Power Word Kill: Error or Misunderstanding.


Rules Discussion


So this is a weird issue I'm stumbling on with targeting 15th level enemy with Power Word Kill.

It states:

"15th: If the target has 50 Hit Points or fewer, it dies instantly; otherwise, it drops to 0 Hit Points and becomes dying 1, or increases its dying condition by 1 if it’s already dying."

The stumbling block I'm hitting with the final line. Unless I'm missing something, if you currently have the dying condition, you should be at 0 hp, which means that the first qualifier (sub 50 hp) should trigger first, rather than simply increasing the dying condition.

By my reading his creates a weird grey area where if a creature is already "dying" it wouldn't instantly die but would instead simply increase it's dying value by 1.

I tried looking for any FAQ or Errata on this and didn't see anything, so I figured I'd come here and ask.


If the target has 50 hitpoints or fewer (including if it has 0 HP and is dying), then you never evaluate the second part of the spell at all, since that's what happens if the first condition is false.

So, they die - unless there's a way to have the dying condition but be at 50 HP or more (I think there's some abilities that let you remain conscious when dying, but I don't know if any allow this), you'll never use that part of the spell.


FowlJ wrote:

If the target has 50 hitpoints or fewer (including if it has 0 HP and is dying), then you never evaluate the second part of the spell at all, since that's what happens if the first condition is false.

So, they die - unless there's a way to have the dying condition but be at 50 HP or more (I think there's some abilities that let you remain conscious when dying, but I don't know if any allow this), you'll never use that part of the spell.

That was pretty much how I was thinking it would occur, which is why I'm confused why the last part is included. Perhaps some kind of future proofing or covering of bases? One of my friends suggested that it was an error and they meant to put "wounded" instead of dying on the last part but it seemed redundant with the rules for wounded itself.

Horizon Hunters

It's covering an edge case that's not currently possible, where you have the dying condition and also you have over 50 HP. A lot of rules make no sense currently but are there for future proofing.

Just ignore it. If it's ever relevant, then we don't need to make threads about it in the future.


Hmm, this does seem odd at first glance, but it could also be to address creatures with abilities like Regeneration. Flat increasing a dying condition to 4 could outright kill the likes of a troll or a Linnorm, even though their dying condition can't normally increase beyond 3 without having their Regeneration turned off.

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