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Beacon Of Hope

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Beacon of Hope
  • Level: 3
  • School: Abjuration
  • Class: Cleric
  • Casting Time: Action
  • Range: 30 feet
  • Components: V, S
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

Choose any number of creatures within range. For the duration, each target has Advantage on Wisdom saving throws and Death Saving Throws and regains the maximum number of Hit Points possible from any healing.

Tactical Usage​

When to Choose Beacon of Hope:

  • Essential before major encounters where fear, charm, or death are expected
  • Excellent for maximizing healing efficiency during prolonged battles
  • Strong choice against enemies using Wisdom-targeting effects
  • Valuable for ensuring unconscious allies recover reliably

Target Selection:

  • All Party Members: No limit on targets within 30-foot range
  • Priority Protection: Focus on characters with poor Wisdom saves
  • Healing Maximization: Essential when healing resources are limited
  • Death Save Insurance: Critical for characters frequently dropping unconscious

Timing Strategy:

  • Cast before dangerous encounters when possible
  • Essential during battles with ongoing Wisdom threats
  • Maximize healing efficiency during group healing moments
  • Maintain concentration for critical death save moments

Spell Combinations​

Healing Synergies:

  • Mass Healing Word: Maximum healing for entire party
  • Cure Wounds: Guaranteed maximum recovery
  • Healing Spirit: Every tick provides maximum possible healing
  • Prayer of Healing: Short rest healing becomes incredibly efficient

Protection Enhancement:

  • Bless: Additional saving throw bonuses
  • Protection from Evil: Stack wisdom save advantages
  • Circle of Power: Spell resistance combines with wisdom advantage
  • Shield of Faith: Layer protective effects

Material Component Details​

Verbal and Somatic Only:

  • Accessibility: No material components required
  • Versatility: Can be cast when restrained or without equipment
  • Divine Focus: Pure channeling of divine hope and protection
  • Reliability: Unaffected by component loss or theft

Roleplay Opportunities:

  • Describe inspiring words that fill allies with hope
  • Reference divine light or warmth emanating from caster
  • Use gestures that bless and protect gathered allies
  • Emphasize the spell's connection to divine mercy and protection

Creator Notes​

Adjudication Guidance:

  • Affects unlimited creatures within 30-foot range at casting
  • Advantage applies to all Wisdom saves, including against spells and abilities
  • Maximum healing applies to all healing sources, not just spells
  • Death save advantage significantly improves unconscious survival

Encounter Design Considerations:

  • Dramatically improves party survival in dangerous encounters
  • Makes fear and charm effects much less reliable
  • Increases effective healing capacity without additional resources
  • Creates powerful moment of divine intervention in desperate situations

Balancing Notes:

  • 3rd-level slot cost appropriate for powerful party-wide benefits
  • Concentration requirement limits simultaneous magical effects
  • 1-minute duration covers most encounters but requires timing
  • No limit on targets balances against concentration vulnerability

Environmental Interactions​

Divine Manifestation:

  • Affected creatures glow with faint divine radiance
  • Area around caster may become noticeably warmer or brighter
  • Undead or fiendish creatures might react negatively to divine energy
  • Holy symbols may resonate or glow in response to the magic

Morale Effects:

  • Visible hope and determination in affected allies
  • May inspire nearby non-combatants or neutral parties
  • Could influence social interactions with those who witness the effect
  • Demonstrates clear divine favor and protection

Detection Considerations:

  • Strong divine magic aura detectable by magical senses
  • Evil creatures might sense the protective divine energy
  • May trigger responses from divine or infernal entities
  • Clear indication of clerical or divine magical activity

Common Rulings & Clarifications​

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Does the maximum healing apply to healing potions? A: Yes, it applies to any healing the character receives.

Q: Can I target enemies to give them the benefit? A: Yes, you can choose any creatures, though this is rarely tactical.

Q: Does advantage on Death Saves stack with other advantages? A: No, advantage doesn't stack, but you still get advantage.

Q: What counts as "maximum healing"? A: Roll all healing dice and use the highest possible result.

Alternative Applications​

Non-Combat Uses:

  • Medical Treatment: Maximize effectiveness of mundane healing
  • Morale Boosting: Provide hope during difficult social situations
  • Ritual Support: Enhance participants' resistance to fear during ceremonies
  • Leadership: Demonstrate divine favor to inspire followers

Creative Problem-Solving:

  • Ensure critically injured NPCs survive medical treatment
  • Provide courage for allies facing intimidation or fear effects
  • Enhance recovery during extended rest periods
  • Support group through psychologically challenging situations

Hope and Protection Magic:

  • Bless: Additional saving throw and attack bonuses
  • Protection from Evil and Good: Enhanced protection against specific creatures
  • Circle of Power: Spell resistance for party
  • Aura of Life: Anti-necrotic protection

Healing Enhancement:

  • Mass Healing Word: Group healing magic
  • Prayer of Healing: Extended group recovery
  • Heal: Major healing for single target
  • Mass Cure Wounds: Higher-level group healing

3rd-Level Alternatives:

  • Counterspell: Prevent enemy magical effects
  • Dispel Magic: Remove harmful effects
  • Spirit Guardians: Offensive area protection
  • Mass Healing Word: Direct healing alternative

Scaling Analysis​

Level Progression:

  • Available at Level 5: Mid-level party support option
  • Party Coverage: Unlimited targets within range provides excellent value
  • Healing Efficiency: Value increases with party's healing capabilities

Tactical Evolution:

  • Early Access: Provides significant survival boost for growing party
  • Mid-Level: Essential for challenging encounters with save-or-die effects
  • High Level: Remains valuable for death save security and healing efficiency

Long-Term Viability:

  • Wisdom save advantage remains relevant at all levels
  • Death save advantage never becomes obsolete
  • Maximum healing becomes more valuable as healing dice increase
  • Essential tool for clerics throughout entire career

Narrative Flavor​

Extended Description: You raise your hands skyward and speak words of divine encouragement that seem to resonate with celestial power. A warm, golden light begins to emanate from your position, washing over your allies and filling them with supernatural hope and determination. Each person touched by this radiance feels their courage strengthen, their will fortify, and their very life force become more resilient. The divine blessing lingers around them like a protective aura, ensuring that healing energy works with maximum efficiency and that their spirits remain strong even in the face of death itself.

Sensory Details:

  • Visual: Warm golden radiance surrounding blessed creatures
  • Emotional: Overwhelming sense of hope and divine protection
  • Spiritual: Connection to divine mercy and endless compassion
  • Physical: Renewed strength and resilience flowing through the body

Cultural Context: Beacon of Hope represents the cleric's role as a conduit for divine mercy and protection, transforming faith into tangible supernatural aid. Different religious traditions may manifest this blessing differently—some as literal light, others as renewed courage, but all share the fundamental promise that divine power watches over and protects the faithful.