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Power Word Kill Houserule: Any <100 hp within 1 minute
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<blockquote data-quote="Stalker0" data-source="post: 9034113" data-attributes="member: 5889"><p>I appreciate the excellent discussion so far. The main criticisms are concentrated into two areas:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">This spell misses the "instantaneous" flavor of the power word series of spells.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The bonus action for this effect is too powerful.</li> </ul><p>The first one I can't argue; I can respect that some people want the power word spells to be a very "one and done" type effect. That said, you could argue spells like Power Word Stun or Pain have ongoing durations (those are save ends), but the "magic" is technically done.</p><p></p><p>So lets focus on the second for a bit. Is the spell effect equivalent enough to other 9th level spells that are an action....that this spell is also worthy of an action? Taken at its core, this spell has several key notes:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It can "automatically" kill anything that has 100 hp or lower. Saves and resistances don't matter.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">This kill can happen the second the creature lowers to 100 hp, aka outside the caster's turn.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Unlike damage, this bypasses going to 0 hp. This means effects like a barbarian's ability to come back from 0 HP, or a spell like death ward, is bypassed.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">We have introduced a few ways to turn off this spell. <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dispel Magic</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Remove Curse.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A contingency type effect or reaction that can heal us should we drop below 100 hp (depending on how your DM rules the order of operations)</li> </ul></li> </ul><p></p><p>Now in terms of "automatic" damage, realistically there are a lot of effects that can provide automatic damage. Magic Missile for example is automatic, and deals on average 58.5 damage in a 9th level slot. Meteor Swarm produces 70 damage on average even on a passed save, and of course can effect many more targets. But on the flipside both of those spells have types that can be resisted (fire easily by many targets). There are ways to adjust energy types to avoid some of that, but its still a factor.</p><p></p><p>The bypassing 0 hp part can be scary against certain creatures, though very few monsters truly have a "come back from 0 hp" mechanic built in.</p><p>Probably the biggest advantage is bypassing death ward, which you would expect many boss monsters with access to spells or spellcasting minions to have access to. When it comes to players though, players have a number of effects that get them back up from 0 hp.... and so I think this spell would look a lot scarier in a villain's hands than the PCs. This is reinforced by the HP disparity, a big boss dragon for example, might have like 250 HP, so the 100 threshold is close to 40% or so of their max health. But a 17th level wizard, 100 hp could actually be nigh close to their maximum.</p><p></p><p>The effect is pretty solid...but it is but a single creature for a single moment. Now that creature is probably a boss monster, I don't think anyone gives a damn if someone uses PWK on a joe schmoe monster. Meteor Swarm can affect a boss and their entire minion entourage, stripping the battlefield of bodies in moments. Or foresight.....which is an 8 hour duration spell.... its hard to overstate how much impact this spell can have over an entire adventuring day.</p><p></p><p>So that is what I keep coming back to. Sure for that one moment against the boss, this spell looks solid. But other spells are no slouch against a boss either AND either last a lot longer or affect many more targets. So can we really say this spell is the equal of those with an action casting time?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Stalker0, post: 9034113, member: 5889"] I appreciate the excellent discussion so far. The main criticisms are concentrated into two areas: [LIST] [*]This spell misses the "instantaneous" flavor of the power word series of spells. [*]The bonus action for this effect is too powerful. [/LIST] The first one I can't argue; I can respect that some people want the power word spells to be a very "one and done" type effect. That said, you could argue spells like Power Word Stun or Pain have ongoing durations (those are save ends), but the "magic" is technically done. So lets focus on the second for a bit. Is the spell effect equivalent enough to other 9th level spells that are an action....that this spell is also worthy of an action? Taken at its core, this spell has several key notes: [LIST] [*]It can "automatically" kill anything that has 100 hp or lower. Saves and resistances don't matter. [*]This kill can happen the second the creature lowers to 100 hp, aka outside the caster's turn. [*]Unlike damage, this bypasses going to 0 hp. This means effects like a barbarian's ability to come back from 0 HP, or a spell like death ward, is bypassed. [*]We have introduced a few ways to turn off this spell. [LIST] [*]Dispel Magic [*]Remove Curse. [*]A contingency type effect or reaction that can heal us should we drop below 100 hp (depending on how your DM rules the order of operations) [/LIST] [/LIST] Now in terms of "automatic" damage, realistically there are a lot of effects that can provide automatic damage. Magic Missile for example is automatic, and deals on average 58.5 damage in a 9th level slot. Meteor Swarm produces 70 damage on average even on a passed save, and of course can effect many more targets. But on the flipside both of those spells have types that can be resisted (fire easily by many targets). There are ways to adjust energy types to avoid some of that, but its still a factor. The bypassing 0 hp part can be scary against certain creatures, though very few monsters truly have a "come back from 0 hp" mechanic built in. Probably the biggest advantage is bypassing death ward, which you would expect many boss monsters with access to spells or spellcasting minions to have access to. When it comes to players though, players have a number of effects that get them back up from 0 hp.... and so I think this spell would look a lot scarier in a villain's hands than the PCs. This is reinforced by the HP disparity, a big boss dragon for example, might have like 250 HP, so the 100 threshold is close to 40% or so of their max health. But a 17th level wizard, 100 hp could actually be nigh close to their maximum. The effect is pretty solid...but it is but a single creature for a single moment. Now that creature is probably a boss monster, I don't think anyone gives a damn if someone uses PWK on a joe schmoe monster. Meteor Swarm can affect a boss and their entire minion entourage, stripping the battlefield of bodies in moments. Or foresight.....which is an 8 hour duration spell.... its hard to overstate how much impact this spell can have over an entire adventuring day. So that is what I keep coming back to. Sure for that one moment against the boss, this spell looks solid. But other spells are no slouch against a boss either AND either last a lot longer or affect many more targets. So can we really say this spell is the equal of those with an action casting time? [/QUOTE]
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