CubicsRube
Hero
For number 1 it'd still follow the no temp hp can stack rule, so instead of casting cure wounds 3 times, you'd have to upcast it. This certain makes lower spell slots less appealing for the use of healing.So I can see two ways to go about this:
1) Temp HP as a "buffer", that extends your hitpoints. Effectively an energy shield for all intensive purposes. The main question here is...how much buffer can various spells grant. Does CLW give 1d8 + wis temp hp.... can I cast two or three casts of the spell to get triple the hp?
In flavor context, in this model regular people would rarely utilize clerics, unless the job they were undertaking was particularly difficult or dangerous.
2) Temp HP as a "temporary stitch". Kind of like that fix a flat substance you put in a car tire to keep it going for a while, in other words a temporary "hold off" of the damage taken. This model might be better served with a new damage type (similar to subdual). Effectively a healing spell converts damage into "delayed damage". Delayed Damage doesn't effect a character until the magic wears off, and then the delayed damage becomes regular damage again....with any and all consequences.
This works more closely to traditional healing (aka you only apply the effect as the result of injury, not as a buff before the injury) while at the same time still allowing for regular injuries to require a good amount of time to heal.
In this model, people would go to the cleric for a "patch". Mr Farmer broke his leg, and the cleric is keeping the leg workable so the farmer can still work...but the leg will still require a longer time to heal. In this version, people would need to go to the cleric more regularly than the base model to maintain a similar benefit.
I kinda like the idea of it as flavour because I imagine a cleric before a medieval battle inspiring their troops with a blessing.
For number 2 definately. The town cleric can cast spells daily on farmer joe to keep him going, but he'll have to rest.