D&D 5E Healing Spells Fixed

[Antonlowe]

After reading some posts on the forum, I decided to go through the cleric spell list to see if I could put in a few fixes to healing spells. Here is what I came up with.

[h=2]Spare the Dying[/h]0^th level Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Touch
Components: VS
Duration: Instantaneous

You touch a living creature with 0 hit points. The creature stabilizes. This spell has no effect on non-living creatures (undead, constructs).

[h=2]Cure Wounds[/h]1^st level Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Touch
Components: VS
Duration: Instantaneous

A creature touched heals a number of hit points equal to your spell casting ability modifier. Additionally, the creature may spend a hit die to regain hit points.

If you use a spell slot of 2^nd level or higher to cast this spell, The recipient can spend a number of hit die equal to the spell level.
[h=2]Healing Word[/h]1^st level Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 Bonus Action
Range: 60ft
Components: V
Duration: Instantaneous

A creature of your choice that you can see within range regains hit points equal to 1d4 + your spellcasting ability modifier. This spell has no effect on Undead or constructs.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the Healing increases by 1d4 for each slot level above 1st.

[h=2]Litany of Healing[/h]2^nd level Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 60ft
Components: VS
Duration: Concentration up to 10 Rounds
Each round a number of creatures equal to your spell casting ability modifier of your choice that you can see within range each regain 2 hit points. This spell has no effect on Undead or constructs.

If you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3^rd level or higher, the number of hit points regained each round is equal to the spell slot used.

[h=2]Mass Healing Word[/h]3^rd level Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 Bonus Action
Range: 60ft
Components: V
Duration: Instantaneous

As you call out words of restoration, up to a number of creatures equal to your spell casting ability modifier of your choice that you can see within range regain hit points equal to 1d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier. This spell has no effect on Undead or constructs.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the Healing increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 3rd.


[h=2]Mass Cure Wounds[/h]4^th level Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 Bonus Action
Range: 30ft emanation centered on you.
Components: VS
Duration: Instantaneous

When you cast this spell, any creature within 30ft of you may spend up to four hit dice to immediately regain hit points.

If you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5^th level or higher, the amount of hit dice that each creature can spend increases by 1 per spell slot level above 4.

[h=2]Heal[/h]6^th level Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 s Action
Range: Touch
Components: VS
Duration: Instantaneous

A surge of positive energy washes through the creature you touch, causing it to regain 60 hit points. The spell also ends blindness, deafness, and any Diseases affecting the target. This spell has no effect on constructs or Undead.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 7th level or higher, the amount of Healing increases by 10 for each slot level above 6th.

[h=2]Mass Heal[/h]9^th level Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 500ft
Components: VS
Duration: Instantaneous

A flood of Healing energy flows from you into injured creatures around you. You restore up to 700 hit points, divided as you choose among any number of creatures that you can see within range. Creatures healed by this spell are also cured of all Diseases and any effect making them Blinded or Deafened. This spell has no effect on Undead or constructs.

 

[jaelis]

Probably easier to give feedback if you let us know what problems you're aiming to fix here.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I like the idea that Cure Wounds allows a target to spend Hit Dice, but I don't think that multiplication thing is the right way to go with it. I mean, a high-level character could spend four hit dice when you cast Cure Wounds in a fourth-level slot, and they'd get 16 hit dice of healing. It also makes Cure Wounds inconsistently better than Heal.

Honestly, this just seems like way too much variation. Since every spell scales in a different way, I feel like it would take a lot of mental effort to determine which spell to cast in any given situation.

 

[aco175]

Overall I like these changes. I first thought Litany of Healing was for 10 minutes instead of 1 minute/10 rounds. I also like to be able to spend healing surges in combat. I might change Cure Wounds to include some healing plus a surge if the recipient wants to spend one. Maybe 1d8+mod+surge at 1st level. Additional levels are +1d8 like normal. It makes it a bit more powerful at low levels, but my groups tend to not use this spell in favor of Healing Word since it has the bonus casting time rather than spending your action.

 

[tuxgeo]

The first thing that jumped out at me that Antonlowe changed from the PHB is that all of the new versions belong to the same School: "Necromancy."

That's strongly 2nd Edition style, but it's not the way the 5th Edition was created.

 

[ThePolarBear]

Spare the Dying healing 1 hit point makes the stabilization part pretty redundant unless there's an effect that prevents hit points to be regained.

If your intent is not to have a Cantrip make falling to 0 hit points and dying an absolute joke to get out of, including the "unconscious" part of it, it really shouldn't heal at all.

 

[Antonlowe]

I like the idea that Cure Wounds allows a target to spend Hit Dice, but I don't think that multiplication thing is the right way to go with it. I mean, a high-level character could spend four hit dice when you cast Cure Wounds in a fourth-level slot, and they'd get 16 hit dice of healing. It also makes Cure Wounds inconsistently better than Heal.

Honestly, this just seems like way too much variation. Since every spell scales in a different way, I feel like it would take a lot of mental effort to determine which spell to cast in any given situation.

Thanks for the reply. Cure wounds only allows you to spend 1 hit die. So the most it could heal is 20hp per spell level. It will probably heal much less then that.

The spells are intended to be and scale differently. If you say that its hard choosing which spell is the RIGHT one, I take that as a compliment.

 

[Antonlowe]

The first thing that jumped out at me that Antonlowe changed from the PHB is that all of the new versions belong to the same School: "Necromancy."

That's strongly 2nd Edition style, but it's not the way the 5th Edition was created.

To each his own. I like putting the spells dealing with life and death in the school of necormancy. In game I explain it that necromancy channels radiant/necrotic energy while evocation channels elemental energy.

Its easy to ignore if you feel differently.

 

[Antonlowe]

Spare the Dying healing 1 hit point makes the stabilization part pretty redundant unless there's an effect that prevents hit points to be regained.

If your intent is not to have a Cantrip make falling to 0 hit points and dying an absolute joke to get out of, including the "unconscious" part of it, it really shouldn't heal at all.

Good catch. I should remove the part about stabilizing.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Thanks for the reply. Cure wounds only allows you to spend 1 hit die. So the most it could heal is 20hp per spell level. It will probably heal much less then that.

You have a pluralization error in the description, then. If you can only spend one hit die, then that solves the inconsistency issue pretty well.

The spells are intended to be and scale differently. If you say that its hard choosing which spell is the RIGHT one, I take that as a compliment.

It was not intended as such. The thing is, I could figure out the correct spell to cast in any given situation, but it would require calculating out each equation independently in my head in order to compare them. There is still a correct answer for every situation, but that answer changes based on a bunch of known variables.

Why would I want to play a game that asks me to do a bunch of extra math, after I've already decided that I want to cast a healing spell? Deciding to cast a healing spell (as opposed to casting a buff spell, attack, or some other option) was already the interesting choice to be made for the round. You've added a bunch of unnecessary complexity that slows the game down to no real benefit.