Dawnfire

It's a dope idea, but IMO the temp hit points put this way over the top for a cantrip, especially at low levels. A player could easily get double digit temp hp from this. That's a lot compared to other spells that give temp hp... and require spell slots.

I think a more balanced rework says "the chosen ally gains 1 temporary hit point for each enemy damaged in this way". The temp hp given could also increase by 1 (per enemy) as the cantrip scales

Yeah I love this build, but I do agree with RashizarDM that its too much for a cantrip. Got my DM to approve it if I rebuild it as a 2nd level spell. That being said, despite the criticism, this is a very tight and well thought out concept!

This is a very interesting concept, but I am also of the opinion that the temporary hit points are a bit too much there.

Personally, I would this spell only give a total of 1d4 temporary hit points when it deals damages to at least one creature, and have the amount increase by 1d4 when you reach higher levels, just like the damages. I would probably also make them last for 1 round or maybe for 1 minute so players couldn't use this cantrip to give free hitpoints to their whole team before a fight.

I agree with your recommendations.  I would also add that you get the total of 1d4 temporary hit points when it deals damage to at least one enemy creature to, again, avoid a party giving free hit points by damaging a tank team member.

I understand you're concerns, and the DMG does say that a cantrip should never offer free healing.  However you have to remember that temp hp does not stack.  So if your you use this spell on an ally and he gets 3 thp in one round, and then use it again to give that ally 2 more thp the next round, your ally still only has 3 thp, because the effects don't stack.  The power overall is modeled after a few different A-Will powers from D&D 4th edition, where you can give a small amount of thp to allies every turn.  In 4th ed. tho, PC typically have a lot more hp overall, so I thought that an average of just 2.5 thp at a time would be appropriate here.  I super interested to hear if any of you guys have play-tested the spell as written tho.  Since the COVID troubles I haven't had an opportunity to play D&D and I'm starting to loose my mind about it.  Thanks for all the feedback tho!

I haven't playtested this yet, but at 17th level, if the target ally is surrounded by enemies, thats a total of 32d4 temp hp, or 96thp on average, which i feel is definitely unbalanced for a cantrip. As such, i think i might have to agree with the others, as this theoretically gives a player the ability to survive a fight no matter the odds so long as the caster of the spell stays alive and conscious.

Love the spell, but way too powerful for a cantrip.

Maybe Nerf temp hp to like half or a quarter of the total radiant damage dealt