ZombieRoboNinja
First Post
I've been thinking a bit about healing in 5e, and I've noticed that there's a tendency (especially, it seems, among 4e fans) to treat it like a side of vegetables you're served with dinner. Nobody likes it, the theme goes, but it's part of a balanced meal, so they try to mix our peas in with our mashed potatoes (heals as pseudo-minor-actions so you can attack in the same round). JUST healing would be too boring!
Well, as a vegetarian will tell you, vegetables themselves don't have to be gross; you just need to stop treating them like an afterthought.
Playing a cleric using Cure X Wounds to heal is like a wizard whose only spell is Magic Missile: you auto-hit a single target at any range and just roll some dice to see how much damage/healing you do. Pretty boring! That's why the wizard gets a wide variety of attacks, with different ranges, areas of effect, saving throws, damage types, rider effects, and so on.
Now, granted, not everybody wants or needs that. There should probably still be a basic option so that warpriests can keep tossing off Cure spells between attacks. But all those people who like to play healers might enjoy seeing a broader variety of heals in the game. To my mind, it's those more varied heals that should be domain spells for the Lifebringer domain. Cure X Wounds should be relegated to Channel Divinity so that all clerics can toss it in on top of a melee attack or orison.
Here are a couple ideas off the top of my head:
Rejuvenation: Choose a target within 50 feet. That target receives 1d6 healing now and another 1d6 healing at the begin of each of your turns as long as you maintain concentration. Additionally, as long as the spell is maintained the target has advantage on mental saving throws (Int/Wis/Cha).
Bloodlust: You sing a song of blood and battle that rings in your allies' ears. As long as you maintain concentration, all allies within earshot heal 1d6 hp each time they deal a critical hit or kill an enemy.
Guardian Angel: The next time your target takes damage, they immediately heal 2d6 damage.
Well, as a vegetarian will tell you, vegetables themselves don't have to be gross; you just need to stop treating them like an afterthought.
Playing a cleric using Cure X Wounds to heal is like a wizard whose only spell is Magic Missile: you auto-hit a single target at any range and just roll some dice to see how much damage/healing you do. Pretty boring! That's why the wizard gets a wide variety of attacks, with different ranges, areas of effect, saving throws, damage types, rider effects, and so on.
Now, granted, not everybody wants or needs that. There should probably still be a basic option so that warpriests can keep tossing off Cure spells between attacks. But all those people who like to play healers might enjoy seeing a broader variety of heals in the game. To my mind, it's those more varied heals that should be domain spells for the Lifebringer domain. Cure X Wounds should be relegated to Channel Divinity so that all clerics can toss it in on top of a melee attack or orison.
Here are a couple ideas off the top of my head:
Rejuvenation: Choose a target within 50 feet. That target receives 1d6 healing now and another 1d6 healing at the begin of each of your turns as long as you maintain concentration. Additionally, as long as the spell is maintained the target has advantage on mental saving throws (Int/Wis/Cha).
Bloodlust: You sing a song of blood and battle that rings in your allies' ears. As long as you maintain concentration, all allies within earshot heal 1d6 hp each time they deal a critical hit or kill an enemy.
Guardian Angel: The next time your target takes damage, they immediately heal 2d6 damage.