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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Life Domain Revision: Return from the Dead!



GalacticAxekick
2022-08-18, 01:43 PM
Healing sucks. In most circumstances, it's better to prevent damage than to heal it. And in many situations, the best way to prevent damage is to kill enemies. Combine this with how difficult it is to get within range of touch for many healing spells, and you have really bad incentives to play a healer.

As part of my homebrew Cleric revision, I'm rewriting the Life Domain Cleric to have better action economy, to represent a wider range of "healer" themes while I'm at it.




Life Domain



Cleric Level
Spells


1st
Bless, Cure Wounds


3rd
Healing Spirit, Lesser Restoration


5th
Beacon of Hope, Revivify


7th
Death Ward, Guardian of Faith


9th
Mass Cure Wounds, Raise Dead




Bystander
When you are not wearing armor or wielding a weapon, you can use your action to cast Sanctuary on yourself without expending spell slots or requiring components.

When you cast the spell in this way, it lasts indefinitely, however you cannot cast it in this way again for 10 minutes after you end it by making an attack, casting a spell that affects an enemy, or dealing damage to another creature.

Disciple of Life
As a healer, you have a unique gift for preserving life. When you use a spell of 1st level or higher to restore hit points to a creature, the creature regains additional hit points equal to 2 + the spell's level.

Channel Divinity: Preserve Life

Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to heal the badly injured.

As an action, you present your holy symbol and evoke healing energy that can restore a number of hit points equal to five times your cleric level. Choose any creatures within 30 feet of you, and divide those hit points among them. You can restore a creature to no more than half of its maximum hit points. You can't use this feature on an undead or a construct.

From the Dead
Starting at 6th level, when you are incapacitated, unconscious or dead, you can nonetheless use your Channel Divinity and cast spells targeting yourself.

For example, if you are reduced to 0 hit points and knocked unconscious, you can cast Cure Wounds on yourself on your turn and regain consciousness. If you are killed, you can cast Revivify on yourself on your turn and return to life.

Word of Life
Starting at 8th level, when you use your action to cast a life domain spell or use your Channel Divinity, you can use your bonus action to Dash, Disengage, Help, Search or use an object.

Supreme Healing
Starting at 17th level, when you would normally roll one or more dice to restore hit points with a spell, you instead use the highest number possible for each die.

For example, instead of restoring 2d6 hit points to a creature, you restore 12 hit points.

JNAProductions
2022-08-18, 01:56 PM
Most people don’t like playing Healbots.

That’s what this encourages-by a mile.

It also encourages you to go without armor, so as soon as someone passes that Sanctuary save, you’re dead. (Hyperbole-kinda.)

GalacticAxekick
2022-08-18, 04:38 PM
It also encourages you to go without armor, so as soon as someone passes that Sanctuary save, you’re dead. (Hyperbole-kinda.)This is kinda like saying "as soon as someone rolls at or above your AC, you're dead".

At 1st level, assuming +3 Wisdom/spell save DC 13, Sanctuary is a 60% chance for most enemies to ignore you.

With 13 AC (unarmored, +3 Dex) and Sanctuary, a d20 hits you 24% (40% * 60%) of the time.

With 16 AC (leather or chain shirt and shield, ), a d20 hits you 25% of the time.

As you gain levels, this math tilt more and more in favour of Sanctuary. Because while your AC grows slightly, your spell save DC grows sharply. And while enemy attack rolls grow sharply, their Wisdom saves grow slightly.

TL;DR, Sanctuary is better than armor.


Most people don’t like playing Healbots. That’s what this encourages-by a mile.Now this criticism, I'll take! As much as I want to make healing viable, and as much as I want to make storytelling elements like a pacifistic man of cloth and self-resurrection possible, I dont want the player stuck healing every single round.

Do you think I could rewrite this to better accommodate support spells and actions? Buffing allies, nerfing foes, controlling the battlefield, etc?