Many of the Dark Gifts listed in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft have certain drawbacks to them. Nothing that will break a game if its included in it, but enough to communicate the danger of a dark gift to counter balance its benefits. That is, all of them except for Touch of Death. While it's certainly implied, it's not stated as outright as the other gifts that it has a drawback. Most other dark gifts have a feature where, if you fail a check or save while using it, it can blow up in your face in some way. Touch of Death on the other hand doesn't have anything so clear cut, even though it seems to easy to do.

For clarity, touch of death lets you use an action to deal a d10 of necrotic damage to something with the damage increasing as you level up, ignore necrotic resistance, and deal necrotic damage to a creature when you grapple them or they grapple you. While I understand why the developers might have been hesitant to include a feature where creatures take necrotic damage just for touching you, I feel as if it stands out in a bad way for not having that. The storytelling of the gift is supposed to be this terror of not being able to touch others without the fear of hurting, if not killing them by doing so. Making it so the gift has no draw backs makes it kind of unfairly powerful compared to the others, but it also limits its own narrative potential.

Am I alone in thinking this?

That's the thing. It does have a draw back...

"Your touch is pain, harming whoever you come in contact with. The deathly power within you is beyond your control, afflicting any who touch your bare skin. By the same token, you can deliver death to your enemies with your touch.

Roll on or choose an option from the Deadly Touch table to determine how this Dark Gift presents itself. Additionally, you gain the traits that follow."

Yes, I realize that the traits specify "you make an unarmed strike" to deal the damage... BUT "Withering Contact. When you start your turn grappling a creature or grappled by it, the creature takes 1d10 necrotic damage."

The way Withering Contact works on grapple or being grappled, and the target just TAKES the damage? The only way I can fairly adjudicate it while retaining the Dark part of Dark Gift is that if you touch anyone with your bare skin, you will cause them the Necrotic Damage... but you can *sort of* control it by preventing anyone from touching bare skin.

And the Unarmed Strike part, or the grappling part of the power is you specifically going out of your way to make sure there IS bare skin contact to induce the damage willingly.

I see your point. I'm just a little disappointed that there isn't something like that more clearly stated. It's up to the DM's ruling, not a stated part of the dark gift in the mechanics. It states in the flavor text certainly, but a persnickety could easily argue the difference between that and how none of the rules say whenever you are touched.

Now you can also play it as less of a contact bad type of gift and more of a dark omen, where any time you use it something else bad happens or something. I just wish it was more clear in what it intended.

While the fluff describes the Dark Gift: Touch of Death as an effect harming whoever touch your bare skin beyond your control, the mechanic is working differently in actual play since it requires an action under your control and an unarmed strike to successfully hit in order to deal necrotic damage to others, so it's not a passive effect in any way.

Quote from Okashido >>

I see your point. I'm just a little disappointed that there isn't something like that more clearly stated. It's up to the DM's ruling, not a stated part of the dark gift in the mechanics. It states in the flavor text certainly, but a persnickety could easily argue the difference between that and how none of the rules say whenever you are touched.

Now you can also play it as less of a contact bad type of gift and more of a dark omen, where any time you use it something else bad happens or something. I just wish it was more clear in what it intended.

 I can concede to that point, and I do share that concern.

Quote from Plaguescarred >>

While the fluff describes the Dark Gift: Touch of Death as an effect harming whoever touch your bare skin beyond your control, the mechanic is working differently in actual play since it requires an action under your control and an unarmed strike to successfully hit in order to deal necrotic damage to others, so it's not a passive effect in any way.

 
Which is why I rule it the way I do using the logic train I do, even if, ya know, "rules do as they say and not what you think they should say."

Quote from Okashido >>

I see your point. I'm just a little disappointed that there isn't something like that more clearly stated. It's up to the DM's ruling, not a stated part of the dark gift in the mechanics. It states in the flavor text certainly, but a persnickety could easily argue the difference between that and how none of the rules say whenever you are touched.

Now you can also play it as less of a contact bad type of gift and more of a dark omen, where any time you use it something else bad happens or something. I just wish it was more clear in what it intended.

 I think any clear-cut mechanic would have limited its use and potential for many groups. Leaving it up to the player and DM to work out means that they can tailor the effects and severity to the character and the campaign. While it's easy to use this excuse to justify all kinds of half-baked design, this is one spot where I'm okay with the approach.

You need hard rules when it's used as a combat feature. You need soft rules when it's used in other ways. You're not getting bonus damage on your unarmed strikes or for climbing or falling on someone in combat, (or retaliation damage against natural weapons), because they're trying to rein in the power level to a particular amount. But if you hug your friend, you'd better believe they're going to suffer severe pain and possibly wither into a weakened, fragile version of themselves by the time you let go.