D&D 5E House Rule to Make Upcasting More Attractive

[DND_Reborn]

We finally had our first live game of the year and a player upcast healing word at level 2, rolling just a 1 and 2 for a total of 5 hp of healing. In a prior battle, the same spell at level 1 healed 6 hp when he rolled a 4. He commented on what a let down upcasting was in 5E, so we discussed it and came up with an idea for a new house rule:

When you upcast a spell that heals or does damage (or affects any die roll for effect),
you add a maximum for the additional die results for each additional level.

Examples:

• You upcast Healing Word to level 2. Instead of 2d4+Wis mod, you roll 1d4+4+Wis Mod.
• You upcast Sleep to level 3. Instead of 9d8, you roll 5d8+32.
• You upcast Cure Wounds at level 4. Instead of 4d8+Wis mod, you roll 1d8+24+Wis Mod.
• You upcast Fireball to level 5. Instead of 10d6, you roll 8d6+12.

Certain spells, such as Command, which affect additional targets, in essence double, triple, etc. their effectiveness which each level (or so) added. So, this allows dice-based spells a better increase in effectiveness as well.

I think this is a decent idea, but as always am interested in any feedback. So, thoughts or suggestions?

 

[Ath-kethin]

Rolling dice for hit points (whether healing or leveling up or whatever) has long been one of the most disappointment-prone areas of D&D. I've just used max hit points for leveling up and healing magic for years as a result. It makes PCs a bit tougher but that's fine with me and has been fine with my groups too.

 

[Stalker0]

I think its a fine houserule.

The one I use for healing myself is I also double the ability mod.

Cure Wounds: 1d8 + mod
2nd level: 2d8 + 2x mod
3rd level: 3d8 + 3x mod

etc

 

[FarBeyondC]

We finally had our first live game of the year and a player upcast healing word at level 2, rolling just a 1 and 2 for a total of 5 hp of healing. In a prior battle, the same spell at level 1 healed 6 hp when he rolled a 4. He commented on what a let down upcasting was in 5E, so we discussed it and came up with an idea for a new house rule:

When you upcast a spell that heals or does damage (or affects any die roll for effect),
you add a maximum for the additional die results for each additional level.

Examples:

• You upcast Healing Word to level 2. Instead of 2d4+Wis mod, you roll 1d4+4+Wis Mod.
• You upcast Sleep to level 3. Instead of 9d8, you roll 5d8+32.
• You upcast Cure Wounds at level 4. Instead of 4d8+Wis mod, you roll 1d8+24+Wis Mod.
• You upcast Fireball to level 5. Instead of 10d6, you roll 8d6+12.

Certain spells, such as Command, which affect additional targets, in essence double, triple, etc. their effectiveness which each level (or so) added. So, this allows dice-based spells a better increase in effectiveness as well.

I think this is a decent idea, but as always am interested in any feedback. So, thoughts or suggestions?

I mean, I personally hate the rule (I'd be more willing to let people take the average for a given spell's die roll than this) and the non-problem I think it's meant to solve, but it's a perfectly functional houserule that doesn't have a particularly egregious downside.

Well, certain upcast spells always doing better than average (Healing Word and Cure Wounds from 2nd level, Mass Healing Word and Sleep from 4th level) may be a problem.

 

[dave2008]

I like it (I think), we handle crits in similar fashion.

However, it will have the effect of making upcasting more attractive than casting a higher level spell. I mean, why cast finger of death (61 damage avg to on target) when a 7th lvl fireball now causes 60 avg damage to everyone in the area?

 

[DND_Reborn]

I like it (I think), we handle crits in similar fashion.

However, it will have the effect of making upcasting more attractive than casting a higher level spell. I mean, why cast finger of death (61 damage avg to on target) when a 7th lvl fireball now causes 60 avg damage to everyone in the area?

A 7th-level fireball would not do an average of 60 damage, it would be 52 (nearly 10 points less than the 61.5 average of finger of death).

A fireball is normally 28 average (8d6), adding +6 per upcast level (+24 for upcasting 4 levels) would be 52 damage.

Although the overall damage due to multiple targets could certainly be greater with an upcast fireball using this house rule, the choice between the two spells could be due to:

fire vs. necrotic (favoring one resistance vs. another depending on the target)
a DEX save vs. a CON save
avoiding friendly-fire damage
gaining an instant zombie ally if you kill the target, etc.

But, that is a big point of this rule, using your 7th-level slot to upcast would now be a good option. FWIW, without the house-rule, a 7th-level fireball (12d6) would average 42 (tempting), but compared to other 7th-level spells not quite as attractive as 52 obviously.

 

[Helldritch]

I give my players these choices:" either roll or take the average on any number of dice."
What I see, is that many player roll half the dice and take the average on the other half.

 

[clearstream]

We finally had our first live game of the year and a player upcast healing word at level 2, rolling just a 1 and 2 for a total of 5 hp of healing. In a prior battle, the same spell at level 1 healed 6 hp when he rolled a 4. He commented on what a let down upcasting was in 5E, so we discussed it and came up with an idea for a new house rule:

When you upcast a spell that heals or does damage (or affects any die roll for effect),
you add a maximum for the additional die results for each additional level.

Examples:

• You upcast Healing Word to level 2. Instead of 2d4+Wis mod, you roll 1d4+4+Wis Mod.
• You upcast Sleep to level 3. Instead of 9d8, you roll 5d8+32.
• You upcast Cure Wounds at level 4. Instead of 4d8+Wis mod, you roll 1d8+24+Wis Mod.
• You upcast Fireball to level 5. Instead of 10d6, you roll 8d6+12.

Certain spells, such as Command, which affect additional targets, in essence double, triple, etc. their effectiveness which each level (or so) added. So, this allows dice-based spells a better increase in effectiveness as well.

I think this is a decent idea, but as always am interested in any feedback. So, thoughts or suggestions?

I would like the rule were it the rounded up average of the extra dice. Max feels too strong to my taste.

So d4 + 3 + stat or d4 + 5 + stat etc

 

[DND_Reborn]

I would like the rule were it the rounded up average of the extra dice. Max feels too strong to my taste.

So d4 + 3 + stat or d4 + 5 + stat etc

While it protects some from rolling really low, it doesn't offer enough of a jump IMO to make upcasting attractive.

IME, upcasting hardly EVER happens, so this would make it more attractive. Too strong to your taste is fine, of course, so thanks for your feedback.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I give my players these choices:" either roll or take the average on any number of dice."
What I see, is that many player roll half the dice and take the average on the other half.

When upcasting or all the time?

Like @clearstream's suggestion--it protects against a low result, but don't make upcasting really much more appealing IMO. shrug