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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Smother - A death spell [PEACH]



Alias
2014-10-10, 09:58 PM
Though this is a death spell I don't want to go back to the bad old days of save or die. So how is this?


Smother
6th level Sodran enchantment
Casting time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (skin sloth from a constrictor snake)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

You choose a creature in range that must breathe to live that you can see. It must succeed at a Constitution saving throw or immediately have all the air driven from its lungs and fall into the grasp of this spell. While you maintain your concentration it cannot breathe. It has disadvantage on all checks while struggling for air except for the constitution saving throw against this spell that it must make on each of your turns. When it fails a number of these checks equal to its constitution modifier it drops to 0 hit points and is dying, but it must continue to make saving throws against this spell instead of normal death saving throws. If it fails three saving throws while dying it is slain.

When the spell is stopped the victim can breathe normally, but still suffers after effects until it makes a constitution saving throw to regain its breath. Until that occurs the victim has disadvantage on all checks.

If the victim was at 0 hit points when the spell ends it can begin breathing and doesn't need to make death saving throws but remains unconscious until it can finish a short rest, at which point all hit points lost to this spell are restored. If it is subjected to a cure spell at all it returns to the hit point total it had before this spell struck it, then add the healing effect of the cure spell used to awaken it.

A creature that succeeds on the initial saving throw against this spell is unharmed.

At higher levels: When you cast this spell from a 7th level or higher slot you can maintain the spell for an additional minute for each level beyond 6th.


This isn't a 3e death spell by any means since at a minimum 4 saving throws must be failed to die to this - that's 4 rounds your allies can try to ruin the caster's concentration or dispel the spell. If your constitution is high enough its conceivable you can outlast the spell. Fair?

BRKNdevil
2014-10-14, 05:40 PM
for a 6th level spell, Unconscious i could agree to but not death. Besides the body needs to be deprived of oxygen for 3 minutes before any serious damage is done to the brain and more if you want to cause death.

Alias
2014-10-16, 08:36 AM
for a 6th level spell, Unconscious i could agree to but not death.

So you're opposed the the spell conceptually. Gotcha.

Flesh to Stone is effectively dead and 6th level. Slay living used to be 5th but is gone. Characters have Raise dead at this point in the game.

Also, if you expose yourself to Cloudkill's damage for as long as this spell takes to kill you, you'd be very dead even at 20th level. The spell gives the target and his team quite a while to react. The difficulty in acting under its attack is still better than being paralyzed - which hold person does as early as 2nd.


Besides the body needs to be deprived of oxygen for 3 minutes before any serious damage is done to the brain and more if you want to cause death.

Compressive Asphyxia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asphyxia), which is what this spell induces, can kill you in 3 to 5 minutes in real life. If you're going to dredge up science in a fantasy discussion at least get your facts straight. Longer survival periods occur only under unusual circumstances, most commonly immersion in ice cold water, during which survival has occurred after as long as 30 minutes.

The spell works like a constrictor snake (hey, skin sloth from a constricting snake as a material component ! :D )