D&D 5E LIFE DRAIN (Specter, Wraith, Wight, et al)

[WarpedAcorn]

In any case, I'd love to hear others' opinions. Am I right or wrong? Why?

Thanks in advance...

-IG

As the DM, you are right no matter which way you rule so long as its consistent. However, having just had a Wraith and Wight both Life Drain several players in my own campaign this past weekend (one being a crit by the Wraith for 27 damage), the players regained the Drained HP with the Long Rest and were able to heal it as well.

As ad_hoc mentioned, a Long Rest is supposed to dispel tension so I don't think the intention of the Drain Life feature is to continue putting the player at a disadvantage. In fact, if he wanted to be really cheesy he could have simply said that immediately after the Long Rest he did a Short Rest and rolled to regain HP there (especially since the Long Rest probably took more than 8 hours in-game time).

As for the Drain Life being meaningful, trust me, even if you think they were never in danger, the player has been worrying about that missing life. You might know the next encounter wouldn't be enough to do him in, but the player is only thinking, "I have no idea what's around that corner and now a single swing from a common longsword can put me down".

 

[industrygothica]

Wow.. I certainly appreciate the all the feedback, and look forward to reading more. I will add, though, that none of my players complained about my decision. Quite the opposite, actually. I couldn't ask for a better group.

In this particular situation, the PCs were in a great position to take a long rest immediately after the encounter; it was the first rest they'd taken in the entire adventure. I would imagine if I threw another specter at them right after the rest, things would be a little more tense since they wouldn't have the ability to immediately counter the effects by resting. Interesting perspectives either way, I think.


-IG

 

[Rune]

To me, the really scary thing about life draining enemies is when you use them in packs. Because those effects do stack, it's very easy to take a character's maximum hp down to 0, which is auto-death. And, even if you don't get knocked down that far, walking around or trying to get a good night's sleep with, say, 2 hp is still unnerving. A hit that dealt 4 damage would kill that character outright!

 

[GuardianLurker]

All of this has raised a question I haven't seen answered in the FAQs yet (or I missed the details): A character with a 20 hp maximum and 5 points of damage (15/20) is hit by a lifedraining attack for 10 hp. Is the characters' hp total now 10/10? 5/10?

 

[Gadget]

I think this is cool interpretation, but I'm not sure if it is RAI. In either case, since the affected PC regained all hit dice, he/she could spend those hit dice by immediately taking a short rest and regaining at least some of the missing HP.

GaurdianLurker: The answer to your question would be 5/10.

 

[jaelis]

All of this has raised a question I haven't seen answered in the FAQs yet (or I missed the details): A character with a 20 hp maximum and 5 points of damage (15/20) is hit by a lifedraining attack for 10 hp. Is the characters' hp total now 10/10? 5/10?

The character would be at 5/10. He took 10 points of damage, so he has 5 points left. And his max was reduced by 10.

Regarding the OP's question, I would play that all the hp are regained after the rest. But like others have said I don't think your interpretation is out of bounds.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Regarding the OP's question, I would play that all the hp are regained after the rest. .

That seems to be the RAI, and goes along with the "long rests reset everything" general rule.

 

[Lidgar]

I think if the intention was that the hp max could not be achieved until after finishing a long rest, it would have been worded that way.

But hey, I like your take as well - certainly makes it more deadly. Especially considering the death by massive damage rules...

 

[LordEntrails]

As others have said, I would have just had everything reset after the long rest. But, also as others have said, I like your ruling. I would allow them to use hit die to heal following the long rest (or other healing), but that would put them down for future use.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I think if the intention was that the hp max could not be achieved until after finishing a long rest, it would have been worded that way.

.

Um...it is worded that way.