D&D General 0 HP Magic Missile = Death?

[Stalker0]

This is a debate literally as old as 5e itself. At this point you have a couple of “quasi official” sources that says it’s separate damage, and that’s about it. In classic “rulings not rules” scenario, wotc has never decreed the “absolute raw” take.

Play it as you see fit

 

[Paul Farquhar]

If they abort one missile, they would have to abort them prior to damage being rolled, otherwise they all do damage at the same time and it's too late.

True, I wouldn't allow it if the player rolled all the dice together.

An alternative approach would be to allow magic missiles to do non-lethal damage. Yes, I know it's not RAW and I don't care.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Why does it matter whether they're simultaneous or not?

Consider this. The wizard casts magic missile, upcast to level 2. They roll 2, 2, 2, 5 for damage. The target has 5 hp.

If the 5 damage is applied first, the target is dead. If a 2 is applied first, the target is still alive. If the damage is added together then applied, the target is alive.

 

[MarkB]

Consider this. The wizard casts magic missile, upcast to level 2. They roll 2, 2, 2, 5 for damage. The target has 5 hp.

If the 5 damage is applied first, the target is dead. If a 2 is applied first, the target is still alive. If the damage is added together then applied, the target is alive.

Luck of the draw, then.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Luck of the draw, then.

But if the attack is simultaneous there is no "draw". There is no way to say if the 5 hit first or the 2 hit first.

 

[Reynard]

But if the attack is simultaneous there is no "draw". There is no way to say if the 5 hit first or the 2 hit first.

You have to make concessions to the realities of play. Just roll and apply the damage dice one at a time.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

You have to make concessions to the realities of play. Just roll and apply the damage dice one at a time.

So the realities of play mean it can't be simultaneous. Which was my point. Simultaneous does not work in this situation.

 

[Reynard]

So the realities of play mean it can't be simultaneous. Which was my point. Simultaneous does not work in this situation.

No. In the real world, we can't differentiate in the way you want, so we roll each die separately and in order and apply the damage. because we are playing a game. I don't understand the difficulty. If the question is "how do we know which damage to apply first" the bleedingly obvious answer is "in the order they were rolled."

 

[Paul Farquhar]

No. In the real world, we can't differentiate in the way you want, so we roll each die separately and in order and apply the damage. because we are playing a game. I don't understand the difficulty. If the question is "how do we know which damage to apply first" the bleedingly obvious answer is "in the order they were rolled."

All four dice where rolled together. Because that's what simultaneous means. Also, because that's the the way it works on a VTT, unless you insist that they are NOT simultaneous.

The thing that is "bleedingly obvious" here is that RAW does not work in this situation.

 

[Dausuul]

Consider this. The wizard casts magic missile, upcast to level 2. They roll 2, 2, 2, 5 for damage. The target has 5 hp.

If the 5 damage is applied first, the target is dead. If a 2 is applied first, the target is still alive. If the damage is added together then applied, the target is alive.

Interestingly, if you apply both of Crawford's rulings here, they solve this problem.

Ruling #1: Each missile counts as a single instance of damage.
Ruling #2: You roll a single die and use that damage for each of the missiles.

Since the damage is the same for each missile, it doesn't matter what order you apply them in.