If you go below 0 HP, let's say -5, and you roll 1 success and 1 failed death save. Then get stabilized by another person. If you get hit when you're unconscious, but stabilized https://9apps.ooo/ do you immediately fail two death saves, which would be 3 total and you're dead?
Also another question, how does a party without any healing get a stabilized unconscious person with 0 hp back into fighting? Short rest?
There is no “below 0 HP.” Once you’re at 0, you can’t get any lower than that.
Once you’re stabilized, you’re stable. That means two things:
Your death saves reset to 0:0.
If you get hit you start making death saves all over again with 1. You wouldn’t automatically fail 2 death saves because you weren’t making death saves at the time you got hit since you were stable.
Once you are stable, you will automatically wake up with 1 HP after 1d4 hours.
How can a party without a healer expedite a creature’s healing? Pour a potion of healing into the creature as an Action. That can even be done to heal a person who is making death saves.
If you get hit you start making death saves all over again with 1. You wouldn’t automatically fail 2 death saves because you weren’t making death saves at the time you got hit since you were stable.
Not really correct. A stable creature still is still unconcious and still has 0 hp. Any creature with 0hp fails a death save if they are hit by an attack and fail two if it is a critical. If the attack is from within 5ft any hit is a crit resulting in two failed saves but ranged attacks and damage from things other than attack rolls will result in a single fail
If you get hit you start making death saves all over again with 1. You wouldn’t automatically fail 2 death saves because you weren’t making death saves at the time you got hit since you were stable.
Not really correct. A stable creature still is still unconcious and still has 0 hp. Any creature with 0hp fails a death save if they are hit by an attack and fail two if it is a critical. If the attack is from within 5ft any hit is a crit resulting in two failed saves but ranged attacks and damage from things other than attack rolls will result in a single fail
I don’t think that’s true. Yes, a creature at 0 hit points fails a death save if it takes damage, but stable creatures explicitly do not make death saves, an exception to the prior rule. The text isn’t entirely clear, but I believe the intent is that a stable creature who takes further damage gets no immediate death saves, just as if it had been at 1 hit point. It just has to start making death saves again when its turn comes up (or if it takes further damage now that it’s no longer stable).
"Whenever you start your turn with 0 hit points, you must make a special saving throw, called a death saving throw,"
"Damage at 0 Hit Points. If you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. If the damage is from a critical hit, you suffer two failures instead. If the damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, you suffer instant death."
"A stable creature doesn’t make death saving throws, even though it has 0 hit points, but it does remain unconscious. The creature stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again, if it takes any damage."
The rules refer to "The damage at 0 hit points" not a creature at 0 hit points that isn't stable. There is also no referance to only being able to suffer death saving throws due to a hit after you have taken a death saving throw. A stable create does not need to make death saving throws but there is nowhere in the rules that say a stable creature can not suffer death saving throw failures and that would be required for the "damage at 0 hit points" rule to be negated.
A stable create does not need to make death saving throws but there is nowhere in the rules that say a stable creature can not suffer death saving throw failures and that would be required for the "damage at 0 hit points" rule to be negated.
You can't fail a death save if you're not making death saves.
If you get hit you start making death saves all over again with 1. You wouldn’t automatically fail 2 death saves because you weren’t making death saves at the time you got hit since you were stable.
Not really correct. A stable creature still is still unconcious and still has 0 hp. Any creature with 0hp fails a death save if they are hit by an attack and fail two if it is a critical. If the attack is from within 5ft any hit is a crit resulting in two failed saves but ranged attacks and damage from things other than attack rolls will result in a single fail
I think you misread Sposta's post. The OP asked if a creature was at 0 hp, then failed a death save, then was made stable, then got hit - do they now have 2 death saves and start making death saves again? Sposta clarified, correctly, that you don't. Sposta is saying the death saves reset when you become stable, and if you take damage you fail a death save and now make death saves on your turn, with 1 failed save in total already on the counter.
Which is 100% correct with rules, and your post actually agrees with.
Basically you've said Sposta wasn't correct then said the same thing as Sposta just phrased differently. The only thing you're focusing more on is that there is potential for 2 failed death saves on criticals, which neither OP or Sposta were discussing as they're on about the general Death Save Count ruling.
A stable create does not need to make death saving throws but there is nowhere in the rules that say a stable creature can not suffer death saving throw failures and that would be required for the "damage at 0 hit points" rule to be negated.
You can't fail a death save if you're not making death saves.
Yes, you can. Even if stable at 0 hit points, if you take damage you immediately fail a death saving throw and must start making more death saves at the start of your turns. The benefit is that the death save counter was reset when you became stable, so that failed death save (be it 1 or 2) won't kill you (if the damage wasn't enough for instant death).
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A stable create does not need to make death saving throws but there is nowhere in the rules that say a stable creature can not suffer death saving throw failures and that would be required for the "damage at 0 hit points" rule to be negated.
You can't fail a death save if you're not making death saves.
Yes, you can. Even if stable at 0 hit points, if you take damage you immediately fail a death saving throw and must start making more death saves at the start of your turns. The benefit is that the death save counter was reset when you became stable, so that failed death save (be it 1 or 2) won't kill you (if the damage wasn't enough for instant death).
Like I said, the text isn't clear, so I'm not gonna get into a textual debate about it. But the intent of the text feels like there should be no difference between taking a hit when you're at 1HP and taking a hit when you're at 0HP and stable, in terms of death saves.
Like I said, the text isn't clear, so I'm not gonna get into a textual debate about it. But the intent of the text feels like there should be no difference between taking a hit when you're at 1HP and taking a hit when you're at 0HP and stable, in terms of death saves.
I'd say that the text is very clear, seems to me that you are misled by the text not matching with your reading of the intent. But it could be me that's misled since I don't get the same feeling of intent as you do.
Like I said, the text isn't clear, so I'm not gonna get into a textual debate about it. But the intent of the text feels like there should be no difference between taking a hit when you're at 1HP and taking a hit when you're at 0HP and stable, in terms of death saves.
I'd say that the text is very clear, seems to me that you are misled by the text not matching with your reading of the intent. But it could be me that's misled since I don't get the same feeling of intent as you do.
It's very difficult for me to comprehend a position that states you can fail a death save if you're not making death saves. Cyb3rM1nd just said "sure you can" and offered no support for it. On the face of it, it seems obviously impossible, but it's not like there's any rule that says it, so we're just down to interpretation I guess.
I think I agree with Jegpeg on this one. The rules don't describe a "stable" creature as being in a separate condition from a creature "with 0 hit points". I wish it did (maybe 1D&D will...).
Since dying (isn't a categorization in the rules) is not separate from stable, and stable is just a subcategory of "0 hit points," rules that apply to "0 hit points" still apply unless specifically excluded. Being stable does not specifically exclude the "damage at 0 hit points" rules, it only excludes making the saving throws and adds gaining 1 HP after 1d4 hours.
Leaving a party member at 0 is always the worst option for multitudes of reasons. That is why I always say a reliable source of healing is the only required role in a party. Not officially, but realistically.
A stable creature doesn’t make death saving throws, even though it has 0 hit points, but it does remain unconscious. The creature stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again, if it takes any damage.
Stable creatures don't make death savings throws. ^This tells us exactly what happens when a stable creature gets injured, and it doesn't say "takes an auto-fail". Instead: It stops being stable. And must now start making saves again.
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I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
There's a difference between making death saving throws and keeping track of death saving throw success & failure The rules never say you stop keeping track of success and failure when they reset to zero, only when you collect three of a kind. So if you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure, stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again.
I think Saga has the intent of the rule correct though, even if it isn't written in an air tight manner. In fact, the rule text even describes Saga's reading more directly:
The best way to save a creature with 0 hit points is to heal it. If healing is unavailable, the creature can at least be stabilized so that it isn't killed by a failed death saving throw.
There's a difference between making death saving throws and keeping track of death saving throw success & failure The rules never say you stop keeping track of success and failure when they reset to zero, only when you collect three of a kind.
It says you don't do death saves while stable. So no successes. No fails. Because no saves.
So if you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure, stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again.
I crossed out the part you injected into the rules. Please see the rules for comparison:
"The creature stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again, if it takes any damage."
Do you see how you injected that crossed out bit? That's because that isn't how the rules are written.
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I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Making a death saving throw means rolling a d20. Suffering a "death saving throw failure" means ticking a box. Even if you aren't rolling for it each turn, you can still suffer a death saving throw failure. Cyber, Sposta did in fact say that taking damage while stable doesn't inflict failed saving throws.
I'd also like to add a message to salon09. Please ignore everything in this thread after Sposta's post, this is just a thing that happens.
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Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
So if you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure, stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again.
I crossed out the part you injected into the rules. Please see the rules for comparison:
No injection from my part, this is exactly what the rules says;
''If you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. ''
''The creature stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again, if it takes any damage.''
I think Saga has the intent of the rule correct though, even if it isn't written in an air tight manner. In fact, the rule text even describes Saga's reading more directly:
The best way to save a creature with 0 hit points is to heal it. If healing is unavailable, the creature can at least be stabilized so that it isn't killed by a failed death saving throw.
(emphasis mine.)
That sentence to me seems in reference to making death saving throw specifically, as read literally would infer that a stable creature isn't killed by death saving throw failure from repetitive hit before the creature's turn comes up to actually make death saving throws. It's about failed death saving throws, in other word, a death saving throw that fails, not failure without making the save.
The thing is, the rules don't say a stable creature can't suffer death saving throw failure without saving, only that it doesn't make death saving throws and provides explicit ways how one can suffer a death saving throw failure without specifically making a death saving throw.
So if you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure, stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again.
I crossed out the part you injected into the rules. Please see the rules for comparison:
No injection from my part, this is exactly what the rules says;
''If you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. ''
''The creature stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again, if it takes any damage.''
Those rules are not the same sentence. You injected one rule into the other. So, yes, injection on your part.
It says very clearly that you don't make death saves while stable. So you don't.
Instead, if stable, and you take damage... you stop being stable. And begin making saves again.
But you don't do death saves while stable.
Its hard to understand why there is any confusion on this the rule has been posted and is very clear. No death saves while stable.
Not stable? Death saves. Stable? No death saves. Hit while stable? Become not stable. Hit while not stable? Take extra death saves.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
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I'm pretty new to DnD but how does this work?
If you go below 0 HP, let's say -5, and you roll 1 success and 1 failed death save. Then get stabilized by another person. If you get hit when you're unconscious, but stabilized https://9apps.ooo/ do you immediately fail two death saves, which would be 3 total and you're dead?
Also another question, how does a party without any healing get a stabilized unconscious person with 0 hp back into fighting? Short rest?
Thank u :)
Okay, a few things to unpack there:
I hope that helps.
PS- There’s a “Rules & Game Mechanics” forum for questions like this.
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You can also stabilize with a med kit. It's an affordable, non-magical item that allows anyone proficient with it to stabilize fallen allies.
Not really correct. A stable creature still is still unconcious and still has 0 hp. Any creature with 0hp fails a death save if they are hit by an attack and fail two if it is a critical. If the attack is from within 5ft any hit is a crit resulting in two failed saves but ranged attacks and damage from things other than attack rolls will result in a single fail
I don’t think that’s true. Yes, a creature at 0 hit points fails a death save if it takes damage, but stable creatures explicitly do not make death saves, an exception to the prior rule. The text isn’t entirely clear, but I believe the intent is that a stable creature who takes further damage gets no immediate death saves, just as if it had been at 1 hit point. It just has to start making death saves again when its turn comes up (or if it takes further damage now that it’s no longer stable).
Lets look at the actual text
"Whenever you start your turn with 0 hit points, you must make a special saving throw, called a death saving throw,"
"Damage at 0 Hit Points. If you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. If the damage is from a critical hit, you suffer two failures instead. If the damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, you suffer instant death."
"A stable creature doesn’t make death saving throws, even though it has 0 hit points, but it does remain unconscious. The creature stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again, if it takes any damage."
The rules refer to "The damage at 0 hit points" not a creature at 0 hit points that isn't stable. There is also no referance to only being able to suffer death saving throws due to a hit after you have taken a death saving throw. A stable create does not need to make death saving throws but there is nowhere in the rules that say a stable creature can not suffer death saving throw failures and that would be required for the "damage at 0 hit points" rule to be negated.
You can't fail a death save if you're not making death saves.
I think you misread Sposta's post. The OP asked if a creature was at 0 hp, then failed a death save, then was made stable, then got hit - do they now have 2 death saves and start making death saves again? Sposta clarified, correctly, that you don't. Sposta is saying the death saves reset when you become stable, and if you take damage you fail a death save and now make death saves on your turn, with 1 failed save in total already on the counter.
Which is 100% correct with rules, and your post actually agrees with.
Basically you've said Sposta wasn't correct then said the same thing as Sposta just phrased differently. The only thing you're focusing more on is that there is potential for 2 failed death saves on criticals, which neither OP or Sposta were discussing as they're on about the general Death Save Count ruling.
Yes, you can. Even if stable at 0 hit points, if you take damage you immediately fail a death saving throw and must start making more death saves at the start of your turns. The benefit is that the death save counter was reset when you became stable, so that failed death save (be it 1 or 2) won't kill you (if the damage wasn't enough for instant death).
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.
Like I said, the text isn't clear, so I'm not gonna get into a textual debate about it. But the intent of the text feels like there should be no difference between taking a hit when you're at 1HP and taking a hit when you're at 0HP and stable, in terms of death saves.
I'd say that the text is very clear, seems to me that you are misled by the text not matching with your reading of the intent. But it could be me that's misled since I don't get the same feeling of intent as you do.
It's very difficult for me to comprehend a position that states you can fail a death save if you're not making death saves. Cyb3rM1nd just said "sure you can" and offered no support for it. On the face of it, it seems obviously impossible, but it's not like there's any rule that says it, so we're just down to interpretation I guess.
I think I agree with Jegpeg on this one. The rules don't describe a "stable" creature as being in a separate condition from a creature "with 0 hit points". I wish it did (maybe 1D&D will...).
Since dying (isn't a categorization in the rules) is not separate from stable, and stable is just a subcategory of "0 hit points," rules that apply to "0 hit points" still apply unless specifically excluded. Being stable does not specifically exclude the "damage at 0 hit points" rules, it only excludes making the saving throws and adds gaining 1 HP after 1d4 hours.
Leaving a party member at 0 is always the worst option for multitudes of reasons. That is why I always say a reliable source of healing is the only required role in a party. Not officially, but realistically.
Stable creatures don't make death savings throws. ^This tells us exactly what happens when a stable creature gets injured, and it doesn't say "takes an auto-fail". Instead: It stops being stable. And must now start making saves again.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
There's a difference between making death saving throws and keeping track of death saving throw success & failure The rules never say you stop keeping track of success and failure when they reset to zero, only when you collect three of a kind. So if you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure, stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again.
I think Saga has the intent of the rule correct though, even if it isn't written in an air tight manner. In fact, the rule text even describes Saga's reading more directly:
(emphasis mine.)
It says you don't do death saves while stable. So no successes. No fails. Because no saves.
I crossed out the part you injected into the rules. Please see the rules for comparison:
"The creature stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again, if it takes any damage."
Do you see how you injected that crossed out bit? That's because that isn't how the rules are written.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Making a death saving throw means rolling a d20. Suffering a "death saving throw failure" means ticking a box. Even if you aren't rolling for it each turn, you can still suffer a death saving throw failure. Cyber, Sposta did in fact say that taking damage while stable doesn't inflict failed saving throws.
I'd also like to add a message to salon09. Please ignore everything in this thread after Sposta's post, this is just a thing that happens.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
You don't do a death saving throw If you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure.
No injection from my part, this is exactly what the rules says;
''If you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. ''
''The creature stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again, if it takes any damage.''
That sentence to me seems in reference to making death saving throw specifically, as read literally would infer that a stable creature isn't killed by death saving throw failure from repetitive hit before the creature's turn comes up to actually make death saving throws. It's about failed death saving throws, in other word, a death saving throw that fails, not failure without making the save.
The thing is, the rules don't say a stable creature can't suffer death saving throw failure without saving, only that it doesn't make death saving throws and provides explicit ways how one can suffer a death saving throw failure without specifically making a death saving throw.
Those rules are not the same sentence. You injected one rule into the other. So, yes, injection on your part.
It says very clearly that you don't make death saves while stable. So you don't.
Instead, if stable, and you take damage... you stop being stable. And begin making saves again.
But you don't do death saves while stable.
Its hard to understand why there is any confusion on this the rule has been posted and is very clear. No death saves while stable.
Not stable? Death saves. Stable? No death saves. Hit while stable? Become not stable. Hit while not stable? Take extra death saves.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.