D&D General 0 HP Magic Missile = Death?

[Rabulias]

I’m still dissatisfied by the lack of scaling to the amount of damage. Concentration DCs scale with damage. I’d be happier if the damage caused a new death save, not an automatic failure. Perhaps adding the damage to the DC.

Interesting... Maybe something like "If you take damage while at zero hit points, make an immediate death saving throw at disadvantage." or "If you take damage while at zero hit points, make an immediate death saving throw with a -5 penalty."

Interestingly, wasn’t the trident back in 1st edition something like 3d4 damage to large creatures? I may be remembering wrong…

You are correct.

 

[pemerton]

To me, the problem is that the very basic rules present hits very specifically not as single physical strikes. Why all of a sudden do single strikes matter?

Hm, it's almost as if D&D does not have a single, uniform, consistent mapping of its mechanics to its fiction . . .

 

[Oofta]

While I understand why people interpret Magic Missile as making you do three concentration checks, or being three death failures (it makes sense, regardless of it hitting simultaneously it is still three pure bolts of magic), the spell is already one of the best 1st level damaging spells as it is, being a guaranteed source of damage and being able to hit multiple targets. Allowing the three checks is... Too much, I think.

I also question DMs who make the enemy wizard cast magic missile on downed PCs. Not only because it is kind of a dirty move, but because... Why would that wizard do that? They don't know if the PC is dead or unconscious. Would they really waste a spell on a body on the ground when they could instead target the people actively trying to kill them? You gotta take the personality of the npc in mind, and I can't really think of a character who would do that other than "Not even I know what my next move will be" types.

It's rule #2 from the Zombieland survival handbook - always double tap. Unless PC clerics are unique to the world, NPCs know about healing magic. Whether they actually should depends on group preference.