"Aid: Your spell bolsters your allies with toughness and resolve. Choose up to three creatures within range. Each target's hit point maximum and current hit points increase by 5 for the duration."
-There are some aspects that are pretty objective when come to the rules, you can't stack Max hp(of the same spell), so: "The effects of the same spell cast multiple times don't combine, however. Instead, the most potent effect — such as the highest bonus — from those castings applies while their durations overlap, or the most recent effect applies if the castings are equally potent and their durations overlap."
The trick part to understand is the "Current HP increase": 1- Is this a Heal? So will it work with disciple of life, for instance? 2- When the spell is cast multiple times, will the current hp keep rising? 3- When the spell duration runs out, will the 5 current HP be depleted (Talking if you aren't above you "normal" Max hp). For instance, if you are at 3 hp will you fall unconscious?
I saw lot of divergente opinions across the internet... On my point of view it's all comes down to: Is the +5 Current Hp a buff or an effect? My reading give me the sense that is a Buff, but rationalizing it doesn't make sense on my mind, I mean: -If it's a buff when it take place? I can't see reason saying that a player with 0 hp have a buff of +5 current hp. So when it runs out? When you take the 5 damage? When you drop to 0? When you lost the exactly GAP you filled with it? -Going further, if it's a buff, mean that when you cast AID at lvl3 on a guy that already have AID lvl2 will just increase it's current HP by5? -And now the opposite: Imagine a PC with AID lvl3 and after 4 hours someone cast AID lvl2 on him, by the rule stated above, it's clear he will keep the lvl3AID for more 4 horus, but theoretically when the first one run of out of time, the second one should start to make effect, which means the MaxHp will be at 5 more of the "normal" and in theory he suppose to get 5 current HP, which, again, doesn't make sense to me.
But don't you think it "fells Wrong"? Imagine Two PC that have been AIDed dropes to 0 HP, and after that, one get healed by healing word +5HP. The HP he have is from the healing spell not from the AID, so it doesn't fell natural imagining he will be falling when the AID spell ends, and nothing happening to the other guy that was already unconscious. I mean, you can clearly see what is a MAXHP increase, or TemporaryHP, you can literally "point" to it, but the Current Hp in other-hand fells abstract, relative to time. Going further, imagine re-casting AID on the PC that is currently unconscious with 0 HP: So would you rule he can't get 5 current hp because he already have a buff of 5 current HP? How is that even possible since he have 0 current hp. It doesn't add up. We can make an analogy with TempHP too, if you have a buff that gives you 10THP when you take damage to make it zero, you can re-cast the same spell and gain the benefit again. So why wouldn't you be able to re-cast AID when you current HP is zero? As I see, you can cast it and bring the guy back to 5HP, you can even argue that this new effect is currently more potent, but again, imagining this only work on people with 4HP or less is making the assumption that the "current hp buff" is related to the lower side or you HP pool otherwise it will keep healing when re-casted.
I would like to add one twitter post of Mike Mearls, that is not a Jeremy Crawford but still a big shot at D&D. The question was: Are the hit points from "Aid" supposed to be temporary hit points? The answer was: General rules for HP should cover that - your current hp cannot go above your max. if they are, they drop to your max immediately.
It's not exactly the point of topic, but somewhere in-between the answer we've got here. When Aid expires, your current hit points are adjusted down to your natural max, if they're higher than your max. Otherwise, they're yours to keep.
Subtracting Aid hp from creatures benefiting from the spell after it expires seems way overly punitive if they're already damaged. At my table, I would first take into account if damage had *already* removed the Aid hp.
In other words, say the cleric casts Aid with a 2nd level slot. Her warrior buddy normally has 26 hp. Now the warrior has 31. In battle, warrior takes 12 damage and is not healed.
When Aid expires, the warrior's max hp would go back to 26, but he'd stay at 19 hp -- since the hp he gained from the spell *have already been lost*.
Only in the case of the warrior taking only, say, 3 damage, would i actually subtract current hp. (ie: warrior would go from 28 to 26 current hp.)
Subtracting Aid hp from creatures benefiting from the spell after it expires seems way overly punitive if they're already damaged. At my table, I would first take into account if damage had *already* removed the Aid hp.
In other words, say the cleric casts Aid with a 2nd level slot. Her warrior buddy normally has 26 hp. Now the warrior has 31. In battle, warrior takes 12 damage and is not healed.
When Aid expires, the warrior's max hp would go back to 26, but he'd stay at 19 hp -- since the hp he gained from the spell *have already been lost*.
Only in the case of the warrior taking only, say, 3 damage, would i actually subtract current hp. (ie: warrior would go from 28 to 26 current hp.)
Oh, yeah. This is a fair point that isn't against RAW.
Basically, when the spell ends your current HP can't be lowered below what it was before aid was cast, because you would have already lost the current HP aid grants (and therefore can't be removed).
I definitely can see where you came from, it does make sense to imagine a "pool" of 5 hp been created, that if you don't use it you lose it. Still it's kind of hard to "manage" since you have no real way to distinguish this exactly 5 hp, for instance Imagine a Warrior 10/40 hp, so he get Aid -> 15/45 and after that he got healed for 10 hp, 25/45 and after that he took 8 damage 17/45. Will you deduce the 5hp when aid expires or not? Its not that simple see? To answer that question you would have to arbitrary decide if aid is specific the 10~15 hit points, so in this case he would lose it. (That would be trouble because in this case you must remember exactly the HP when the spell was cast). OR you can arbitrary say that the HP gain is always on the "top" of the pool, so in this case he won't lose when the spell expire.
So extrapolation you rationalization: If you re-cast AID on someone that lost 5 hp or more(After the spell), be him conscious or not, he will gain 5 extra hp? But if he haven't take damage nothing would happen? Going further, if he had taken damage and after been healed as the case presented above?
Since they aren't temporary hit points, I don't think they are subject to the limitation against restoring you to consciousness from 0 hp. Aid is a pretty strong 2nd-level spell, potentially allowing you to revive up to 3 fallen allies.
But not being temp hp comes with a downside too. If you have temp hp and take damage, it is absorbed by the temp hp, and when the spell that gave you the temp hp ends, you don't have to "pay back" the temp hp you lost. But I interpret Aid like an hp loan that you have to pay back, whether you spent it or not. If you are revived by an Aid spell, better gain at least 1 hp before it ends, or you'll be unconscious again. If you have 10 hp and get 5 from Aid, then take 12 damage, better gain 3 hp before the end of the spell. If you take 20 damage and then are healed for 4, you still need some more healing or you'll be unconscious again when the spell runs out.
Luckily it lasts 8 hours and is not concentration, so unless the caster explicitly decides to end it early, it will last the full duration. You'll probably have a chance to take a short rest and roll some hit dice in that time.
I definitely can see where you came from, it does make sense to imagine a "pool" of 5 hp been created, that if you don't use it you lose it. Still it's kind of hard to "manage" since you have no real way to distinguish this exactly 5 hp, for instance Imagine a Warrior 10/40 hp, so he get Aid -> 15/40 and after that he got healed for 10 hp, 25/40 and after that he took 8 damage 17/40. Will you deduce the 5hp when aid expires or not?
Oh, I see what you're pointing out; it isn't that simple, I agree. There's wording that explains how you gain the hp, but no guiding mechanics for exactly what happens when the spell ends. I've got no answer for that, to be honest.
To me, the spell is much less useful if whatever current hp the spell bestowed is taken away when the spell expires. Using your example: warrior at 10/40 gets aid to 15/45. Healed for ten to 25/45. Damaged for 8 to 17/45. After Aid expires, I'd rule that only his max changes, so: 17/40.
Recasting always adds current and max hp (unless it's overlapping another aid spell; in that situation, I suspect you'd have to select which spell you want to benefit from).
It was a little weird to find out that aid is worded outside the bounds of healing. I couldn't find anything in the PHB that mentions gaining hp outside of healing. Despite that, I'd definitely rule that a character at 0 hp who gets Aid regains consciousness (as long as the spell is going). Again, it's not reconciled in actual mechanics, but there's no rule *against* it working that way.
"Aid: Your spell bolsters your allies with toughness and resolve. Choose up to three creatures within range. Each target's hit point maximum and current hit points increase by 5 for the duration."
-There are some aspects that are pretty objective when come to the rules, you can't stack Max hp(of the same spell), so: "The effects of the same spell cast multiple times don't combine, however. Instead, the most potent effect — such as the highest bonus — from those castings applies while their durations overlap, or the most recent effect applies if the castings are equally potent and their durations overlap."
The trick part to understand is the "Current HP increase":
1- Is this a Heal? So will it work with disciple of life, for instance?
2- When the spell is cast multiple times, will the current hp keep rising?
3- When the spell duration runs out, will the 5 current HP be depleted (Talking if you aren't above you "normal" Max hp). For instance, if you are at 3 hp will you fall unconscious?
I saw lot of divergente opinions across the internet...
On my point of view it's all comes down to: Is the +5 Current Hp a buff or an effect? My reading give me the sense that is a Buff, but rationalizing it doesn't make sense on my mind, I mean:
-If it's a buff when it take place? I can't see reason saying that a player with 0 hp have a buff of +5 current hp. So when it runs out? When you take the 5 damage? When you drop to 0? When you lost the exactly GAP you filled with it?
-Going further, if it's a buff, mean that when you cast AID at lvl3 on a guy that already have AID lvl2 will just increase it's current HP by5?
-And now the opposite: Imagine a PC with AID lvl3 and after 4 hours someone cast AID lvl2 on him, by the rule stated above, it's clear he will keep the lvl3AID for more 4 horus, but theoretically when the first one run of out of time, the second one should start to make effect, which means the MaxHp will be at 5 more of the "normal" and in theory he suppose to get 5 current HP, which, again, doesn't make sense to me.
What do you guys think?
1) No. Healing uses words like "restore" or "regain."
2) No. Game effects with the same name don't stack. The most potent instance takes effect and less potent instances are suppressed.
3) Yes. The increase to current HP is one of the spell's effects; when the spell expires, that effect expires, because it's not actually healing.
But don't you think it "fells Wrong"?
Imagine Two PC that have been AIDed dropes to 0 HP, and after that, one get healed by healing word +5HP. The HP he have is from the healing spell not from the AID, so it doesn't fell natural imagining he will be falling when the AID spell ends, and nothing happening to the other guy that was already unconscious. I mean, you can clearly see what is a MAXHP increase, or TemporaryHP, you can literally "point" to it, but the Current Hp in other-hand fells abstract, relative to time.
Going further, imagine re-casting AID on the PC that is currently unconscious with 0 HP: So would you rule he can't get 5 current hp because he already have a buff of 5 current HP? How is that even possible since he have 0 current hp. It doesn't add up.
We can make an analogy with TempHP too, if you have a buff that gives you 10THP when you take damage to make it zero, you can re-cast the same spell and gain the benefit again. So why wouldn't you be able to re-cast AID when you current HP is zero?
As I see, you can cast it and bring the guy back to 5HP, you can even argue that this new effect is currently more potent, but again, imagining this only work on people with 4HP or less is making the assumption that the "current hp buff" is related to the lower side or you HP pool otherwise it will keep healing when re-casted.
I would like to add one twitter post of Mike Mearls, that is not a Jeremy Crawford but still a big shot at D&D.
The question was: Are the hit points from "Aid" supposed to be temporary hit points?
The answer was: General rules for HP should cover that - your current hp cannot go above your max. if they are, they drop to your max immediately.
It's not exactly the point of topic, but somewhere in-between the answer we've got here. When Aid expires, your current hit points are adjusted down to your natural max, if they're higher than your max. Otherwise, they're yours to keep.
Based on the wording of the spell and how "current HP increases for the duration," I'd say when the duration ends the current HP decreases.
I don't think it would be unbalanced to say the increase in current HP is healing if that is the way you want to play it.
Subtracting Aid hp from creatures benefiting from the spell after it expires seems way overly punitive if they're already damaged. At my table, I would first take into account if damage had *already* removed the Aid hp.
In other words, say the cleric casts Aid with a 2nd level slot. Her warrior buddy normally has 26 hp. Now the warrior has 31. In battle, warrior takes 12 damage and is not healed.
When Aid expires, the warrior's max hp would go back to 26, but he'd stay at 19 hp -- since the hp he gained from the spell *have already been lost*.
Only in the case of the warrior taking only, say, 3 damage, would i actually subtract current hp. (ie: warrior would go from 28 to 26 current hp.)
Oh, yeah. This is a fair point that isn't against RAW.
Basically, when the spell ends your current HP can't be lowered below what it was before aid was cast, because you would have already lost the current HP aid grants (and therefore can't be removed).
I definitely can see where you came from, it does make sense to imagine a "pool" of 5 hp been created, that if you don't use it you lose it. Still it's kind of hard to "manage" since you have no real way to distinguish this exactly 5 hp, for instance Imagine a Warrior 10/40 hp, so he get Aid -> 15/45 and after that he got healed for 10 hp, 25/45 and after that he took 8 damage 17/45. Will you deduce the 5hp when aid expires or not?
Its not that simple see? To answer that question you would have to arbitrary decide if aid is specific the 10~15 hit points, so in this case he would lose it. (That would be trouble because in this case you must remember exactly the HP when the spell was cast). OR you can arbitrary say that the HP gain is always on the "top" of the pool, so in this case he won't lose when the spell expire.
So extrapolation you rationalization: If you re-cast AID on someone that lost 5 hp or more(After the spell), be him conscious or not, he will gain 5 extra hp? But if he haven't take damage nothing would happen?
Going further, if he had taken damage and after been healed as the case presented above?
Aid is weird. The spell doesn't describe the hit points as temporary hit points, which have specific rules: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/combat#TemporaryHitPoints.
Since they aren't temporary hit points, I don't think they are subject to the limitation against restoring you to consciousness from 0 hp. Aid is a pretty strong 2nd-level spell, potentially allowing you to revive up to 3 fallen allies.
But not being temp hp comes with a downside too. If you have temp hp and take damage, it is absorbed by the temp hp, and when the spell that gave you the temp hp ends, you don't have to "pay back" the temp hp you lost. But I interpret Aid like an hp loan that you have to pay back, whether you spent it or not. If you are revived by an Aid spell, better gain at least 1 hp before it ends, or you'll be unconscious again. If you have 10 hp and get 5 from Aid, then take 12 damage, better gain 3 hp before the end of the spell. If you take 20 damage and then are healed for 4, you still need some more healing or you'll be unconscious again when the spell runs out.
Luckily it lasts 8 hours and is not concentration, so unless the caster explicitly decides to end it early, it will last the full duration. You'll probably have a chance to take a short rest and roll some hit dice in that time.
Oh, I see what you're pointing out; it isn't that simple, I agree. There's wording that explains how you gain the hp, but no guiding mechanics for exactly what happens when the spell ends. I've got no answer for that, to be honest.
To me, the spell is much less useful if whatever current hp the spell bestowed is taken away when the spell expires. Using your example: warrior at 10/40 gets aid to 15/45. Healed for ten to 25/45. Damaged for 8 to 17/45. After Aid expires, I'd rule that only his max changes, so: 17/40.
Recasting always adds current and max hp (unless it's overlapping another aid spell; in that situation, I suspect you'd have to select which spell you want to benefit from).
It was a little weird to find out that aid is worded outside the bounds of healing. I couldn't find anything in the PHB that mentions gaining hp outside of healing. Despite that, I'd definitely rule that a character at 0 hp who gets Aid regains consciousness (as long as the spell is going). Again, it's not reconciled in actual mechanics, but there's no rule *against* it working that way.
Like I said, just house rule it as healing. It is simpler, changes almost nothing, and slightly buffs what it does change.