Quote from: Hydra009 on December 10, 2023, 06:57:53 PMTo be fair, it's a 9th level spell.  By that time, you should definitely have that much hp.

Also, 9th level spells are supposed to be devastating.  Meteor storm is a 9th level that does way more than 100 hp in aoe damage.

It just seems like if you're in a situation where that spell could be used against a player, it's going to come off as a bit unfair. I see the GM's roll as finding a balance between providing challenge and avoiding having your monsters just steamroll through the party. Insta-kill magic leans on the latter half, and I only see it being used fairly as a punishment for being really, really stupid. Like challenging the clear Big Bad way too early.

Quote from: Blackleaf on December 14, 2023, 02:16:00 PMIt just seems like if you're in a situation where that spell could be used against a player, it's going to come off as a bit unfair. I see the GM's roll as finding a balance between providing challenge and avoiding having your monsters just steamroll through the party. Insta-kill magic leans on the latter half, and I only see it being used fairly as a punishment for being really, really stupid. Like challenging the clear Big Bad way too early.

Fair enough.  It's interesting to me that there are lots of spells and tactics that would be fair for the PCs to use on the NPCs, but not vice versa.  Death magic, focus-firing the squishiest member first, stunning, etc.  Because these things are fun when the PCs do it to NPCs but not vice versa and the goal of the game is of course for the players to have fun.

And also because the PCs normally face vast amounts of NPCs over the course of their character's career but not vice versa, so NPCs inherently get the advantage because they're incentivized to go all out, using all their potions and hitting the red button, while PCs generally don't get nearly as much benefit from such desperate tactics because they have to fight multiple battles while the NPCs usually only fight once.  I call this inherent imbalance between NPCs and PCs "the grenade dilemma" (I'm still work-shopping it).

Imagine two armies armed solely with one grenade per person - PCs take control of one army while the NPCs control the other.  Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.  Well, not quite.  The NPCs are incentivized to use all their grenades with reckless abandon while the PCs have to be careful because this battle is only one in a long series of battles.  All else being equal, the PCs are at a disadvantage.

Death saving throws are another example of imbalance between PCs and NPCs. When an enemy hits zero hit points, they're dead. Super simple. But if a PC dies, then they start rolling death saving throws, giving them a chance to recover. It's not totally realistic, but if your odds were 50/50 each encounter, you wouldn't get far in a campaign.

Well, i've seen matches in which the dm had the pc enemies roll death saving throws.
Of course, if your hero then walks up and puts another arrow or two into the bastard, they are finished regardless.
And as for commoner-npc's, if they get hit with like, i dunno, 18 damage, they are out of death saving throw range, aren't they?

Quote from: Mr.Obvious on December 15, 2023, 01:17:16 PMWell, i've seen matches in which the dm had the pc enemies roll death saving throws.
Of course, if your hero then walks up and puts another arrow or two into the bastard, they are finished regardless.
And as for commoner-npc's, if they get hit with like, i dunno, 18 damage, they are out of death saving throw range, aren't they?

I always assume that commoners are dead as a doornail unless they're on the far edge of a blast or the villain is intentionally trying to merely wound them.

At the end of the day, D&D is more story than simulation and so redshirts get killed off without much concern and don't normally merit dice rolls.

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