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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TheAuldGrump" data-source="post: 2127377" data-attributes="member: 6957">Hmmm, first time in a while I have read the FAQ. I see that the Harm spell does in fact still leave the target with 1 HP. I used to have a player who would whine about it every week when I told him that was the case... And he couldn't even cast Harm! And a suggested house rule will be seeing use, eventually...The harm spell deals 10 points of damage per casterlevel (to a maximum of 150 points at 15th level) and cannottake a target’s hit points to less than 1. If the targetcreature makes a successful saving throw, the damage isreduced by half, but the spell still cannot reduce the target’shit points to less than 1. What happens when the spell deals50 points of damage or more to the target (as it might toany creature that has 51 hit points or more)? Does thedeath from massive damage rule apply? What if I have 110hit points and an 11th-level caster casts harm on me? I’lltake 109 points of damage from the spell if I fail my save, or55 points if I make my save, right? In either case, I’ll haveto make a DC 15 Fortitude save to avoid death frommassive damage, right? If my hired lackey, who has 49 hitpoints, receives the same spell, he’ll take either 48 points ofdamage or 24 points. In either case, he’s not subject todeath from massive damage. Is this correct?Technically, that’s right. If you take 50 points of damage(or more) all at once, you’re subject to the death from massivedamage rule (see page 145 in the Player’s Handbook). It makesno difference what the source of that damage is.In the case of the harm spell, the death from massivedamage rule creates a situation that’s arguably absurd, becauseonce you have 51 hit points or more, you suddenly becomesusceptible to instant death from the spell when lesser beings(with fewer hit points) do not. If the situation really bothersyou, you might try one of the following house rules:No Instant Death from Harm Spells: The death frommassive damage rule doesn’t apply to damage inflicted from aharm spell.Expended Instant Death from Harm Spells: Whenever youfail your save against a harm spell, you must make a DC 15Fortitude save or die, no matter how much damage the spellactually deals to you. If your save against a harm spellsucceeds, you still have to make a DC 15 Fortitude save or dieif the spell deals at least 50 points of damage to you.The first unofficial rule should prove easier to rememberand use, and it matches the intent behind the harm spell betterthan the second rule. The second rule, however, provides abetter fit with the death from massive damage rule.The Auld Grump, the first house rule, not the second...</blockquote>

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