How Lay On Hands Works in 5e
Lay On Hands is the Paladin's level 1 healing feature. You hold a pool of Hit Points equal to five times your Paladin level, and it refills when you finish a Long Rest. As a Bonus Action you touch a creature, yourself included, and restore any number of points from the pool. Five points also cure the Poisoned condition. No roll, no spell slot, no action. Below: the rule quoted, the pool by level, what it shares a Bonus Action with, and how much to spend on a downed ally so a goblin doesn't drop them again.
The rule
The Paladin's level 1 feature:
Your blessed touch can heal wounds. You have a pool of healing power that replenishes when you finish a Long Rest. With that pool, you can restore a total number of Hit Points equal to five times your Paladin level.
And how you spend it:
As a Bonus Action, you can touch a creature (which could be yourself) and draw power from the pool of healing to restore a number of Hit Points to that creature, up to the maximum amount remaining in the pool. You can also expend 5 Hit Points from the pool of healing power to remove the Poisoned condition from the creature; those points don't also restore Hit Points to the creature.
Four things follow:
- You pick the number. Spend 1 point or the whole pool. Nothing is rolled.
- Touch only. The creature must be within your reach, so you walk to the fallen ally first.
- Long Rest only. A Short Rest gives nothing back. Budget the pool for the whole day.
- The heal cap applies. Healing past maximum Hit Points is lost, so topping up a scratched ally wastes points.
The pool by level
| Paladin level | Pool | What else arrives |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Lay On Hands, Spellcasting |
| 2 | 10 | Fighting Style, Paladin's Smite |
| 3 | 15 | Channel Divinity, subclass |
| 5 | 25 | Extra Attack, Faithful Steed |
| 10 | 50 | Aura of Courage |
| 14 | 70 | Restoring Touch |
| 20 | 100 | Subclass feature |
Compare Cure Wounds, also on the Paladin list. It restores "2d8 plus your spellcasting ability modifier": 12 on average with Charisma +3, for a spell slot and your action. At level 5 the pool holds 25, two Cure Wounds' worth, with no slot and no action spent.
How much to give a downed ally
A creature at 0 Hit Points has the Unconscious condition until it regains any Hit Points, so 1 point wakes it. That is the classic move, and the numbers show its cost.
Take an ally at AC 16 next to a Goblin Warrior: Scimitar +4 to hit, 1d6+2 Slashing, 2d6+2 on a 20. The goblin hits 45% of the time. The chance the ally drops again, by how many Hit Points you gave:
| Hit Points given | Drops to one goblin attack | Drops to two |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45.0% | 69.8% |
| 3 | 45.0% | 69.8% |
| 5 | 31.5% | 54.9% |
| 8 | 10.3% | 30.2% |
| 10 | 2.1% | 17.9% |
| 15 | 0% | 3.5% |
One point and three points are the same: any goblin hit deals at least 3. A wake for 1 buys the ally one turn, and nearly half the time they are back on the floor, rolling death saves again from zero. Eight points cuts the risk to about one in ten. At level 3 the pool holds 15: two 8-point saves is a better day than fifteen 1-point ones that keep failing.
Spend 1 when the ally only needs one turn: to run, drink a potion, or cast the spell that ends the fight. Spend 8 or more when they must stand in the line.
The Bonus Action clash
Divine Smite is cast as a Bonus Action:
Casting Time: Bonus Action, which you take immediately after hitting a target with a Melee weapon or an Unarmed Strike
Lay On Hands is a Bonus Action too, and you get one a turn. Each turn you choose: 2d8 Radiant damage on a hit (9 on average, 13.5 against Fiends and Undead), or healing from the pool. Cure Wounds uses your action instead, so on a desperate turn a Paladin can cast Cure Wounds on one ally and Lay On Hands on another, if both are within reach, and give up the attack.
Poison now, more conditions at 14
Five points from the pool ends Poisoned. The spell that does the same, Lesser Restoration, is level 2: a Paladin can't cast it until level 5, and then it costs one of only two level 2 slots.
At level 14 the touch does more:
When you use Lay On Hands on a creature, you can also remove one or more of the following conditions from the creature: Blinded, Charmed, Deafened, Frightened, Paralyzed, or Stunned. You must expend 5 Hit Points from the healing pool of Lay On Hands for each of these conditions you remove; those points don't also restore Hit Points to the creature.
A Paralyzed ally fails Strength and Dexterity saves, and any hit from within 5 feet is a Critical Hit. Five points and a Bonus Action end that. At 70 points, a Paladin can afford it many times a day.
Quick reference
- Pool: 5 x Paladin level, refills on a Long Rest.
- Cost: a Bonus Action and a touch; no roll, no slot.
- Poisoned: 5 points (level 14: also Blinded, Charmed, Deafened, Frightened, Paralyzed, Stunned, 5 each).
- Shares the Bonus Action with: Divine Smite.
- Waking a downed ally: 1 point wakes them; 8 keeps them up through a goblin hit about nine times in ten.
More ways to restore Hit Points, and which cost least, in Healing. The other use of a Paladin's Bonus Action in Divine Smite. What happens on the floor in Death Saving Throws.
The odds here are computed exactly from the d20 and the damage dice above. The Book of Dice covers both in Part I, The Object.
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 ("SRD 5.2.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
