D&D 5E Sidekick Death Saves

[beaumontsebos]

Nothing in the sidekick rules mentions death saves for dying sidekicks that I can see.

Is there any official word from Wizard's on this that you know of?

If not, what do you think about allowing death saves for sidekicks? I'm leaning toward allowing it.

 

[DragonBelow]

Sure! I allowed it myself the other day. I was running Phandelver with one player, and a sidekick, and the sidekick succumbed to her wounds, but I didn't want the sidekick to die outright. Tweak to your hearts content, you're supposed to make the game yours.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

The general rule for death saves is that they apply whenever they might matter. It isn't "more correct" for a monster to die instantly at zero HP. It's not an accurate reflection of how their world actually works. It's just a convenient hand-wave, for any situation where the opposing side doesn't possess healing magic.

If a sidekick is on a team that has access to healing magic, then they should gain the benefit of death saves. The same is true of any other NPC.

 

[iserith]

I don't use the specific UA sidekick rules, but if there is an NPC in the company of the party, I sometimes use death saves and sometimes do not. Generally that depends on whether I want there to be a lower or higher difficulty in an ongoing challenge to keep them alive.

 

[Oofta]

The DMG mentions that it's always up to the DM to decide if an NPC gets death saves. Monsters don't usually get them because it's easier.

 

[aco175]

I never track monsters that are below 0hp, but I allow a monster that casts cure mass wounds to 'raise' up roughly half of the downed creatures. Just ad-libing at that point though. I would most likely allow it if the player was running the sidekick in combat and he would track it, otherwise I may just flip a coin when the fight is over if I was controlling him. If I was nice I may telegraph that he is dying and see if the PCs try to aid him when he is down.

 

[Quartz]

Nothing in the sidekick rules mentions death saves for dying sidekicks that I can see.

Do you as DM want the sidekick to die?

 

[Oofta]

You might want to reference the PHB page 198

Monsters and Death​

Most DMs have a monster die the instant it drops to 0 hit points, rather than having it fall unconscious and make death saving throws.​

​

Mighty villains and special nonplayer characters are common exceptions; the DM might have them fall unconscious and follow the same rules as player characters.​

​

I would consider a sidekick a special nonplayer character.

 

[jgsugden]

For those looking for an idea: I have a game mechanic called "God Touched". If you have it, you gain the ability to have death saves, advance in classes at a normal rate, etc... If you do not have it, you advance in casses much slower, you die at -5 HPs (or - your HD hps - which ever is more), etc... It works in the mythos of each of my settings, so it is pretty versatile.

 

[S'mon]

I'd be inclined to give sidekicks death saves.