The plague doctor spell list is detailed at the end of the plague doctor class section. At 1st level, you know three cantrips of your choice from the plague doctor spell list. You learn additional plague doctor cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the plague doctor. Plague Doctors have come into prominence with Medzio Diena when the goddesses became disconnected from our world. Plague Doctors are priests who can heal the status ailments of allies, or incinerate an enemy with a status ailment. Their special Bird Beak Mask has a. Class Description Learned and versatile surgeons who put their knowledge of medicine to great use. But they are also pragmatists and have no qualms with using that knowledge with harmful intent.
the-artificier-guild:
dungeonmastersconsortium:
What Class Is Plague Doctor
cacklebarnacle:
dungeonmastersconsortium:
Hey everyone! I’m working on a plague doctor class. If you can think of anything you’d like to see included, let me know!
I think proficiency in medicine and nature would be kind of logical. Double the proficiency bonus for medicine checks for diseases and for nature checks for finding the known cure for a known disease (i.e. patient has malaria, go looking for cinchona or remijia)
I’m not sure wich one would be more appropriate, or wether you could let the player choose between proficiency in perception or investigation, but I think for getting the nessesary background information, i.e. was there a recent flood/ insect populations grew bigger/ there’s a suspicious looking mold in the patients bedroom/ a traveler passed through who came from city-wich-had-recent-reports-of-rare-but-contagious-disease/ etc.
Give them some sort of resistance against diseases for example advantages or some other bonus on checks against contracting diseases.
There probably should be a constitution requirement for this class.
Are you planning on introducing spells or cantrips? Cantrips that would seem a logical choice for someone working with contagious patients would be prestidigitation (cleaning your tools and clothes, chilling or warming materials to control the patients temperature), mage hand (for cases when the plague doctors really shouldn’t touch the patient themself) or spare the dying.
Other spells would suggest healing and damage (through inflicting illness, sickness, diseases)
Let the players choose from Contagion, Gentle Repose, Harm, Eyebite, maayybee Blight, Ressurection, Revivify, False Life, Heroes Feast, Lesser Restoration, and a few with ‘heal’ in the spell name. Might sound a bit like a one trick pony, but then again, if they want to throw fireballs or make plants grow, they shouldn’t pick a plague doctor.
If you don’t want the Plague Doctor to mainly be a caster, I’d still suggest you give the players the two bolded Spells, because they are just too thematic to not use them. Make the players work for them, but let them have them.
I spend way too much time on this……but the concept of playing a plague doctor sounds intriguing.
My main thing with this class is having it be non-magical. The idea is that they find healing magic to be unreliable. They would prefer to rely on the the natural sciences and alchemy to cure their patients. Things under their control. Their current skill proficiencies are Medicine, Nature, Survival, Insight, Investigation, History, Arcana, Persuasion, Deception, or Intimidation. They get to choose three. They’ll have vials that get to duplicate some spell effects though they’ll be non-magical effects. (Can’t be counterspelled and can work in anti-magic fields)
Classic Plague Doctor Costume
So from the sounds of it, you’re looking to make a non-caster ‘healer’ class. Such a feat could be tricky, but it’s possible!
Consider giving the class abilities that will reflect the ‘plague doctor’ feel you’re going for: perhaps a resistance or immunity to disease and poison, the ability to craft minor healing potions as an action (limited to a few charges a day), the ability to make a melee attack and inflict a creature with a disease. Maybe instead of an outright healer class, you could include options that allow the plague doctor to craft ‘buffs’ and ‘debuffs’ for creatures (examples: You can give a creature a +1 to their attack or damage roll, or you make a creature vulnerable to a certain type of damage.)
I don’t think going with ‘vials that get to duplicate the effects of spells’ would be the correct way to go with a non-casting healer, but that’s just me. I think this has the potential to be more than just a reskin of an alchemist, and could be its own thing- A class with a specific utility that no other class provides. I hope a few of the small examples I gave help kickstart some ideas of your own!
Actually, I’d like the class to NOT be a primary healer. I see the plague doctor as either a skill monkey or a buff/debuff character. The heal I’m working on right now is called “Invigorating Vapors,” where they can use an action to heal someone 1-3d8 based on level, but the character takes a level of exhaustion to do so. They can heal others, but the rapid healing comes at a cost. It’s meant to be used as a last resort kind of thing.
Plague Doctor Authentic
(via the-antifascist-guild)