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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DMZ2112" data-source="post: 6254470" data-attributes="member: 78752">I would agree that there's something wrong with Spare the Dying but my problem is broadly with the death and dying rules in general as well as with the concept of "swift casting."  I think the current death rules in D&D5 are very forgiving in general (but they're pretty easy to houserule), and I think the idea of a spell that is so easy to cast it is an afterthought is utter nonsense.  It's enough that cantrips are free in terms of memorization -- they don't also have to be free in terms of actions (unfortunately that's harder to houserule).That said, in the context of the D&D5 rules as written, Spare the Dying in itself is potentially awkward, but I don't think it is actively broken.  It's practically impossible to kill a PC with a few levels in D&D5, even without the spell being available.  It is far easier to knock them out.  Spare the Dying saves PCs from bleeding out, but so do healer's kits, which everyone can use.  So the real issue here is not that Spare the Dying improves PC survivability, but rather that it returns them to combat as an afterthought, leaving the cleric still free to take a standard action in the turn (which could be used to heal the risen PC further).I have never done the experiment, but it seems to me that even so this is not an advantage the PCs could use to turn a loss into a victory.  At best, it's going to let the party tread water for a few more rounds before they are defeated.  In a touch-and-go situation, it might tip the scales in the favor of the PCs, but the only reason why I have an objection to that is that there is no risk involved in the spell's casting.  The cleric can do it and then take his turn as normal.  But again, that's the D&D5 rules, not the spell itself.In conclusion, I think the spell ought to either be swift and stabilize without healing, or heal to 1 HP and not be swift.  But the concept of the spell itself is not necessarily broken.</blockquote>

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