So I know there are rules for drowning. And that characters that need to breath can generally hold their breath for 1 min + 1 min per con mod. When that time is up you go unconscious and make death saves if I remember correctly. I don't remember if it drops you to 0HP. If you don't drop to zero could you Polymorph someone into say a fish and let them drown by lack of breathable air?
So I know there are rules for drowning. And that characters that need to breath can generally hold their breath for 1 min + 1 min per con mod. When that time is up you go unconscious and make death saves if I remember correctly. I don't remember if it drops you to 0HP. If you don't drop to zero could you Polymorph someone into say a fish and let them drown by lack of breathable air?
They do drop to 0 and would immediately turn back into their original form...
Suffocating
A creature can hold its breath for a number of minutes equal to 1 + its Constitution modifier (minimum of 30 seconds).
When a creature runs out of breath or is choking, it can survive for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 round). At the start of its next turn, it drops to 0 hit points and is dying, and it can't regain hit points or be stabilized until it can breathe again.
For example, a creature with a Constitution of 14 can hold its breath for 3 minutes. If it starts suffocating, it has 2 rounds to reach air before it drops to 0 hit points.
The question is... can a creature voluntarily suffocate faster than 1+[Con] minutes + [Con] rounds, if they want to "die" (hit 0 hp, and regain their form)?
Other question, I assume, that the counter for suffocating does not reset, when you change form. So, even with regaining your form, you should immediately fall to 0 again, because you are still past your "hold breath" level.
Hmmmm... you're kind of right I think. Active spells survive the transformation, conditions survive the transformation.... so why wouldn't suffocating (which is a pseudo-condition) transfer as well? Suffocating, as a specific exception to other general rules, holds that "you can't regain hit points" until you can breathe again... but then again, you don't "regain" your hit points when Polymorph ends, the creature "returns to the number of hit points it had before it transformed."
Well you do convert to your "normal form" HP again, but you are still suffocating past the "hold breath" level... it is not regaining HP. So, I would actually see the dropping to 0 HP as "damage over the beast form threshold, that also counts against the HP of the druid". Like massive damage where the rest spills over to the normal HP pool.
Having HP set to 0 is not the same as taking damage, much less taking damage over the beast's HP threshold. And even as a 'similar situation' to taking massive damage, would you hold the same for Power Word Kill? Cause them to irrevocably die from a Disintegrate? I think you're starting down a slope to unintended consequences.
Coverting to normal form in the "out of breath" stage would be a good compromise for me, that would leave them conscious with HP and able to survive for another [Con mod] rounds before going back to 0. If they're in a breatheable environment (goldfish on land -> human), problem over. If they still can't breathe (underwater squirrel -> human), then they at least get another few rounds to struggle with the benefit of their normal spells, abilities, and skills before being re-zeroed.
RAW Power Word Kill does kill a polymorphed creature with less than 100 hit points. It says nothing about reducing them to zero hit points or dealing damage, it says the target dies.
"When a creature runs out of breath or is choking, it can survive for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 round). At the start of its next turn, it drops to 0 Hit Points and is dying, and it can’t regain Hit Points or be stabilized until it can breathe again."
"The transformation lasts for the Duration, or until the target drops to 0 Hit Points or dies. The new form can be any beast whose Challenge rating is equal to or less than the target's (or the target's level, if it doesn't have a Challenge rating). The target's game Statistics, including mental Ability Scores, are replaced by the Statistics of the chosen beast. It retains its Alignment and Personality."
"The target assumes the Hit Points of its new form. When it reverts to its normal form, the creature returns to the number of Hit Points it had before it transformed. If it reverts as a result of dropping to 0 Hit Points, any excess damage carries over to its normal form. As long as the excess damage doesn't reduce the creature's normal form to 0 Hit Points, it isn't knocked Unconscious."
The creature, as in the fish, drops to 0 hp. And at that point it reverts back to its original form. No excess damage is mentioned in suffocation, so it returns to its original hp and isn't therefore unconscious. And it can breath air again.
The wording is quite clear. And let's be honest, a lvl 4 spell isn't supposed to be "save or die".
However. If you turn the target into something that can breath underwater but cannot swim and then manage to get it so deep underwater that it can't reach the surface in time after it reverts, then that would kill it by suffocation. So maybe a clam tossed in a deep sea? 😅
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So I know there are rules for drowning. And that characters that need to breath can generally hold their breath for 1 min + 1 min per con mod. When that time is up you go unconscious and make death saves if I remember correctly. I don't remember if it drops you to 0HP. If you don't drop to zero could you Polymorph someone into say a fish and let them drown by lack of breathable air?
They do drop to 0 and would immediately turn back into their original form...
Suffocating
A creature can hold its breath for a number of minutes equal to 1 + its Constitution modifier (minimum of 30 seconds).
When a creature runs out of breath or is choking, it can survive for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 round). At the start of its next turn, it drops to 0 hit points and is dying, and it can't regain hit points or be stabilized until it can breathe again.
For example, a creature with a Constitution of 14 can hold its breath for 3 minutes. If it starts suffocating, it has 2 rounds to reach air before it drops to 0 hit points.
The question is... can a creature voluntarily suffocate faster than 1+[Con] minutes + [Con] rounds, if they want to "die" (hit 0 hp, and regain their form)?
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Other question, I assume, that the counter for suffocating does not reset, when you change form. So, even with regaining your form, you should immediately fall to 0 again, because you are still past your "hold breath" level.
Hmmmm... you're kind of right I think. Active spells survive the transformation, conditions survive the transformation.... so why wouldn't suffocating (which is a pseudo-condition) transfer as well? Suffocating, as a specific exception to other general rules, holds that "you can't regain hit points" until you can breathe again... but then again, you don't "regain" your hit points when Polymorph ends, the creature "returns to the number of hit points it had before it transformed."
Hmmm.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Well you do convert to your "normal form" HP again, but you are still suffocating past the "hold breath" level... it is not regaining HP. So, I would actually see the dropping to 0 HP as "damage over the beast form threshold, that also counts against the HP of the druid". Like massive damage where the rest spills over to the normal HP pool.
Having HP set to 0 is not the same as taking damage, much less taking damage over the beast's HP threshold. And even as a 'similar situation' to taking massive damage, would you hold the same for Power Word Kill? Cause them to irrevocably die from a Disintegrate? I think you're starting down a slope to unintended consequences.
Coverting to normal form in the "out of breath" stage would be a good compromise for me, that would leave them conscious with HP and able to survive for another [Con mod] rounds before going back to 0. If they're in a breatheable environment (goldfish on land -> human), problem over. If they still can't breathe (underwater squirrel -> human), then they at least get another few rounds to struggle with the benefit of their normal spells, abilities, and skills before being re-zeroed.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Ok, deal on Power Word Kill and Disintegrate. That is too much of a connection that was not intended.
I would still say, you do not get more air in your lungs by transforming underwater, so you are immediately back to "death save" while drowning.
If you have fish on land -> human on land, I would have the druid back to breathing again and spare him.
Edit: Maybe recalculate the CON mod in normal form, if you have a higher mod, you get the difference in rounds for saving yourself.
RAW Power Word Kill does kill a polymorphed creature with less than 100 hit points. It says nothing about reducing them to zero hit points or dealing damage, it says the target dies.
What if - say - you polymorph a storm giant into a butterfly, and catch them in an airtight Adamantine jar?
"When a creature runs out of breath or is choking, it can survive for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 round). At the start of its next turn, it drops to 0 Hit Points and is dying, and it can’t regain Hit Points or be stabilized until it can breathe again."
"The transformation lasts for the Duration, or until the target drops to 0 Hit Points or dies. The new form can be any beast whose Challenge rating is equal to or less than the target's (or the target's level, if it doesn't have a Challenge rating). The target's game Statistics, including mental Ability Scores, are replaced by the Statistics of the chosen beast. It retains its Alignment and Personality."
"The target assumes the Hit Points of its new form. When it reverts to its normal form, the creature returns to the number of Hit Points it had before it transformed. If it reverts as a result of dropping to 0 Hit Points, any excess damage carries over to its normal form. As long as the excess damage doesn't reduce the creature's normal form to 0 Hit Points, it isn't knocked Unconscious."
The creature, as in the fish, drops to 0 hp. And at that point it reverts back to its original form. No excess damage is mentioned in suffocation, so it returns to its original hp and isn't therefore unconscious. And it can breath air again.
The wording is quite clear. And let's be honest, a lvl 4 spell isn't supposed to be "save or die".
However. If you turn the target into something that can breath underwater but cannot swim and then manage to get it so deep underwater that it can't reach the surface in time after it reverts, then that would kill it by suffocation. So maybe a clam tossed in a deep sea? 😅
Finland GMT/UTC +2