If Ao is the dead god and grants no divine magic then what class structure might a minister of Ao take to provide healing support to his/her flock?
I figure alchemy will allow the brewing of potions and Heal the use of bandages effectively but what would be good class and stat choices for this?
PJ
My somewhat radical suggestion would be to use the Bard class (using chanting rather than an instrument) with a Skill Affinity (Heal) feat. Probably good mental scores--Cha for proselytizing, Wis for Heal, and Int for Craft (Alchemy). The Bard could fake divine magic with his heal spells.
That's not such a bad suggestion. A bard is about performance and influencing with their wit and voice. One could equally be a priest and do the same. I will look at the class and see what's possible.
PJ
There's also the monk class. They're essentially clerics without spells, their 'magical' abilities being considered psionics. Heal isn't a class skill for the monk (although craft alchemy is), but the Able Learner feat would help there.
A lawful neutral monk should be able to worship Ao (who is true neutral).
Monks and Bards find common cause... 
I could see that happening, particularly among those who are displeased by the current pantheon, for whatever reason, but who don't want to be labelled atheists or apostates.
I can see some options there thanks guys.
PJ
Are we talking about mod? Or are these fantasies? I'm confused.
Are we talking about mod? Or are these fantasies? I'm confused.
It's an npc for a module 
If you have nwn1, take a peek at the priest of Ao in the Ao encampment in Shadows of Undrentide. Bio may have just made him a generic class since no fighting was expected there, but other npcs in the area do have stats and classes that make sense even though there was no game reason for them to ever be used. He might have the cleric class but with no spells, since Ao doesnt grant them.
If this priest isnt joining the party or participating in combat, it doesnt matter what his class/abilities actually are.
I don't have a copy of Nwn1 loaded but I am thinking the character may join the party for a while. Not sure how much it matters but I would like to portray something interesting.
PJ
I vote monk. Bards can cast healing spells, but if he's not going to heal with divine magic, he may as well not heal with magic at all. Not saying that bard isn't viable (nor any other non-divine class, for that matter), but I think monk makes more sense.
I vote monk. Bards can cast healing spells, but if he's not going to heal with divine magic, he may as well not heal with magic at all. Not saying that bard isn't viable (nor any other non-divine class, for that matter), but I think monk makes more sense.
It depends on the motivation. If you posit that a 'priest' of Ao may not attract followers because he can't heal, then a Bard solves that. When speaking to the less knowledgeable (probably the large majority of his potential followers), the crafty Bard may even claim that the ultimate source of his power is Ao. His ability to capture the attention of a crowd and manipulate their emotions would certainly make him a potent preacher.
I'm not clear why Monks make more sense than, say, a Cha-oriented Rogue.
True for any non-Cleric class, I'd say. 
I'm not clear why Monks make more sense than, say, a Cha-oriented Rogue.
I mean in the sense of a religious type class without divine magic. I don't see why he'd need to have magic healing powers in order to attract followers, or even to be a priest.
I find healing kits to be better than both healing spells and potions:
Monks in particular make great users of healing kits, since a character's wisdom bonus contributes to the amount of healing that occurs. See http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Heal_(skill)
For instance, a monk with 18 wisdom (+4 wisdom bonus), with no points in the heal skill, using a cheap +1 healing kit, while not in combat, will heal 25 HP. With the Able Learner feat, they can potentially heal 29 HP at level 1 (assuming 4 points in the heal skill). As wisdom and healing skills rise at higher levels, that amount continues to increase. And that's only for +1 healing kits.
I prefer healing kits for much the same reason, and also because they don't seem to provoke attacks of opportunity, and/or can't be interrupted like healing spells can.
Certainly if you were in a wild magic area, you'd want to be using non-magical healing methods to avoid unintended side effects.
I have a wild magic area in a module I'm working on at the moment. A party member was poisoned by a spider bite, managed to make his saving throw to end the poison effect, but still had the constitution penalty. He drank a potion of lesser restoration - and turned into a frost giant! Since potions effectively cast spells, the wild magic spell hooking script was treating them as such. I'll have to remember to filter out healing kits in the spell hooking script though (assuming they're casting 'spells' as well).
Cleric with a WIS of 10 (no connection to the divine). Put the points into intelligence if you feel you must have some gray matter.
I like the Bard choice rjshae suggested, maybe give the bard a particular affinity for the harp.
Cleric with a WIS of 10 (no connection to the divine). Put the points into intelligence if you feel you must have some gray matter.
I'm not sure about that, it's gamesmanship to reduce the wis to up another stat. I think leaders of the party would be required to be wise?
PJ
I personally like the idea of a minister of Ao who worships another balance themed deity, perhaps a natural one. It wouldn't be actual worship of Ao for Divine powers but rather as an all encompassing entity or state of being of all things, a balance. Very old greek idea that.
You could describe it as a heresy within the church of said deity, with the nuance that is apparantly a permitted heresy because the deity continues to supply divine power. I wouldn't find that all that far-fetched because Ao himself embodies what a balance themed deity would aspire to be: A keeper of balance.
Perhaps that works?
Or instead of a natural themed deity you could look at the balance domain deities: Auppenser, Oghma and Waukeen.
http://forgottenreal..._domain_deities
They may also support such heresy within their Church. Although I imagine they'd want it nuanced to ensure they appear in the picture as well. Otherwise they'd lose the worship. (e.g. worship of Ao through Auppenser, Ao's aspect on Faerun... or somesuch)
I think leaders of the party would be required to be wise?
Would be nice if that were true. Then Plato's Philosopher Kings would lead, but instead, I think groups tend to prefer a charismatic leader over a wise one.
I threw together a quick human bard Friday night and maxed out his magical and skill based healing ability. Not a perfect replacement for a cleric but I'll bet he could seriously rock a sermon while the Regeneration Inspiration is active. So he's healing potentially an entire crowd at once and can do so indefinitely without burning spells. That should inspire some followers and provide a context for this Singer of Hymns to go adventuring.
(Now I'm getting this Blues Brothers image, "we're on a mission from God").
I could also see an NPC monk as a follower of Ao, but in a very different context. Rather than filling in for a standard cleric, he's a keeper and guardian of ancient knowledge. His mission is preservation, not conversions. If he agrees to help the Party, it would be in the role of providing lore and defending his archive or sacred site.
So the question is, how does this character relate to the PC and his party?
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