D&D 5E Death and Dying in 5e

[Lidgar]

I have seen a number of comments on these fine forums over the years since 5e has been out that death and dying is a bit too...how to put it...PC friendly. As in, not deadly enough.

I find this interesting, as that has not been my experience thus far, at least when compared to more recent editions of the game. In fact, I have not noticed much if any drop off in the frequency in PC deaths between 3e and 5e in our group (our group skipped 4e), although it is certainly more forgiving than 1e or 2e. We all take turns DM'ing, so I don't think this has to do with DM play style.

Healing, yes, it is very different and more "forgiving" than any prior edition we played IMO.

In the campaign we are currently running, we have had three player deaths so far (the party is 6th level). One at about 3rd level, and two at 6th level. The death at 3rd and one of the deaths at 6th level were due to blown death saves. One of those was accelerated by area affect spells causing the auto fail of a save, as damage was caused when the PC was at 0.

The most recent (6th level) death was from massive damage. A critical hit from a chromatic orb spell cast at 6th level. Over 70 hp created a rather large hole in the sorcerer's chest.

Curious to hear other's take on death and dying in 5e. Too easy? Too hard? Just right?

And of course, feel free to post your grisly death stories.

 

[mellored]

I think there should more of a penalty for dropping, but i also don't like death as the penalty or a death spiral.

 

[robus]

I think there should more of a penalty for dropping, but i also don't like death as the penalty or a death spiral.

Hmm interesting point. Might be good to put a dropped player at the maximum exhaustion level 5 (speed 0) after they've stabilized? But players also hate to be out of the action for too long...

 

[The Crimson Binome]

In the campaign we are currently running, we have had three player deaths so far (the party is 6th level). One at about 3rd level, and two at 6th level. The death at 3rd and one of the deaths at 6th level were due to blown death saves. One of those was accelerated by area affect spells causing the auto fail of a save, as damage was caused when the PC was at 0.

It certainly doesn't help (from a lethality standpoint) that those level 6 deaths could be reversed with a simple Revivify, where earlier editions would have required a Raise Dead.

My experience with 5E is that characters have so many HP, and so much healing, that they rarely get to the point of even rolling death saves. Once it gets that far, though, they are still unlikely to die unless someone is making a focused effort to attack them while they're down. As the saying goes, you should never count on anyone failing a save.

 

[mellored]

Hmm interesting point. Might be good to put a dropped player at the maximum exhaustion level 5 (speed 0) after they've stabilized? But players also hate to be out of the action for too long...

Exactly the issue.

How do you add more to dropping, without slowing a player down?

 

[Lanliss]

Exactly the issue.

How do you add more to dropping, without slowing a player down?

When stabilized you return with temp HP equal to your character level, and cannot gain real HP until you have taken a short or long rest?

 

[Sunseeker]

When stabilized you return with temp HP equal to your character level, and cannot gain real HP until you have taken a short or long rest?

Would it make any difference if it was temp or real HP?

I get the thematic reasons behind using temp HP, you're pushing yourself forward after suffering a terrible blow. It's all adrenaline. As soon as you stop for a rest, it goes away.

 

[Lanliss]

Would it make any difference if it was temp or real HP?

I get the thematic reasons behind using temp HP, you're pushing yourself forward after suffering a terrible blow. It's all adrenaline. As soon as you stop for a rest, it goes away.

It also means that, until you rest, you are not getting any extra pushes. You are just about tapped out, and your body won't push much further, as opposed to normal HP, which would allow you to be healed and work like new again. It would also be much scarier, seeing a 0 in your HP, and a small 10 keeping you away from that 0.

 

[thalmin]

I think there should more of a penalty for dropping, but i also don't like death as the penalty or a death spiral.

I'm thinking of trying out a new twist. For each failed death save, pick up a level of exhaustion.

 

[Mouseferatu]

We've been doing "a level of exhaustion each time you drop to 0 hit points," and it's been working fairly well. Usually any given character only drops once per game, though we did have one freak occurrence where one character had three levels of exhaustion due to constantly dropping to 0 and being healed, then being dropped again.