D&D 5E Heroism spell and temporary hit points

[Not a Hobbit]

Dear ENworlders:

One day, my bard cast a Heroism spell on a member of the party. According to the spell, the creature ... "gains hit points equal to you spellcasting ability modifier at the start of each of its turns." But the rest of the group said that since temporary hit points don't stack, the character didn't really gain temporary hit points unless he had lost an equal amount the round before. So I'm wondering what is the real way this spell grants temporary hit points?

So, for example: Character has 20 hit points.
-On its first turn, it gains +3 (for example) temporary hit points from the bard (23 hit points)
-Before its next turn, it gets hit for 1 point of damage (22 hit points)
-On its next turn, how many temporary hit points does it get? +3 (the modifier)? +1 (to take it back to +3 temp HP)? 0 (because it hasn't used up all of its temporary hit points from last turn)?

The group consensus is that the stacking rule "IF you have temporary hit points and receive more of them, you decide whether to keep the ones you have or gain the new ones," means that the character can never have more than +3 temporary hit points. My thought is that since the character is gaining temp HP from the same source, and the spell specifically says that the temp HP are gained every turn, they would "stack". The temp HP are lost then at the end of the spell.

So any clarification would be appreciated. I didn't make a big deal of it when it happened, but I was just wondering whether I was thinking about it wrong.

Thanks for any help.

--Scott

 

[Kobold Stew]

Your group's consensus is right -- the spell ensures that the character has +3 (in this case) temporary hit points for the duration, and so (effectively) the character gets back +1 temporary hit point.

Here's a Sage advice answer on it.

 

[Not a Hobbit]

My group is wise.

As are you.

But not me.

Thanks for the explanation.

--Scott

 

[mellored]

It's a great spell at low level when enemies are only doing 1-4 points of damage, and you effectively negate 3 of it each turn. Though it fades pretty quickly.

 

[Uller]

It's a great spell at low level when enemies are only doing 1-4 points of damage, and you effectively negate 3 of it each turn. Though it fades pretty quickly.

An ally is about to be dropped and you can't do much about it. Cast heroism on him. He drops to 0 hp then (assuming he isn't killed), he gets back up with 5 hp for the duration. Seems to me to be a pretty good use of a 1st level spell at any level.

 

[guachi]

I hadn't thought of the power of using Heroism on a PC who drops to 0 HP. I see no reason it wouldn't work that way as the spell doesn't cease just because you've fallen unconscious from being at 0 HP.

 

[mellored]

An ally is about to be dropped and you can't do much about it. Cast heroism on him. He drops to 0 hp then (assuming he isn't killed), he gets back up with 5 hp for the duration. Seems to me to be a pretty good use of a 1st level spell at any level.

Your unconcious when you have 0 HP. No matter how much THP you have. So heroism won't stand someone back up. It only helps stop them from dropping in the first place.

Regeneration, on the other hand, will stand someone back up. But that's a higher level spell.

 

[jaelis]

Your unconcious when you have 0 HP. No matter how much THP you have. So heroism won't stand someone back up. It only helps stop them from dropping in the first place.

Indeed, from the phb:

If you have 0 hit points, receiving temporary hit points doesn’t restore you to consciousness or stabilize you. They can still absorb damage directed at you while you’re in that state, but only true healing can save you.

 

[Satyrn]

Huh. I wonder if my group's paladin has noticed this spell. It seems like he might like it to go along with his Heavy Armor Mastery.

 

[Uller]

Your unconcious when you have 0 HP. No matter how much THP you have. So heroism won't stand someone back up. It only helps stop them from dropping in the first place.

Regeneration, on the other hand, will stand someone back up. But that's a higher level spell.

You are correct. I misspoke.

However, I still don't think it's a bad first level spell. Compare to cure wounds. 1d8+5 hp, so 9 or 10 hp. If you are taking damage frequently and manage to get 3 rounds of temporary hit points that's 15 hp that you will still have that you otherwise would have lost. Probably the biggest thing against it is it being a concentration spell.