feedback were received by them, they would release a patch and fix this grave (ha!) injustice.

Sometimes it works..

------------------
There are no right answers - only answers that won't bite you back.

[dafan]

wow man that really sux

I think they were trying to stay true to the original system. In old D&D, a good cleric can only heal. Ane evil cleric could only choose harm. A Neutral cleric could (depending on version) pick either, or have to pick one and STICK with it

[Strahd Von Zarovich]

Personaly I prefer the Evil in the book of villains (a pnp ad&d resourcr book), It canges the Totaly Evil and Totaly good in a gray.

durring a war (or conflict) A lawful Good warrior would be seen as evil by the opposing army Or The intelerant Paladin if it ain't good I kill it!

Evil can also be re-defined, The vilest blackest assasin (NE) might run in a house burning to save a child. Being evil especialy in pnp donsen't mean you have to be evil all the time. Alot of evil gods won't offer healing spell but alot of them so do (or used to) like Priest of Bane had theire full healing spells while he was still alive.

In BGII being evil is a balance on how to do certain quests. Like pretending to be Minsc's friend until you let him and boo get fried by a mage and dumping his body. Demanding twice the money you got in Ulmar Hills ect ect...