D&D 5E Healing Spells Fixed

[jaelis]

FWIW, players at my table use Cure Woulds quite often.

 

[CydKnight]

That sucks because it reduces the cleric to being a healbot. I know some players enjoy that playstyle, but others prefer to be able to play a cleric and do more on their turn than just cast a cure spell.

It's a hard balance to strike - finding ways to allow the cleric to both heal and contribute without making them (or certain spells) completely overpowered.

In the case of cure wounds - I think being able to do 3d8+wis healing as opposed to 3d4+wis healing when you upcast to a 3rd level spell is fairly significant. (you can go higher, but generally there are better healing spells at those levels.)

I feel it's always a choice whether to heal or attack but it seems this assumes there is no other way to heal those in need other than the cleric becoming a "healbot" which I find rarely to be the case. Regardless, some players may want their Clerics to be healbots. Some may also take exception to the concept that their Cleric is not contributing if they are healing which you seem to be saying.

 

[Caliban]

I feel it's always a choice whether to heal or attack but it seems this assumes there is no other way to heal those in need other than the cleric becoming a "healbot" which I find rarely to be the case. Regardless, some players may want their Clerics to be healbots. Some may also take exception to the concept that their Cleric is not contributing if they are healing which you seem to be saying.

I'm saying that some players find the idea of only being there to heal and buff the other characters to be limiting and/or boring. Yes, healing and casting Aid and Bless is important and has a huge impact on combat, but it also very passive. I'm saying that some players want to do more, even when they are playing a cleric. There are a lot of other cleric spells besides heals and buffs, and a lot of domains other than the Life domain.

Being able to use those spells and domain abilities while still being able to heal and buff sufficiently is a balancing act. 5e does a decent job with it, but it can still be hard to find someone willing to play a cleric, unless you are lucky enough to have someone in your group who prefers the default cleric play style of "buff, heal, or sacred flame" every round and thus usually plays a cleric.

 

[Antonlowe]

To me it breaks down in this way. If you are going to spend your action healing, that healing should be significant. It should be as good as casting other spells like Guiding bolt or Bless.

Cure Wounds is just not that spell. It feels like a waste. Under the right circumstances, it can be great. But it is rarely better then just using Healing Word.

Healing Word is not a bad spell, its not a great spell, its a good spell. It compares well to other spells of its level for my attention.

The problem is not healing word being too good, its cure wounds not being good enough.

 

[CydKnight]

To me it breaks down in this way. If you are going to spend your action healing, that healing should be significant. It should be as good as casting other spells like Guiding bolt or Bless.

This is one way to look at it but both Bless and Guiding Bolt depend on an attack roll that could miss and amount to nothing for the spell cast. Less so with Bless since it lasts up to a minute and can be cast on up to 3 creatures at once but the benefits are still not a forgone conclusion. The healing action is already significant since it is guaranteed to provide some benefit as long as the PC being healed hasn't already failed 3 death saves.

 

[aco175]

To me it breaks down in this way. If you are going to spend your action healing, that healing should be significant. It should be as good as casting other spells like Guiding bolt or Bless.

Cure Wounds is just not that spell. It feels like a waste. Under the right circumstances, it can be great. But it is rarely better then just using Healing Word.

Healing Word is not a bad spell, its not a great spell, its a good spell. It compares well to other spells of its level for my attention.

The problem is not healing word being too good, its cure wounds not being good enough.

I may add to option that players can spend a healing surge in addition to the normal healing. I'm not sure if the number goes up when cast at higher levels though

 

[Satyrn]

To me it breaks down in this way. If you are going to spend your action healing, that healing should be significant. It should be as good as casting other spells like Guiding bolt or Bless.

Cure Wounds is just not that spell. It feels like a waste. Under the right circumstances, it can be great. But it is rarely better then just using Healing Word.

Healing Word is not a bad spell, its not a great spell, its a good spell. It compares well to other spells of its level for my attention.

The problem is not healing word being too good, its cure wounds not being good enough.

I want to chime in here to say: Aye, I'd need cure wounds to be better to have ever even prepped it instead of healing word the last time I played a cleric. I definitely agree with you that boosting cure wounds a bit is a fine idea.

I also wouldn't want healing word removed from my table because I like that there's a bit of bonus action healing available.

 

[jaelis]

Well, you should really compare Cure Wounds to Healing Word + a cantrip. Sacred Flame would be the obvious one.

With CW, you cure 2 more hp on average.

With HW+SF, you have a chance to damage an opponent. At low levels it seems like 50% save chance is not a terrible estimate. If they don't save you do 4.5 points average damage. So with a 50% save, you average 2.25 points of damage. If you think a hp cured is roughly equivalent to a hp dealt, then it seems like the two are reasonably balanced. (I think though that a hp cured is probably more valuable than a hp dealt usually, since you only use cures when you really need them.)

It gets worse at higher levels though, since (a) the cantrip damage increases and (b) it seems like opponents get less likely to save. So for this particular issue, I'd look for a way to make CW improve with level so that it can continue to be relevant. If you like the triggering HD thing, maybe the # of HD the target can spend should be its level/5, rounded down.

 

[Capn Charlie]

I like what you're doing, but cure wounds needs some punch to make it worth the slot. Perhaps let it have a D4 of healing as well, or let it cure casting mod plus proficiency bonus and allow healing dice.

Sent from my MT2L03 using EN World mobile app

 

[Caliban]

If you want Cure wounds to be more useful without increasing the maximum it can actually heal, have it heal 1d4+4+casting mod, instead of the current 1d8+casting mod.