Stands-in-the-Fire started a conversation over in Twitter about healing gameplay styles. Now, he’s talking about a lot more than D&D 5e there, but there are enough great ideas floating around in the thread that I wanted to write a bunch of new healing spells. A lot of the thread focused on how healers would like to deliver healing while doing something else, and how healing is most fun when it engages with risk creatively.
Abiding Balm
2nd-level abjuration (artificer, cleric, druid)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a garnet worth at least 50 gp)
Duration: Instantaneous
A creature of your choice that you can see within range regains 1d6 + your spellcasting ability modifier hit points. Until the beginning of your next turn, when it takes damage from any source, the creature can roll 1d6 and reduce the damage that it takes by the result.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level of higher, the healing increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 2nd, and the damage prevented increases by 1d6 for every two slot levels above 2nd.
Angelic Respite
2nd-level conjuration (cleric, paladin)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a feather from a celestial’s wing)
Duration: Instantaneous
In a rush of wings, an angelic presence rescues a nearby creature from harm. A creature of your choice that you can see or whose name you know within range regains 1d6 + your spellcasting ability modifier hit points. The stunned condition immediately ends on that creature, and it can use its reaction to fly up to 20 feet. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.
At Higher Levels.When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the healing increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 2nd.
Bloodletting
1st-level necromancy (artificer, cleric, sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a bone needle)
Duration: Instantaneous
Original Posting: A willing creature that you touch regains 1d12 + your spellcasting ability modifier, minus 1d8 hit points. When the d12 result is a 12, roll again and add the result. When the d8 result is 8, roll again and subtract the result. The result can be negative, resulting in a loss of hit points. This spell has no effect on elementals, undead, or constructs.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the healing increases by 1d12, and the subtracted value increases by 1d8, for each slot level above 1st.
Revision from Patreon Feedback: A willing creature that you touch regains 1d12 + your spellcasting ability modifier hit points. If the d12 result is a 1, the target loses 1d8 hit points instead. This spell has no effect on elementals, undead, or constructs.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the healing increases by 1d12 for each slot level above 1st. Any of the rolls that result in 1 deal 1d8 damage to the target instead.
Death Offering
3rd-level necromancy (cleric, paladin, warlock)
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
You return a dead creature you touch to life, provided it has been dead no longer than 10 days. If the creature’s soul is both willing and at liberty to rejoin the body, the creature returns to life with 1 hit point. Then you roll four death saving throws. If you accrue three failures within those four rolls, you die and can’t be affected by the death offering spell for 1 month. Die results of 20 are a single success that also negate one failure.
This spell also neutralizes any poisons and cures nonmagical diseases that affected the creature at the time it died. This spell doesn’t, however, remove magical diseases, curses, or similar effects; if these aren’t first removed prior to casting the spell, they take effect when the creature returns to life. The spell can’t return an undead creature to life.
This spell closes all mortal wounds, but it doesn’t restore missing body parts. If the creature is lacking body parts or organs integral for its survival–its head, for instance–the spell automatically fails.
Desperate Healing Word
3rd-level evocation (bard, cleric, druid)
Casting Time: 1 reaction, when a creature you can see within range takes damage or fails a death saving throw
Range: 60 feet
Components: V
Duration: Instantaneous
The triggering creature regains 1d6 + your spellcasting ability modifier hit points. This healing takes effect before the result of the death saving throw. 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 1d6 for each slot level above 3rd.
Offering of Mercy
1st-level necromancy (cleric, paladin)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
The creature that you touch regains 1d6 hit points, and you can choose to reduce your current and maximum hit points by 1d6. If you do, your target regains additional hit points equal to twice the die result + your spellcasting ability modifier. The reduction of your maximum hit points lasts until you finish a long rest. This spell has no effect on constructs.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the healing of the initial touch increases by 1d6, and you can choose to reduce your current and maximum hit points by an additional 1d6, for each slot level above 1st.
Soothing Song
2nd-level enchantment (bard, cleric, druid)
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
A creature of your choice that you can see within range regains 1d6 hit points + your spellcasting ability modifier. The creature also has advantage on saving throws it makes against the frightened condition and the confusion spell for 1 minute. This spell has no effect on undead or constructs.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the healing increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 2nd.
Surge of Vitality
2nd-level evocation (artificer, bard, cleric, druid)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a few cardamom seeds)
Duration: Instantaneous
A creature of your choice that you can see within range regains 2d6 hit points. Until the beginning of your next turn, it has resistance to necrotic damage, and the next time it hits with a weapon attack, it deals additional damage equal to your spellcasting modifier. This spell has no effect on undead or constructs.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the healing increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 2nd.
Design Notes
Several spell names and concepts were taken from suggestions from friends. Thanks, y’all!
Bloodletting is me trying to get D&D to do the Occultist’s risky healing effect from Darkest Dungeon. D8s are more likely to explode than d12s, of course, which is part of why +spellcasting modifier is important. (Feedback from my Patreon backers was such that I rewrote the mechanics of this spell in the first few hours after release. They ain’t all winners, folks.)
Probably the most in need of explanation is death offering. This is a bargain-basement raise dead with no expensive that carries a meaningful risk of killing the caster. There are things you can do to weight those odds, of course, but I hope there’s nothing you can do to reduce the rolls to a 0% chance of failure. I asked for help with the odds on Twitter; there were certain differences of opinion and approach, but I’m not good enough at probabilities to suss them out.
I was also specifically interested in breaking “evocation is the source of healing” here. Abjuration, conjuration, enchantment, and necromancy all get in on the game. Good heal-over-time effects are a bit of a trick in 5e because 5e doesn’t like a lot of start-of-turn management; also, a die value low enough to be okay for many rounds requires a higher-level spell slot than you want to use as the core of a character’s approach to healing.
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I think these are all interesting additions to the healing game.
The material component on Angelic Respite is a lot of fun and an advertisement for why material components are more interesting than spell focuses. Getting a feather from a celestial’s wing should be an adventure, or at the very least a reward for an adventure. Maybe the reward for helping the local temple out is a celestial feather and the priest teaches the cleric this spell. Love it. The actual spell effect is a nice defender/guardian type effect.
The revised version of Bloodletting is definitely an improvement and I am happy to see this kind of healing represented in the game. The inclusion of Warlock and Wizard on the list is a nice touch for bringing the flavor of the effect home. It’s not necessarily divine power providing this healing.
I love that Death Offering and Desperate Healing Word both interact with death saving throws. These would be really nice additions to my campaign with its cumulative death saves house rule. Casting Death Offering, even once, in that instance is a meaningful percentage of a character’s total potential saves. Really cool stuff.
Offering of Mercy, Soothing Song, and Surge of Vitality are all different enough from currently available options that I think they fill nice little niches.
I like that you got away from evocation as the healing school. I’m personally in the “healing should be primarily necromancy” camp. I haven’t bothered to houserule it in my own games because there are no mechanical interactions that care what school most of the healing spells are in. Reassigning the schools for the various spells that don’t really fit their current schools only really seems worth it as part of a larger effort to add mechanical weight to spell schools (aside from the various Wizard school savant abilities).
Hello I found your spells linked on a Facebook post and now I’m unable to find which group, so I will respond here, it will be a looong message and with a lot of errors (not my first language).
First good work usually I read stuff that is vastly inferior and don’t comment cause is not worth the effort
Abiding balm
PRO: Not bad, interesting and i suppose the expensive component is to limit the use in the very early levels in which it is devastating,
Con: it adds a dice to be rolled every time some damage happens, it encourages an “I move to provoke as many possible opportunity attacks I can cause i can soak and free the way for my allies” strategies, the alternatives: 3 points of damage reduction, a stack of temporary Hp that last until the end your next turn, adding a blade ward effect (resistance to piercing, cutting crushing damage) i suggest the last for being more aligned to standard d&D rules
Angelic respite
PRO: one of the more interesting proposals because it gives movement to an ally, out of turn and strategically this is huge, I understand that removing a condition that makes the target unable to use its reaction is to make the target move his character to avoid strategic discussion at the table
CON: the removal of a specific condition that is a big part of a power budget of a specific player class when there are a ton of other condition that can limit this movement grappled/restrained/surprised (this make it look as anti-monk) but it will be used as gap closer with added health, or to remove a fallen alley and place him in a safer position, so it’s a false problem (until a minion caster remove the boss from a deadly misposition between the monk and the barbarian then is a sea of hate from the players)
And I think this is a good spell
Bloodletting
Check“gift of the ever living ones” page 57 of Xanatar it makes this spell become “the warlock is healed of all his missing hit point minus an open-ended 1d8”, with the revision it improves a lot especially when cast at a higher level, but for itself there is no reason to take this spell over a normal healing spell, you could reasonably expect to be healed of 2+caster ability modifier hit point that is a poor use of a spell slot.
Death offering
Is a tentative to give a resurrection spell at level 5, but giving a reasonable party ten days means the party will be ready with a second caster with gentle repose and or revivify, it looks just like a spell to tell players why the NPC resource that resurrected their party members is now consumed.
The big fault is: you throw some dice and see if the caster die no interaction, so or you are a player that love randomness or you are a player that maneuver to control randomness, in one case is roll and die, in the other is a shenanigan to nullify the downside,
Desperate healing word
First many DM will tell you that is not automatically evident when another player fails a saving throw, especially in a gritty campaign the first tool of the DM is making the saving throw himself behind cover to maintain suspense, and that invalidates the spell,
Second, healing is boring and a 1d6+bonus as a reaction is a poor choice for a prepared spell of level 3 if you can heal as a bonus action with a level one spell, but I would not take it even if healing word is banned from the game.
Offering Mercy
I don’t see other way to use it other than self casting for a paladin/frontline clerics that say “this is the last bit of healing of the day and no way to go back to full hp so let’s stole 2d6” maybe adding a mechanic similar to aid spell (increased maximal hp) can make it the spell for saving people from being killed by a ghost or other creature that mess with the maximal hp
Soothing soon
CON a bonus that last 1 minute without concentration, this is not as normally spell work in 5th, also for bards it is in competition with Countercharm level 6 class feature,
could be better to make the spell aS A bonus action that supplement countercharm expanding its effect to confusion, and make it the basis of improving a class feature that is pretty much forgotten by everyone
Surge of vitality
CON. Too specific resistance, added damage that scale connected to external sources.
I will not consider using it until I have a fighter with 3 attacks, then I will spam it in combo with the warrior using action surge aiming for 6 times my caster ability bonus extra damage, if this is the scope fine.
PRO still more interesting than basic healing
Design notes
There are some class design problems for which every non-top choice spell that has warlock/sorcerer/bard as possible casting class can be traduced in “a scroll of this spell can also be used by a warlock/sorcerer/bard” cause if I have 15 spells in 15 levels I have no space for suboptimal choice but this is not your fault,
The healer that plays reverse watch a mole is a boring and undesired role, so much that, for many editions, the dedicated healer “has been paid” being overpowered respect the other classes, in 5th where 3 spells healing word/cure wounds, lesser restoration, revivify can cover the 90% of healing request of the party for levels 1-20 the situation is way better.
But the big problem persists and is: “if you have to heal you have to sacrifice part of your ability to do interesting stuff”, and if you can choose every spell is more interesting than heal 1d8+ability bonus, the problem grows exponentially as the spell slot grow, a 4th level healing cannot compare to polymorph in “how one can create an interesting situation”, incidentally polymorphing your ally prevent and enable doing a lot of damage
The solution
I think the solution is moving the focus on a series of class features that don’t consume spell slot to prevent damage, as the twilight cleric and some of the artificer features, basically making it independent from spell slot and not combo-able
The patch
Having healing spell that enables cool feature as abiding balm, angelic respite, surge of vitality that can have a strategic utility and associate the healing spell with a controller/buffing effect that has to be used quickly to seize the opportunity
about the breaking of evocation as a source of healing I call this sanity, it’s a residual from past editions where there was this opposition between positive and negative energy with the undead that heal from necrotic damage, the ghost that can heal themself with spanking and other aberrations