[RPG] Can you cast a touch spell on multiple targets in D&D 5e

dnd-5espellstouch-attacks

In D&D 3.5e there was a rule that would allow the caster of a touch spell to cast it on six different individuals if they used a full round action to do so (emphasis added):

Holding the Charge

If you don’t discharge the spell in the round when you cast the spell, you can hold the discharge of the spell (hold the charge) indefinitely. You can continue to make touch attacks round after round. You can touch one friend as a standard action or up to six friends as a full-round action. If you touch anything or anyone while holding a charge, even unintentionally, the spell discharges. If you cast another spell, the touch spell dissipates. Alternatively, you may make a normal unarmed attack (or an attack with a natural weapon) while holding a charge. In this case, you aren’t considered armed and you provoke attacks of opportunity as normal for the attack. (If your unarmed attack or natural weapon attack doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity, neither does this attack.) If the attack hits, you deal normal damage for your unarmed attack or natural weapon and the spell discharges. If the attack misses, you are still holding the charge.

Let's say that you are a cleric and you have cure wounds, can you have your party stand around you after a battle and use a full round action to administer cure light wounds to six willing subjects?

Does D&D 5e still officially have this rule or one like it?

Best Answer

There is no general rule; a spell tells you how many targets it has

Simply put there is no rule that you can cast a spell and administer its effects to multiple people in any way unless the spells description says you can.

In your example, the cure wounds spell says (emphasis mine):

A creature you touch regains a number of hit points...

Since there is no general rule that you can administer touch spells to multiple targets, the spell's description takes over. "A creature" means just that - a single creature.

Compare that to a spell like heroism which states:

When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, you can target one additional creature for each slot level above 1st.

In this case, the spell specifically notes that you can touch multiple targets and grant them the benefits of the spell because the spell's description says you can, not because of any general rule. This kind of exception would be unnecessary if there was a rule that you could touch multiple targets by default.

Keep in mind that you cannot move while casting a spell, so all the targets you want to touch need to be in range when you cast the spell/release a readied spell.