I'm creating a homebrew spell for paladins. What do u guys think of it, and if you don't mind please give some tips and criticism on it. I also need some help on the wording if ya don't mind:)

5th-level conjuration

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Self

Components: V, S

Duration: 1 minute

You manifest your spirit to take a form of a guardian, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice), and it moves with you. The guardian grants you temporary hit points equal to 25 + your levels in paladin (rounded up), and disappears when the temporary hit points drop to 0 or when the spell ends.

When a hostile creature is within 10 feet of you for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there the guardian makes a attack role against the creature, and has a attack bonus equal to your spell attack modifier.

On hit a creature takes 2d8 + your spell casting modifier (Minimum of +1) of radiant, necrotic, or force damage (your choice).

Also when a creature hits you with a melee weapon it takes damage equal to half your temporary hit points (rounded down).

Spell Lists. Paladin

It needs some help with the language. If I may:

For the duration you manifest a spirit to take the form of a guardian, it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice). The guardian occupies the same space as you, and moves with you. The guardian grants you a number of temporary hit points equal to 25 + your level. These temporary hit points last until depleted or the spell ends, this spell ends when the temporary hit points are depleted. Whenever a creature hits you with a melee attack while you have these temporary hit points, that creature takes an amount of damage equal to half your remaining temporary hit points (rounded down). The damage is radiant if the guardian spirit is a celestial, force if it is fey, or necrotic if it is a fiend.

Whenever a hostile creature moves within 10 feet of you for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, the guardian spirit makes an attack against that creature using your spell attack bonus. On hit the target takes an amount of damage equal to 2d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier (Minimum 1). The damage is radiant if the guardian spirit is a celestial, force if it is fey, or necrotic if it is a fiend.

That says (mostly) all the same stuff your said, but more explicitly. I did take out any reference to the caster being specifically a Paladin because it is certainly possible that you may want to grant access to this spell as part of a special subclass for some other class, so this way you can. Class features reference their class, spells are written differently.

Suggestions:

I would probably drop the number of hit points equal to the caster’s level because spells don’t work that way, class features do. Spells work off of spell level instead. Remember, it takes a very high level Paladin to cast a 5th-level spell, but only a middling level full caster. And like I said above, spells are written to be agnostic of caster class, even if only designed for a single class, just in case. I would instead base the number of temp HP off of the level of the spell slot used to cast the spell. I would lower the spell level to 3rd and allow it to be upcast, and have it grant 10 temp HP per level of the slot used to cast the spell. For your intended Paladin they will gain slightly more temp HP using a 5th-level spell slot to cast this (50 as opposed to 43-45). That’s a difference of about a half a hit at those levels. But they would also be able to gain 30-40 temp HP at much lower levels and be able to use this spell for more of their career.

I hope that helps.

Thank you so much! i like your suggestions I never thought about that I'll try to find some way to add them in (I'm not that good at making spells tho lol), and thank you so much for the help with the language 🙏🙏🙏.

I'm probably gonna keep the damage type the way it was before not sure tho. Oh and if you have any other suggestions please let me know I like the way you think:)

So this?

3rd-level conjuration

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Self

Components: V, S

Duration: 1 minute

For the duration you manifest a spirit to take the form of a guardian, it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice). The guardian occupies the same space as you, and moves with you. The guardian grants you a number of temporary hit points equal to 25. These temporary hit points last until depleted or the spell ends, this spell ends when the temporary hit points are depleted. Whenever a creature hits you with a melee attack while you have these temporary hit points, that creature takes an amount of damage equal to half your remaining temporary hit points (rounded down). The damage is radiant if the guardian spirit is a celestial, force if it is fey, or necrotic if it is a fiend.

Whenever a hostile creature moves within 10 feet of you for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, the guardian spirit makes an attack against that creature using your spell attack bonus. On hit the target takes an amount of damage equal to 2d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier (Minimum 1). The damage is radiant if the guardian spirit is a celestial, force if it is fey, or necrotic if it is a fiend.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the Temporary HP increases by 10 for each slot level above 3rd.

Yup, that’s pretty much what I had in mind. What do you think?

I like it a lot, it's makes a lot more sense since it is a spell and not a class ability I'm gonna show it to my DM later today (hope he allows it) I'll tell you what he says. Thx so much!!!

Try this tweak instead:

For the duration you manifest a spirit to take the form of a guardian, it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice). The guardian occupies the same space as you, and moves with you. The guardian grants you 25 temporary hit points, these temporary hit points last until depleted or the spell ends. This spell ends when the temporary hit points are depleted. Whenever a creature hits you with a melee attack while you have these temporary hit points, that creature takes an amount of damage equal to half your remaining temporary hit points (rounded down). The damage is radiant if the guardian spirit is a celestial, force if it is fey, or necrotic if it is a fiend.

Whenever a hostile creature moves within 10 feet of you for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, the guardian spirit makes an attack against that creature using your spell attack bonus. On hit the target takes an amount of damage equal to 2d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier (minimum 1). The damage is radiant if the guardian spirit is a celestial, force if it is fey, or necrotic if it is a fiend.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the Temporary HP increases by 10 for each slot level above 3rd.

Hmmm I like that, but I have a question, do u think this might be a little too much for a 3rd level spell?

Compare it to spirit guardians. And don’t forget that spells for Paladins and Rangers tend to be a little strong for their level because those classes get them so much later in their careers as half casters. Those 25 temp HP will probably get chewed through in 3-4 hits, so it’ll likely only last for 2-3 rounds which is less than a full combat. It might be a little bit too strong, so maybe drop the guardian’s attacks to 2d6, but that’s the kind of stuff you have to playtest to really know for sure. It’ll take at least a couple of weeks of using it to get things adjusted just right, maybe longer. If you’re worried about it, drop it to 20 temp HP and only 6 per level after that and test it that way.

Hmm okay. I'll keep it the same and play test it, and see how it turns out. Thx so much for the help:)