D&D 5E Casters should go back to being interruptable like they used to be.

[Lanefan]

But even this spell must be learned, and the dice rolled to see if you learn it.

The impression we took from the DMG on this was that the spell came as part of your training, and thus the roll to learn it was bypassed. That said, the spell was randomly selected (unless you somehow already knew it, then re-roll), the rationale being that's what the trainer decided to teach you.

 

[Hell0W0rld]

I'm a little confused how making it so martials can interrupt casters helps balance anything outside of a PVP environment. What's actually happening is, all monsters and enemy NPC's can now interrupt casters, and the occasional enemy NPC that can cast spells is now nerfed and harder for DM's to use effectively.

It opens up another way for non-magical characters to contribute. Instead of having to rely on magical means like Counterspell, Silence, Antimagic Field and the like, there's now an incentive to help the PC monk or rogue up into the enemy sorcerer's face. Fighting in melee should be rewarded more, given how ranged attackers innately have both better reach and safety on account of being far away.

This change will also bring down the PC casters a notch. I don't see that as a bad thing. Now they have to consider positioning a little more and maybe an emergency spell or two like Mirrored Image or Meld Into Stone.

And when the martials are like "hey Cleric, come over here and heal me", the Cleric is like "sorry, Cure Wounds is a melee spell, I'll be hiding back here with the Wizard!".

Even discounting how bad in-combat healing is, I'm not sure what you mean here. Being close enough to use Cure Wounds on the fighter does not equal being in opportunity attack range from an enemy.

 

[Lanefan]

And when the martials are like "hey Cleric, come over here and heal me", the Cleric is like "sorry, Cure Wounds is a melee spell, I'll be hiding back here with the Wizard!".

And that's exactly what should be happening: the martial should know damn well that in order to get cured up she'll have to disengage from combat (if she can) and move to the Cleric, while the Cleric would know damn well that trying to move in and cast a cure in melee is risky for him and also very unlikely to succeed (but useful if it does).

 

[Vaalingrade]

And when the martials are like "hey Cleric, come over here and heal me", the Cleric is like "sorry, Cure Wounds is a melee spell, I'll be hiding back here with the Wizard!".

Then we give the martials the agility to say 'Oh wait, I'm actually well designed. I'll patch myself up."

 

[Incenjucar]

Clerics can wear armor specifically so they can survive the risks healing in melee range. If there are no risks they should be wearing robes instead.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Or just give healing a range.

There's all sort of solutions to this that don't involve wizards getting to poledance on ogres as a somatic component for Haste.

 

[Lanefan]

Then we give the martials the agility to say 'Oh wait, I'm actually well designed. I'll patch myself up."

Or just give healing a range.

Or better yet, have healing be something almost exclusively done after the fighting rather than during it.

Mid-combat healing should be rare, fraught with risk, and very hard to pull off; the exception perhaps being using one's action for a round to down a healing potion if such is close to hand.

And ranged healing in general is broken in all sorts of ways. Bad idea.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'm a little confused how making it so martials can interrupt casters helps balance anything outside of a PVP environment. What's actually happening is, all monsters and enemy NPC's can now interrupt casters, and the occasional enemy NPC that can cast spells is now nerfed and harder for DM's to use effectively.

And when the martials are like "hey Cleric, come over here and heal me", the Cleric is like "sorry, Cure Wounds is a melee spell, I'll be hiding back here with the Wizard!".

Cool. Not a fan of in combat healing anyway. Stabilize and deal with it afterward, I say.

 

[Micah Sweet]

And that's exactly what should be happening: the martial should know damn well that in order to get cured up she'll have to disengage from combat (if she can) and move to the Cleric, while the Cleric would know damn well that trying to move in and cast a cure in melee is risky for him and also very unlikely to succeed (but useful if it does).

Yup. You don't revive fallen soldiers on the battlefield surrounded by the enemy. You drag them off and stabilize them from the back line.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Or better yet, have healing be something almost exclusively done after the fighting rather than during it.

Nah.

Mid-combat healing should be rare, fraught with risk, and very hard to pull off; the exception perhaps being using one's action for a round to down a healing potion if such is close to hand.

Nah.

Mid combat healing should be fast, easy and enough to negate at least one enemy action, especially for anyone specced to it.

And ranged healing in general is broken in all sorts of ways. Bad idea.

It's the way to keep playing a healer fun and not annoying.