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As a DM you should not be asking your players about their HP totals directly in order to target them with Power Words (or Sleep)
As a DM, I don't think you should be using Power Word Kill at all. "I've set up this awesome encounter that you're all going to love. Except you. You'll have to sit this one out."
There are ways. You could, for example, set up a bbeg where that's his whole deal. The townsfolk are scared of this guy because he has the supernatural power to just kill you, straight-up. Maybe the questline leading up to their encounter involves the players finding defenses or counters or sabotaging his supply of spell components or whatever, such that, if they DO get power-word-killed, it's because they had ample opportunities to not, and failed to take them.
Components: V
DM, of course, can change that. But it is called "power word..."
Ok. It was just an example of a way you might make an encounter revolve around a spell, not an exhaustively researched adventure module.
Makes for a great BBEG move to use against a favorite DMPC or other beloved party companion, though. You don't use it on a player, you use it on their feelings.
Can make for some epic moments depending on the party and setting and fight etc. My character in the first stage of the final fight of the campaign got power word killed after getting the BBEGs lair action enabling staff away from him, because taking the staff hurt him enough to put him under 100. Incredible narrative moment, didn't expect the disarm to work and he passed it off with his dying breath. Got revived in a later stage once reinforcements started showing up
It's definitely one of those things that you shouldn't just throw out there. Gotta plan for it
If it is to see whether it takes effect I think it is fine if it is to know whether or not to target them I completely agree that it is not fun or fair.
Yeah, of course you need to know to resolve the effect
Quite possibly the enemies have a better idea of the players' hitpoint total than the DM, since they can, like, see how the player characters look, and probably have been tracking the battle much more closely than the DM has.
I agree. The enemy considering using the spell doesn’t know the HP totals. Why should the DM controlling that enemy?
from what i understood, the dm asked to know if the spell would have effect, not if the creature was going to use it or not
Yeah, that’s what PM_Your_Nudes_Please said, and I hadn’t thought of that until they did. But you’re both right.
Because the DM needs to know if the spell succeeds before they can narrate anything.
I suppose if they’re already using the spell regardless, yes.
Whoever downvoted, I'd be interested in hearing why you disagree.
I also didn't downvote, but maybe you would want to convey the information to your players that creatures here can use that spell without outright killing a PC in the first battle? Like "you guys should really watch your health points in this area" type of thing
Hmm, true
I didn't down-voted. However, I would somehow disagree. Knowing how badly injured are the PC allows to adapt the tactic, in both direction. Yes the warrior is a tank who can take tons of hit (is there really games where PC have 100 HP ? that much ? ) and you have that social character who can't do much in combat, who is usually unconscious at the end of the first-round. So knowing how much HP do the PC have helps managing the right level of power against them and avoid stupid character death.