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0 HP Magic Missile = Death?
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<blockquote data-quote="Laurefindel" data-source="post: 9193903" data-attributes="member: 67296"><p>I rule <em>magic missile</em> as a single instance of damage per target hit. The verbiage talking about individual missiles dealing 1d4+1 damage makes it easier to scale and divide among target, but I don't think they were meant to be individual instances of attacks causing multiple concentration checks or multiple death save's ticks.</p><p></p><p>The way I see it, <em>magic missile</em> is D&D's machine gun. A one-shot pistol might deal 1d4+1 damage, but this one fires in full-auto, with the possibility of accelerating the rate-of-fire by upcasting the spell or fanning the spray over several targets. If I could imagine a modern or sci-fi 5e, I wouldn't count each bullet as a single damage instance.</p><p></p><p>Ultimately, given the uniqueness of the spell and specific verbiage used in the description, both interpretations are defensible. I just choose to interpret it as a single damage instance per target, because doing otherwise gives the spell additional benefits that it doesn't need (and one of which - auto-killing a downed PC - would considered a "dick move" from the DM in my group).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Laurefindel, post: 9193903, member: 67296"] I rule [I]magic missile[/I] as a single instance of damage per target hit. The verbiage talking about individual missiles dealing 1d4+1 damage makes it easier to scale and divide among target, but I don't think they were meant to be individual instances of attacks causing multiple concentration checks or multiple death save's ticks. The way I see it, [I]magic missile[/I] is D&D's machine gun. A one-shot pistol might deal 1d4+1 damage, but this one fires in full-auto, with the possibility of accelerating the rate-of-fire by upcasting the spell or fanning the spray over several targets. If I could imagine a modern or sci-fi 5e, I wouldn't count each bullet as a single damage instance. Ultimately, given the uniqueness of the spell and specific verbiage used in the description, both interpretations are defensible. I just choose to interpret it as a single damage instance per target, because doing otherwise gives the spell additional benefits that it doesn't need (and one of which - auto-killing a downed PC - would considered a "dick move" from the DM in my group). [/QUOTE]
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