Am I being a nice DM, hitting PCs when they are down

[Elder-Basilisk]

It seems to me that there are really only a couple of situations where it makes sense for villains to attack downed PCs.

1. They attacked out of hunger. A hungry roc might very well down one PC and take the body back to its lair to eat. Ditto for a troll, owlbear, dire bear, leopard, etc.

2. They're a cleric with the death knell spell. (And they don't have anything better to cast). Said cleric buffs himself at the same time as he kills his foe.

3. There is a high likelihood that the character will be back in the fray in short order. An NPC might well coup de grace a PC in the grips of a Command:die or Hold Person spell since the PC will be back in the fight in short order should the NPC not down them. On the other hand, a halfling cut down in the middle of an obscuring mist with no cleric in sight is a waste of time.

4. The NPC really has nothing better to do. For instance, a hasted evil cleric with no ranged weapons and no long range spells alone on a boat with a paralyzed barbarian next to him and several archers on a nearby boat. He really has nothing better to do than CDG the barbarian and he'll have to do it later anyway.

In most other situations there doesn't seem to be any reason to CDG. I know that my characters rarely CDG their foes. . . .

 

[bloodymage]

Depends on the enemy. I recently had an ettin who was absolutely determined to tear the dwarf into itty-bitty pieces. He died because of it. He could very well have killed the whole party, he just wasn't bright enough to see past his hatred. A powerful hungry animal? Munch time! An intelligent opponent? If he can, he'll take out the biggest threat first. Permanently. All depends on the adversary and the circumstances. Most of the time, I'd say my baddies just want to get the good guy down long enough to take care of the next threat. Not always, though.

PS: The dwarf went down in a military saddle. His horse saved him. The dwarf lived.

Edit: Added PS

 

[Rashak Mani]

DONT DO IT !!

As a player I just hate it ! Monsters can take bleeding PCs as prisoner or kill them later... doesnt make much sense and it also pisses of players... or me as a player.