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I know that the feat allows for non-lethal damage but is it still possible to kill by doing soooo much non-lethal damage that it piles up to 2 or 3 times (or more) of the target's HP?
I'm asking because I'm considering getting it and/or the metamagic rod and am wondering if a 8d6 merciful fireball can still kill or not.
Yes, non-lethal damage can kill if you stack up enough of it. Once a character takes his maximum HP total in non-lethal damage, all additional non-lethal becomes lethal.
Edit: Left out an important word
You CAN dial down the damage of your spells. You can choose to cast a spell at a lower caster level, if that caster level is sufficient to cast the spell. So, a 20th level wizard could cast a 5d6 Fireball if he so chose. The average damage from that is 16.5, so even a level 1 commoner should survive.
Actually, you could choose to cast your Merciful Fireball at a lower caster level so long as you don't reduce it too low. If you were a wizard, for example, you could cast Fireball at a caster level as low as 5 (since that is the minimum level for a wizard to have access to that spell). This is a rule that doesn't get used much since you usually want maximum damage/duration/range etc. but if you are trying to take prisoners, it can certainly be useful.