D&D 5E bless isn't a bonus action?

[the Jester]

I am struggling to remember ever seeing the Bless spell used in my games of BECMI, 1E, 2E, and 3E. Definitely used in 4E and looks good for 5E.

Wow, IME it saw more use in 1e and 2e than any other 1st level cleric spell than cure light wounds.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Pretty much every spell was cure for the cleric, we never got to that high level either so you need every cure you can get. 7 or 8 maybe once 10th?

 

[MerricB]

I am struggling to remember ever seeing the Bless spell used in my games of BECMI, 1E, 2E, and 3E. Definitely used in 4E and looks good for 5E.

Bless gets used quite a bit in my AD&D campaign, although it's often not appropriate because it (a) takes an entire round to cast and (b) only affects creatures not already in melee! So, in a dungeon where you're probably on top of the monsters already, it isn't actually a good spell. It gets used in the wilderness a lot more. Prayer, on the other hand, is used all the time.

It's worth noting just how poor the spell lists are for AD&D clerics: they can do very little except remove conditions suffered by players. There are a few spells like hold person that are conditionally offensive, but they're by far the minority. You're often better off preparing slow poison instead! Clerics in AD&D work as fighters for the most part until they reach the higher levels, when their spells actually start getting good.

Another factor of AD&D is that with larger group sizes, not everyone will be in melee - a big change to how later editions work with smaller party sizes. A standard-sized party in my current AD&D campaign is 7-9 characters! (Sometimes they're all players, but henchmen often make up those who are missing).

Cheers!

 

[TerraDave]

Wow, IME it saw more use in 1e and 2e than any other 1st level cleric spell than cure light wounds.

In our 2E game, it was always bless, chant, and or prayer.