D&D 5E One-shot kills

[Azurewraith]

My only 5e deaths have been from either player stupidity or not taking an ally dropping to 0 seriously and everyone thinking ah it's fine they'll stabilize

 

[MerricB]

My only 5e deaths have been from either player stupidity or not taking an ally dropping to 0 seriously and everyone thinking ah it's fine they'll stabilize

Happened to us the other day, where we weren't actually thinking that, but we were so pressed by the monsters it was "if we save him, we're all dead"... and then he rolled a natural 1...

Cheers!

 

[CapnZapp]

The Assassin NPC can give you a good run for your money.

If she win initiative and achieves surprise against you, you're looking at a possible 17d6 damage in the surprise round alone.

Then it's her turn...

If she hits you with all (four) attacks, and you fail all four Con 15 poison saves, you're looking at a possible 20d6 plus 28d6 damage, or a cool average of ~170 damage

All before you get to act, naturally.

 

[CapnZapp]

Her maximum, assuming four crits, is ((1+4)x2+1x2)x2+7x4 dice = 52 dice.

Whoopsie daisy

 

[cmad1977]

Technically the additional hits beyond 0 hp should have been crits inflicting 2 failed death saves each. This is an annoying feature of the 'no negative hp' rule. Personally I just add up the damage and treat as single-source, that's actually kinder on the PC in most cases.

Hmm.... Oops, guess that's right! Well... Druid barely survived because I didn't want to spend time looking up rules. That's ok.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

I haven't seen many and then just at 1st level with a crit and good rolling. To make things scary I'll often institute a die roll to see if a monster who dropped a PC to zero (making death saves) continues to attack the downed PC (auto lost death saves) or moves on to other targets. This works surprisingly well at all player levels.

 

[Jediking]

Our party was walking up to this decrepit fort to follow clues about some Serpent Cult. DM asks who's marching in front, as my Dwarf Paladin had 20 AC and knowing his style I jumped in. Make a Perception roll-> 15. Good enough, "you see a small flicker of movement on top of the fort, roughly...600 ft away". Uh oh. Assassin shot a longbow with disadvantage, rolled two natural 20s and dropped me in one hit. Party dragged me away and healed me; determined to regain my lost pride I spent all my spell slots Misty-stepping behind rocks on my way to kill the b****, only to find she had ran off. After we entered the fort I let the Ranger take the lead.

Now I don't trust open spaces, as all wise Dwarfs learn.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I'm quite happy that "you're hit, you're dead" is much less a thing in this edition than it was in early editions... but I was wondering how much you've seen it in play.

I run mostly very low level games for conventions and AL, and, thus, see it a lot. It's part of the 'feel of the classic game,' that 5e captures so assiduously. A part that gets old really fast, thus the rapid advancement through Apprentice Tier.

 

[S'mon]

The Assassin NPC can give you a good run for your money.

If she win initiative and achieves surprise against you, you're looking at a possible 17d6 damage in the surprise round alone.

Then it's her turn...

If she hits you with all (four) attacks, and you fail all four Con 15 poison saves, you're looking at a possible 20d6 plus 28d6 damage, or a cool average of ~170 damage

All before you get to act, naturally.

Yeah - I recommend limiting the number of times the poison can take effect. I also don't multiply poison damage with a crit, not sure if that's RAW.

 

[LarryD]

DM'd PotA Saturday night. Big battle at Feathergale Spire. [background] Party decided to infiltrate Air Cult, and had won the trust of Thurl Merroska. To prove their worthiness, he instructed them to sneak into Sacred Stone Monastery and return with the head of Hellenrae. They did. Miraculously (lots of crits, good stealth rolls, etc). Thurl tells them to wait 3 days in Red Larch and he will send for them, after he takes the head to the Air Cult temple and makes the case to have the party fully admitted into the Air Cult.

Play started after those 3 days. Party was ambushed by Earth Cult as they made their way to Feathergale, and they see the tower being attacked by the Earth Cult. Big time reprisal. They barely survive the surprise bulette/burrowshark attack outside the tower. They fight their way to the pinnacle (two separate encounters), where Thurl is battling 3 monks and a Stonemelder. Party helps out, and saves Thurl. But he's pissed, because the Air Cult leader had told him the party were spies sent by Order of the Gauntlet (which they were), so he was about to fight them, along with two surviving knights who were circling the tower on giant vultures.

But....

...just then, bulettes began tunnelling through the foundation of Feathergale Spire. Dexterity saving throws to keep balance. Thurl calls for one of the giant vultures to save him. 3 party members - pretty weakened by this time - decide to cut their losses and go back down the tower steps to escape and fight another day. One party member tries to intimidate Thurl, fails. He ends up two moves behind rest of party. I figured 6 rounds to get from pinnacle, down the steps, thru the main hall, and across the drawbridge to solid ground, with last 3 rounds dex ST at disadv. Party makes it without a single failure. 4th guy failed one ST, and he would have made it had he not also failed on the last round.

So he's under tons of rock in the canyon beneath Feathergale Spire.