Coup de grace = death effect?

[Gabriel Albasombria]

Hello everyone:

is it coup de grace a death effect?

Thank you very much

[Talcrion]

I wouldn't say so myself, no more than getting stabbed in the face with a sword is..... , I've never seen anything stating that it is a death effect. But lets see if anyone corrects me ^_^.

[Thymus Vulgaris]

I'm pretty sure it isn't.

[Gabriel Albasombria]

If if it is not a death effect and you die...can you restore to life with a breath of life spell?

[Ipslore the Red]

It's not a death effect unless it explicitly says it has, whether through a spell's descriptor or "this is a death effect."

Yes, breath of life works.

[Duiker]

No, because if you die due to coup de grace (i.e. fail the fort save), you are not at negative something hit points, you're just dead. For instance, you could still have fifty hit points left and "die" in a coup de grace. Breath of life gets you back hit points, it doesn't fix dead dead.

[Gabriel Albasombria]

and if breath of life works, how? You die for one hit point and you can restore to life healing with breath of life?

[Gabriel Albasombria]

im agree duiker

[Thymus Vulgaris]

I think we are meant to assume that when you fail your save to a CDG, your HP immediately drops to an amount equal to your negative con.

No, this isn't RAW, but neither is claiming that CDG is a death effect when it doesn't say so anywhere.

[The Beard]

CDG is in fact not a death effect. It is no different than being slain through any other mundane means, be it a fireball or simply a critical hit from a scythe. The only difference is that you're driving it into their heart, brain stem, etc. if you choose to CDG. Hence the fortitude save to avoid death.

[Rikkan]

Thymus Vulgaris wrote:

I think we are meant to assume that when you fail your save to a CDG, your HP immediately drops to an amount equal to your negative con.

No, this isn't RAW, but neither is claiming that CDG is a death effect when it doesn't say so anywhere.

Actually, it is RAW.

phb wrote:

In case it matters, a dead character, no matter how he died, has hit points equal to or less than his negative Constitution score.

[Thymus Vulgaris]

Oh, neat. It didn't say anything about what happens to your current hit points under CDG and I couldn't be bothered to go looking for a rule that may or may not be there. Thanks for finding it.

[Duiker]

Thanks Rikkan, I never saw that. Learn something new everyday.

[Rynjin]

Duiker wrote:

Breath of life...doesn't fix dead.

...

Breath of Life wrote:

Unlike other spells that heal damage, breath of life can bring recently slain creatures back to life. If cast upon a creature that has died within 1 round, apply the healing from this spell to the creature. If the healed creature's hit point total is at a negative amount less than its Constitution score, it comes back to life and stabilizes at its new hit point total. If the creature's hit point total is at a negative amount equal to or greater than its Constitution score, the creature remains dead. Creatures brought back to life through breath of life gain a temporary negative level that lasts for 1 day.

[digitalpacman]

It's is a death effect, and can't be used to kill creatures with regeneration. They still take the full damage, but do not drop so -con in hp. No where does it say that coup does that to you, it says you die. Any effect that says "you die" means it's a death effect. That is what "death effect" means. It means it applies death no matter the circumstance.

If you look up coup de grace and creatures with regen you'll see the rulings.

[Ipslore the Red]

No, digitalpacman, that is not what a death effect is. There has been a thread on this. Death effects are spells with the death descriptor and anything else that explicitly says it is a death effect. Death effect is a game term and is not used as its normal English meaning.

[Drake Brimstone]

There was a nice long thread about this a while back. First of all, CDG is NOT a death effect. Second, if you die due to a CDG but have positive HP, your HP is reduced to negative your Con. Breath of Life can bring you back after a CDG.