Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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Finding the lack of healing cantrip in DnD a bit curious. I'm sure this has been discussed, but seems odd that you can dish out respectable damage without limit but not heal at all (other than stabilizing a downed ally with Spare the Dying).
At level 5, you can deal 2d8/2d10/2d12 already, more with things like Booming Blade or Potent Spellcasting later on for Clerics. Seems reasonable for there to be at least something restoring minimal HP. Could be a lower dice roll and/or maybe not scale, to not compete with leveled healing spells?
Of course, I'm guessing the main issue is the spamability of healing out-of-combat? So as easy fix could just be: a character can only be healed by that cantrip once per day, or once per long rest, or some other restriction.
I dunno, seems like there ways to make it functional. Thoughts?
Yeah, a healing cantrip would have to burn hit dice to avoid being spammable.
So really, there's design space for two healing cantrips:
I’ll also add in the healing potions are relatively inexpensive, and probably heal about what a cantrip would. And by inexpensive, I mean that after a few adventures, the PCs probably have enough gold to stock up on them. Of course purse, that’s still spending a resource in terms of gp.
And given that they’ve already got leveled spells for rolling your own hit die, I doubt they’ll make cantrips for it anytime soon.
The other option for a healing-type cantrip would be one that grants temporary hit points, possibly with a short expire time.
There is a healing cantrip. It's Spare the Dying. It just doesn't do the what the OP is suggesting. ;-)
This is wrong.
It's written in both the 5e and 5.5e DMGs under the sections for creating new spells.
Considering cantrips are free and can be cast continuously, a healing cantrip is actually more powerful than most if not all other healing spells.
Essentially one hit point every 6 seconds.At no cost. If it only healed one per casting. 10 per minute, 600 per hour.
Even if limited to once per minute outside of combat that is 60 per hour
Across up to 60 individuals.
Yeah, definitely couldn't exist without some limits, as mentioned. Maybe there aren't any easy limits (or any folks find tasteful?), but just seems like an odd absence for the magic system, in-world. Again, easy enough to manufacture an in-world reason and not high stakes. Just a thought.
At the end of the day, “magic doesn’t work like that” is sufficient in-universe explanation for the absence.
I don't see it as an odd absence. Cantrips are the not very powerful spells that are easy and not tiring to cast. Healing creatures is simply too powerful and tiring of an effect to be a cantrip.
I mean, you could do something like "spare the dying: restore 1 hp to a creature at 0 hp; this increases to 2 hp at level 6, 3 at level 11, 4 at level 17" and it wouldn't be a particular balance problem.
Point, though it also wouldn’t be particularly meaningful- it’s still not enough HP to keep you from going down to the next hit at most any point in the game.
It's enough HP that you can take an action. Could probably make it 1d6 per tier.
Limits, eh? Why not the same resource that's already pulled on by Short Rests and others: Hit Dice? The following example would limit the spell to noncombat and repeated use would often be better served by just taking a Short Rest at higher levels, but could be used for faster patching than a Short Rest provides.
Vitality Spring
Evocation Cantrip
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 Minute
Range: Touch
A creature you touch at the end of this spell can spend and roll 1 Hit Point Die and regain an amount of HP equal to the result plus their Constitution modifier.
Because there’s already leveled spells for spending Hit Die, thus a cantrip doing it can substantially render them obsolete.
That's why I gave it a 1-minute casting time. Arcane Vigor is a BA spell, making it combat-appropriate, where this idea is impossible during combat. I'd also give it to Cleric and Druid rather than Sorcerer and Wizard.
Why, you could even cast it 60 times during a Short Rest!
There's already a mechanic for out-of-combat healing using Hit Dice. We don't need a cantrip for it
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
PIPA - Planar Interception/Protection Aeormaton, warforged bodyguard and ex-wizard hunter (Warrior of the Elements monk/Cartographer artificer)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
The biggest problem you run into with a Healing Cantrip is that fact that healing cannot be without limit, and the idea of a cantrip is a limitless spell.
Firebolt can be cast every 6 seconds forever in terms of D&D
If you do the same for a healing style cantrip you make leveled spells useless.
Only Mending as an increased casting time when it comes to cantrips and the effect is very small, so there is not really a good way to "balance" a healing cantrip
Not only that, but the higher level you get the rarer it becomes to actually hit 0 hp anyway.
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"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.