Level
4th
Casting Time
1 Action
Range/Area
Touch
Components
V, S
Duration
8 Hours
School
Abjuration
Attack/Save
None
Damage/Effect
Buff (...)
You touch a creature and grant it a measure of protection from death. The first time the target would drop to 0 Hit Points before the spell ends, the target instead drops to 1 Hit Point, and the spell ends.
If the spell is still in effect when the target is subjected to an effect that would kill it instantly without dealing damage, that effect is negated against the target, and the spell ends.
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Posted Oct 29, 2024I've always wondered... What would happen if you put someone in a guillotine who had death ward cast on them and tried to lop their head off?
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Posted Jan 16, 2025I would rule that the spell shields their neck.
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Posted Sep 19, 2025Given that it says "a measure of protection" and not "absolute protection" I'd argue that something like a guillotine would clink of the neck exactly once and then still behead you on the rebound (or if the executioner just pulls it up and drops it again).
On a similar note, being crushed, drowning, bathing in acid or lava and similar ways of dying that destroy the body as a whole would give you a half second of experiencing everything happening to you without dying before the spell runs out and you still just die from the permanent effects of you simply being in a lethal environment, rather than being hit by a lethal attack.