The amount of damage for instant kill is your current HP + your max HP. If you take that damage, you die. If you take less but would be 0 or less HP, you become 0 HP, dying and start making death saves.
So, if Bob's current HP is 1 and his Max HP is 13 and he took 14 or more damage - he's dead. No Death Saving Throws. Just dead.
If Bob was down to 0 HP and had two successes on Death Saving Throws but then took 13 damage - he doesn't making a new Death Save. He just dies because being in a dying state doesn't prevent the instant death rule of current + max HP damage in one go = instant death.
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And I'm OK with this rule, personally. If memory serves it's a lot more forgiving than previous editions. However, no matter the level, as a DM I have all the power to make any death into a new quest. Maybe the character's soul was taken to the Hells and made a deal with the devil in order to be returned. Maybe, instead, their soul crossed paths with a celestial being who agreed to return them in exchange for a holy deed. Or maybe there was a necromancer interested in the party and later that night the character is brought back under their power and so the party needs to help them do things for this necromancer while trying to find a way to free their friend? Perhaps a kindly passing druid used Reincarnate so now they're back but in a different body and so begins a journey to return to who they were.
The "death = end" is a baffling mentality. If the player wants to keep playing that character, there is always a way to do so and it's just an opportunity to explore new quests and lore. It could be the houserule that everyone gets a 'Get Out of Death Free' card, where on character death without immediate access to resurrection, they get to have that one chance to keep playing - with an introduced story element, but next time they die, oh that'll take more than any resurrection spell. This way they get a moment to freely cheat death but at risk of losing the ability to be resurrected by ordinary spells (not even True Rez) - so if they die again, they'll need a temp character as the group goes on a journey to resolve the res-block and get their friend back.
That's what I would do, personally. But every DM is different. Some say "well, they dead, roll new character", others would alter the rules to ensure survival, others create new story elements around a deus ex machina event. All are valid.
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It's tricky to figure it all out. You have a 1st level Barbarian with 13 hp. I'm going to call this character "Bob". Hi Bob!
At first level, it takes 26 hit points done in one shot to flat out kill poor Bob.
Yes. Bob is dead dead in this case.
If Bob only has one hit point, and takes 14, it's time to take that first Death Check
Nope. Bob is again dead dead. When Bob is at 1 hit point and takes 14 this is enough to take him to -13 hit points which is his normal hit point maximum and he is again dead dead.
If Bob only has one hit point, and takes 5, he would need to take that first Death Check, but wait! There is more!
Nope. If Bob is at 1 hit point and takes 5 hit points he is reduced to 0 hit points and has to make a death saving throw on his turn. The death saving throw is not made until his turn comes around.
Bob got hit for 8 more. The rules say that no matter how many times they take damage, their hit points don't go below zero. Time for a Death Check.
If Bob is at zero hit points and gets hit for 8 more points then he is still at zero hit points and receives an AUTOMATIC death saving throw failure.
Furthermore, if Bob is already at zero hit points, they are unconscious - the character is prone on the ground, attack rolls against the creature have advantage AND if the attacker is within 5' then EVERY hit is automatically a critical hit. A critical hit AUTOMATICALLY counts as two failed death saving throws. So if Bob takes the 8 damage from an attacker within 5 feet then they have 2 automatic failed death saves.
If they are hit again while unconscious it will cause additional auto failed death saving throws and the character will again be dead dead. In addition, if the attack happened to do 13 points of damage or more, they would again be dead dead.
Good thing that Hobgoblin didn't get a crit! 2d8+4d6 averages 23. They only need to do 3 more, and with a minimum of 6 and a max of 40, Bob is probably Dead, Dead, Dead.
I'll send flowers for Bob, or whatever name they really had.
Yes, from a DM perspective it can be best to move the characters to second level as soon as they reasonably can since it will significantly reduce (but not eliminate) the chance of characters being insta killed by "lucky" monster rolls.
It's tricky to figure it all out. You have a 1st level Barbarian with 13 hp. I'm going to call this character "Bob". Hi Bob!
At first level, it takes 26 hit points done in one shot to flat out kill poor Bob.
If Bob only has one hit point, and takes 14, it's time to take that first Death Check
If Bob only has one hit point, and takes 5, he would need to take that first Death Check, but wait! There is more!
Bob got hit for 8 more. The rules say that no matter how many times they take damage, their hit points don't go below zero. Time for a Death Check.
Good thing that Hobgoblin didn't get a crit! 2d8+4d6 averages 23. They only need to do 3 more, and with a minimum of 6 and a max of 40, Bob is probably Dead, Dead, Dead.
I'll send flowers for Bob, or whatever name they really had.
As many of the replies above state, that's incorrect. If a single hit drops you to negative your max hit points, you are instantly killed. If you're an 80 hit points level 8 fighter, you don't need to be hit for 160 hit points to kill you outright. If you're on 1 hit point, and are hit for 81, then you're instantly dead. This is RAW. Therefore:
At first level, it takes 26 hit points done in one shot to flat out kill poor Bob if Bob is on maximum hit points.
If Bob only has one hit point, and takes 14, he's instantly killed. The only condition for instant death is that a blow would put you to negative your max.
If Bob is on 1 and gets hit for 5, he goes to zero. Next turn he'll be on death saving throws.
Bob didn't get hit for 8 more, the 8 more is included in the initial attack.
Personally I think that level 1 is the perfect time to kill off characters, since the player won't be all that attached to them.
Rolling up those stats sounds interesting, but I doubt that it's going to be fun for long. Balance is designed around having made logical choices with your stats. A paladin with -2 strength is going to be useless later in the game, and level ups will be spent correcting bad rolls, rather than powering up the character. Personally I'd suicide my 5 strength paladin and hope for better luck the next time.
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The amount of damage for instant kill is your current HP + your max HP. If you take that damage, you die. If you take less but would be 0 or less HP, you become 0 HP, dying and start making death saves.
So, if Bob's current HP is 1 and his Max HP is 13 and he took 14 or more damage - he's dead. No Death Saving Throws. Just dead.
If Bob was down to 0 HP and had two successes on Death Saving Throws but then took 13 damage - he doesn't making a new Death Save. He just dies because being in a dying state doesn't prevent the instant death rule of current + max HP damage in one go = instant death.
-
And I'm OK with this rule, personally. If memory serves it's a lot more forgiving than previous editions. However, no matter the level, as a DM I have all the power to make any death into a new quest. Maybe the character's soul was taken to the Hells and made a deal with the devil in order to be returned. Maybe, instead, their soul crossed paths with a celestial being who agreed to return them in exchange for a holy deed. Or maybe there was a necromancer interested in the party and later that night the character is brought back under their power and so the party needs to help them do things for this necromancer while trying to find a way to free their friend? Perhaps a kindly passing druid used Reincarnate so now they're back but in a different body and so begins a journey to return to who they were.
The "death = end" is a baffling mentality. If the player wants to keep playing that character, there is always a way to do so and it's just an opportunity to explore new quests and lore. It could be the houserule that everyone gets a 'Get Out of Death Free' card, where on character death without immediate access to resurrection, they get to have that one chance to keep playing - with an introduced story element, but next time they die, oh that'll take more than any resurrection spell. This way they get a moment to freely cheat death but at risk of losing the ability to be resurrected by ordinary spells (not even True Rez) - so if they die again, they'll need a temp character as the group goes on a journey to resolve the res-block and get their friend back.
That's what I would do, personally. But every DM is different. Some say "well, they dead, roll new character", others would alter the rules to ensure survival, others create new story elements around a deus ex machina event. All are valid.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Yes. Bob is dead dead in this case.
Nope. Bob is again dead dead. When Bob is at 1 hit point and takes 14 this is enough to take him to -13 hit points which is his normal hit point maximum and he is again dead dead.
Nope. If Bob is at 1 hit point and takes 5 hit points he is reduced to 0 hit points and has to make a death saving throw on his turn. The death saving throw is not made until his turn comes around.
If Bob is at zero hit points and gets hit for 8 more points then he is still at zero hit points and receives an AUTOMATIC death saving throw failure.
Furthermore, if Bob is already at zero hit points, they are unconscious - the character is prone on the ground, attack rolls against the creature have advantage AND if the attacker is within 5' then EVERY hit is automatically a critical hit. A critical hit AUTOMATICALLY counts as two failed death saving throws. So if Bob takes the 8 damage from an attacker within 5 feet then they have 2 automatic failed death saves.
If they are hit again while unconscious it will cause additional auto failed death saving throws and the character will again be dead dead. In addition, if the attack happened to do 13 points of damage or more, they would again be dead dead.
Yes, from a DM perspective it can be best to move the characters to second level as soon as they reasonably can since it will significantly reduce (but not eliminate) the chance of characters being insta killed by "lucky" monster rolls.
As many of the replies above state, that's incorrect. If a single hit drops you to negative your max hit points, you are instantly killed. If you're an 80 hit points level 8 fighter, you don't need to be hit for 160 hit points to kill you outright. If you're on 1 hit point, and are hit for 81, then you're instantly dead. This is RAW. Therefore:
Personally I think that level 1 is the perfect time to kill off characters, since the player won't be all that attached to them.
Rolling up those stats sounds interesting, but I doubt that it's going to be fun for long. Balance is designed around having made logical choices with your stats. A paladin with -2 strength is going to be useless later in the game, and level ups will be spent correcting bad rolls, rather than powering up the character. Personally I'd suicide my 5 strength paladin and hope for better luck the next time.