Life Transference and Grim Harvest

[Eragon123]

If a School of Necromancy Wizard were to cast Life Transference at low enough health that the spell knocks them out, would they trigger Grim Harvest and regain health?

My instinct is no since they would just be unconscious but I wanted to see what the board thought.

(also could a way of long death monk at low hp punch himself to unconsciousness to get the Temp HP?)

[Man_Over_Game]

If a School of Necromancy Wizard were to cast Life Transference at low enough health that the spell knocks them out, would they trigger Grim Harvest and regain health?

My instinct is no since they would just be unconscious but I wanted to see what the board thought.

(also could a way of long death monk at low hp punch himself to unconsciousness to get the Temp HP?)


In either case, the answer is No. They both react upon killing a creature, not dropping them to 0 HP. When players hit 0 HP, they're Dying, but not Dead, so you'd have to be dead for those abilities to activate, incapable of being healed.

[Eragon123]

In either case, the answer is No. They both react upon killing a creature, not dropping them to 0 HP. When players hit 0 HP, they're Dying, but not Dead, so you'd have to be dead for those abilities to activate, incapable of being healed.

I agree for the necromancer but not quite so for the monk. I believe the exact wording is the following.

When you reduce a creature within 5 feet of you to 0 hit points, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier + you monk level (minimum 1).

[Man_Over_Game]

I agree for the necromancer but not quite so for the monk. I believe the exact wording is the following.

When you reduce a creature within 5 feet of you to 0 hit points, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier + you monk level (minimum 1).

You're correct, I made a mistake. It'd be an odd scenario, being at 0 HP with temporary hit points, but I guess it works? Assuming your DM is cool with you attacking yourself and you gaining the benefit from it.

[Eragon123]

You're correct, I made a mistake. It'd be an odd scenario, being at 0 HP with temporary hit points, but I guess it works?

Yeah, it's one of those situations that could technically happen but it'd never be the best choice especially since the ostensive desire for doing so would be for "more" hitpoints so as to last a bit longer. But Way of Long Death specifically has the Mastery of Death feature to help them survive those types of situations. So maybe if you are pre level 11 or mayyybe if you are level 11 and don't have any ki left. But in both of those situations it'd be better to disengage and run. Hell for the level 11 you should have used your last ki point to disengage and run away. then use hour of reaping all the following turns to help make a front line with being on the back line.

[ThePolarBear]

Yeah, it's one of those situations that could [I]technically[/] happen but it'd never be the best choice especially since the ostensive desire for doing so would be for "more" hitpoints so as to last a bit longer.

Even considering the proficiency in death saving throws that all monks get later in the levels, it would be a VERY desperate situation the one where the monk has a higher chance of survival by punching themselves to near death (even with temp hps, the monk is still unconscious and dying, phb 198)... Hilarious, non the less.

[Man_Over_Game]

On a totally separate, but awesome topic, dip 1 level into Druid, grabbing Shillelagh and Thorn Whip (or Magic Stone, if your team lacks range), and now you can max out Wisdom, being an awesome melee tank. Once you hit Monk 4, you can follow through with Sentinel and keep enemies from moving away from you. If you manage to miss on your Sentinel attack and they move away, use Thorn Whip to pull them back and then use the BA Dodge to keep yourself tanky in a fight. All-in-all, would be a very annoying and powerful tank monk, despite not needing a high Dex.

I've been playing around with Wisdom-based Druid 1/Monk X builds, and they all seem a lot of fun, as long as you're not going Kensei (who doesn't care about Wisdom, but needs Dex)

[Eragon123]

On a totally separate, but awesome topic, dip 1 level into Druid, grabbing Shillelagh and Thorn Whip (or Magic Stone, if your team lacks range), and now you can max out Wisdom, being an awesome melee tank. Once you hit Monk 4, you can follow through with Sentinel and keep enemies from moving away from you. If you manage to miss on your Sentinel attack and they move away, use Thorn Whip to pull them back and then use the BA Dodge to keep yourself tanky in a fight. All-in-all, would be a very annoying and powerful tank monk, despite not needing a high Dex.

I've been playing around with Wisdom-based Druid 1/Monk X builds, and they all seem a lot of fun, as long as you're not going Kensei (who doesn't care about Wisdom, but needs Dex)

Couldn't magic initiate achieve almost the same thing? Since monks are so sensitive to dips?

[Man_Over_Game]

Couldn't magic initiate achieve almost the same thing? Since monks are so sensitive to dips?

The level 1 into Druid gets you all the same things while also giving you access to the level 1 spell list, with things like Jump, Longstrider, and Goodberries. I think a level 1 dip is a very healthy choice, especially since it saves up your ASIs for Sentinel and maxing out your Wisdom then Dexterity. Sure, it pushes back your Extra Attack by one level, but now you're not locked in to Human Variant for a feat and you gain access to a prepared list of spells, which really helps cover the out of combat RP issues that a lot of monks run into.

Rather than having 1 level 1 spell, you now have access to probably the most diverse level 1 prepared spell list, being able to cast 2 a day and potentially preparing up to 6 at a time.

Imagine being a Monk, and having options like Thunderwave, Absorb Elements (which works on your unarmed strikes, BTW), or Fog Cloud. There's a lot of possibilities here.