Death due to stat loss.

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Your understanding of how to kill the player throught the application of the rules is almost but not quite correct. You should have reduced the players Hit Points to a minimum of 1 per dice - stat loss cannot reduce it below that. As an example, the rogue could have had 6, 6, 3, 1 as die rolls, applying a -2 bonus would mean a loss of 14 hit points - not 16 hp.

That's not actually true.

When going up a level, you get a minimum of 1 hit point.

After that point, however, the actual roll no longer matters, and the general rule of "Minimum Max HP = HD" holds true.

 

[dcollins]

Original poster ruled correctly. The only thing I'd critique is that 2d6 Con damage doesn't sound like just "tainted water"... that's like double-intensity of pure arsenic (see DMG: Poison).

 

[Infiniti2000]

If I'm not mistaken, the 'tainted water' is from a published module. There is plenty of opportunity to determine that it is very bad and should not be messed with. There's no reason to even mess with it as the pool is not in the way and doesn't block anything. There's no accidental chance of falling into it either. I don't recall if it's called poison (i.e. if poison immunity would protect someone), but that would not be a bad choice.

Yeah, 2d6 Con is a lot, but it's not absurd given the pool's location and where it's found.

 

[The_Fan]

Tomb of horrors, maybe?

And yup, your ruling was right. Even if he was reduced to one HP per HD, he's already lost 18/24. His max was reduced to 8 hp, which is still more than the theoretical 4 minimum. Then he'd lost 18/8, reducing him to -10 and death.

I look at it like this: He was already badly wounded, he was just holding on. Probably got some open wounds, probably a slight limp...by the time you're at 1/3 hp, you're not in good shape. Suddenly, he gets in some horribly toxic water. The open wounds give it a direct pipeline into his system. The fact he's lost so much blood makes him more susceptible to system shock. His liver hemmorhages, he suffers a catastrophic blood pressure drop, and his heart stops beating. Death occurs within seconds.

This is why my cleric has a scroll of "Revivify," aka "magical defibrulator."

 

[Endur]

Actually it was appropriate. It comes from a WOTC module designed for 4th level characters that was written by the author of the DMG. This particular pool of water was flowing off of an evil artifact. The rogue decided to go swimming in evil-polluted water. He got what he deserved.

The level of threat of the trap in the room was not appropriate for the level of the party. A pool in a room is just screaming out "investigate me". That pool isn't "tainted with evil" it's bubbling over with something like pure wyvern venom.
It's something like a CR6-7 trap IMO.

 

[Wrathamon]

I got nailed by two Shadows and they both critted reducing my strength to 0 killing me and turning me into a shadow.

no save either

 

[seans23]

I know exactly the pool of water you are talking about.

So after it happened, was the player aghast?

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Good clean kill, all fair and square.

Anyone who goes around investigating anything odd with less than 50% hit points is asking for instant death. I am old school that way.

3e traps are not nearly as instant deadly as their 1e/2e predescessors. If you take the simple precaution of having full hit points before indulging you curiousity, you are very likely to survive almost every trap you ever meet. No time to learn that lesson like the present.

This trap is harsh insofar as it could have killed a 4th level PC at full hit points. However the Rogue could have easily been attacked by something in the water, dropped unconscious, dragged under, then eaten before anyone blinked. Beasties are pretty common in suspicious looking pools.

 

[Lela]

I got nailed by two Shadows and they both critted reducing my strength to 0 killing me and turning me into a shadow.

no save either

DMG, pg 289
"Strength 0 means that the character cannot move at all. He lies helpless on the gorund."

Con of 0 is the only one that can kill you. The others are just incapacitating. You'll find the effects of the other 4 stats on DMG, pg 289-90.

So after it happened, was the player aghast?

How old is your son?


I'm reminded of a vaguely similar story involving a younger player. The party opens a door and is confronted by what appears to be a human/squid crossbreed. The player, a BBN, decides these guys can't be so tough, doesn't listen to the other players around him, and winds up food.

It happens. Hopefully this will help him develop risk assessment in a fantasy world rather than out with his friends.

 

[3d6]

Shadows have a special ability -- their Strength damage kills.