jgsugden
Legend
If you think that is how this type of thing hits everyone, then you really should consider stepping away from this discussion a while and then putting yourself in the shoes of a player that gets knocked out of the fight without a chance and has to hope that allies provide an opportunity to get back into it. Some players are fine with it. A lot are not. I've seen it at a lot of tables over the years. This isn't really a debate here - this is me telling you I've seen it too much to discount it.Except you don't have no chance, you have allies. The bad guy getting hit has to roll concentration checks to keep that dominate monster up, if your ally who was dominated takes any damage they make a saving throw, someone in the party might be able to dispel the domination effect. This isn't just a "your save is auto failed so now the game is over", the game keeps going with your allies providing assistance and trying to solve the issue in the fight.
And that is a criticism of the power word spells overall.Also, we're in a thread about power word kill, in a high level game if you go up against a lich then your typical wizard or sorcerer is probably dead to a PWK first thing which is probably less fun than your wizard getting dominated for a few rounds.
As a DM, I usually don't use PWK. The other PWs are less of an issue, but I prefer to do other things that create more interesting combats, including spells that alter the battlefield through summoning allies, creating traps or obstacles to be beaten, or otherwise creating dynamics within the battle. When I use PWK, I make sure to broadcast it. The PCs will hear that the enemy has it before they see it. They'll be given a chance to put up defenses. It won't be: See monster. Roll initiative. Now you're dead.