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How would the beacon of hope spell interact with the paladin's Lay on Hands feature?

Logically, I'm thinking it won't have any effect, as Lay on Hands heals an exact amount of hp (in my opinion, they should specify that beacon of hope only works on healing that actually have rolls, instead of saying "any healing"). It may be possible that the Paladin would only have to consume 1 point from the pool and heal the full amount possible, but I don't think that's intended.

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2 Answers 2

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It doesn't.

The Beacon of Hope spell description says:

Choose any number of creatures within range. For the duration, each target [...] regains the maximum number of hit points possible from any healing.

So, if you're healing someone with Cure Wounds, for example, you roll 2d8. The maximum you can heal is 16, minimum is 2, average is 9. When you heal with Lay on Hands, you choose how many HP to give. If you choose 8HP, then the maximum is 8, minimum is 8, and average is 8. So you heal for 8HP, just as you chose; there is no randomness.

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    \$\begingroup\$ The quote in your answer doesn't match the wording from the official spell description: "This spell bestows hope and vitality. 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." I've edited the correct spell description into your answer instead, since it doesn't change anything substantially. \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Commented Apr 2, 2019 at 9:28
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If a range contains only one value, then that value is the maximum.

If it ever comes up, that value is also the minimum.

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    \$\begingroup\$ I'm not sure I understand what you're saying here. \$\endgroup\$
    – NotArch
    Commented Apr 2, 2019 at 15:18
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    \$\begingroup\$ If the paladin chooses to heal 8HP, then the range of healing is {8}. The maximum of this range is 8. The minimum of this range is 8. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Apr 2, 2019 at 15:30
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    \$\begingroup\$ Gotcha - I think you should clarify then that your answer is "It has no effect", correct? IN which case, what is different from your answer compared to BlueMoon93s? This isn't really adding anything. You've got a good start, but when answering you should consider the other answers and how yours is different (and hopefully better!) Please also take our tour and welcome to our stack :) \$\endgroup\$
    – NotArch
    Commented Apr 2, 2019 at 15:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ @NautArch while the wording could definitely use tightening up, (And BlueMoon93's is just generally superior) I think what he's trying to add to the conversation is the idea that lay on hands heals with a range 0 wide, thus making it both uneffected by Beacon of Hope, but also any inverse effects that cause spells to only heal for minimal amounts. Could use a lot of cleaning up, but for a first time effort it's a useful addition. \$\endgroup\$
    – RonLugge
    Commented Apr 2, 2019 at 18:29
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    \$\begingroup\$ @RonLugge Bluemoon's covers this entirely in their final paragraph. \$\endgroup\$
    – NotArch
    Commented Apr 2, 2019 at 18:30

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