The Death Trait (Pathfinder Rule Reminder #37)

[@orenmontgomery8250]

I do appreciate these rules videos, sometimes I'll just let the playlist go while paint or craft to help me stay sharp.

[@HowItsPlayed]

Glad to hear it! I do the same with certain podcasts while I do my prep.

[@swingspst]

I definitely would have been tripped up on the Void Shroud so glad I saw this one!

[@HowItsPlayed]

Glad it helped!

[@okagisama]

Such a precious channel, keep the wonderful work!

[@HowItsPlayed]

Thank you! Will do!

[@linus4d1]

Thanks for this video. My players have been slaying a bunch of undead. They've manage to get a Vorpal Sword during a quest. This may not be RAW, but I've said that they can behead a creature that is immune to Death Effects but this does not kill them.

[@Gristoufle2]

Love it xD

[@VengenceWolf]

Another excellent video, my friend. This one actually taught me something I had overlooked, thank you very much!

[@HowItsPlayed]

You're very welcome!

[@Hughes81]

Thank you for these videos. They have been so helpful.

[@HowItsPlayed]

You're very welcome!

[@ericgomez-schmitt7686]

Hey, loving the videos, and they've been a great help. I was hoping you could do a video on how Stealth and Sneaking would work while mounted, specifically with a Summoner's Eidolon mount? Thank you!

[@astrid2432]

I thought the void shroud has the death trait, because it have the doomed effect on it, so it would connect together, showing it's deadly

[@JamesJohnson-ez7jr]

Great video as always! I always learn something new here :)

[@HowItsPlayed]

Glad to hear it!

[@brianposadas7131]

Does immunity to the death effect grant full immunity to all spells with that trait, or merely the death aspect of that spell? For example would Phantasmal Killer deal any damage to a daemon?

[@r2roberts]

I was wondering the same thing... following.

[@BeTagmusic]

Bump!

[@HowItsPlayed]

As far as I can tell, a trait applies to all aspects of a spell (or item or other associated effect). So, a creature that is immune to Death Effects is completely immune to Phantasmal Killer. Likewise, someone who succeeds on their save Will save, but is still reduced to zero HP by the resulting damage, is instantly killed.

[@brianposadas7131]

@@HowItsPlayed thanks for the reply! That makes sense

[@brianlane723]

Specifically clicked to make sure Warbal was okay.

[@LegendaryCMD]

interesting! Glad you explained why the void shroud has the death trait...because that would have bugged me!

[@HowItsPlayed]

Hey! It's Crunch McDabbles! I'm digging your channel. If anyone reading these comments wants more Pathfinder goodness, check him out! kzbin.info/door/PRJmGqQ98jTmrMKrwNfyww

[@LegendaryCMD]

@@HowItsPlayed Hey, careful not to sully your beautiful intellect with my lowbrow stuff. Big fan of how it's played...though you'd never know by how many mistakes I make!!

[@ronabitz5156]

Note on Phantasmal Killer it is only the Critical failure save result that has the death trait.

[@HowItsPlayed]

I'm not sure that is correct. The Death trait should apply to the entire spell. So, if someone is reduced to zero HP from the damage inflicted after a Success or Failure of the spell, they would instantly die too.

[@CraigSteinhoff]

Great reminder. Thanks. Do you have video about auras and being in multiple auras? Like maybe multiple Xulgath stench auras or being in a dragons frightful presence for multiple rounds?

[@HowItsPlayed]

Interesting... no, I haven't touched on multiple auras before, but I imagine their overlapping effects would follow the same rules for stacking as any other effects.

[@CraigSteinhoff]

@@HowItsPlayed so would you need to roll for each aura?

[@BrandoAKADino]

Here's an odd corner case. Let's say a creature is at dying 1, and takes damage from an effect with the death trait. Normally, they would move to Dying 2. Common sense says that they would be slain by a death effect, but I believe by RAW, they would not. They were already at 0, and are advancing dying, so they have not been reduced to 0. So death effects are less deadly at 0hp than they are at 1hp? Am I understanding this correctly?

[@HowItsPlayed]

I suppose by strict RAW, you are correct! But I would choose to rule differently in my games. :)

[@Gristoufle2]

Worth mentionning that a death to the death trait implies no heroic recovery (since it is about increasing the dying condition)

[@kaibeasley5965]

Hey do you think you could make a video about the addiction rules in the GMG? I struggle to understand them

[@christiandrolet1581]

Hi, I have a question: if my party reduce to 0 hp a troll without using fire or acid, usually, the troll will heal himself. But if a wizard use vampiric touch on the troll who has 0 hp, is the troll die?

[@HowItsPlayed]

Yes! That vampiric touch will kill him. That skips Dying and everything else and goes straight to DEAD.

[@Atrianpaul]

With basic save, like vampiric touch, the Death trait still apply if I save? because if the creature is low enough health it may bring him to 0 hp

[@orenmontgomery8250]

Without *knowing* I would imagine yes. A fireball doesn't stop being fire damage just because you're taking 1/2. I'm far from an expert though so if someone wants to confirm or correct me...

[@Atrianpaul]

@@orenmontgomery8250 I acttualy think the same, but being a powerful trait it may be ruled different... but I agree with you

[@HowItsPlayed]

Yes, I believe Sponge is correct. There's nothing that says that it works any differently after a successful save... if you are reduced to zero HP by a Death effect, then you're dead.

[@ThomasPither]

(Read in the voice of David Attenborough) And here we find ourselves setting off in search of the fabled Algorithm. An elusive creature that has only been seen a few times in the last 4 decades. Join us as we travel into the remotest areas on planet Earth.

[@HowItsPlayed]

Careful! Don't frighten the Algorithm! :)

[@r2roberts]

Don’t forget my least favorite spell “Death Knell.”

[@HowItsPlayed]

Yeah, but I can't bring myself to use that against a player. Just feels like insult to injury.

[@r2roberts]

@@HowItsPlayed I removed it from the spell lists of NPCs used in "The Slithering" AP, and replaced it with Harm.

[@HowItsPlayed]

@@r2roberts Thant's a great idea! I would probably just ignore it, but swapping if for something they can actually use makes much more sense.

[@Tilim1st]

Can you make a video about mage hand? Can you steal objects, disarm traps, pick a lock with mage hand? One argument is "If the spell does not say so, it cant do it. Mage hand can only " *move* objects" My argument is "Moving objects is exactly what you do, when stealing items, disabling traps, picking locks. You just move them a very special way." The counter argument is usually "Mage hand can't do any fine movements." My argument is "The spell does not say that. It can do fine movements" Can you just grab your lock pick and let it fly into a key hole and then move your thieves tools in a way to open the door? Can you cut a rope to disable/ activate a trap from far away? Can you disable a pressure plate with mage hand? Can you grab someone's purse without him noticing it? In my opinion you should be able to use mage hand take an object from a person. If you succeed at a thievery/ stealth check, the person will not notice it. If you fail, The person will notice it, but you can grab the item and move it 20 feet anyways. Can you sustain 2 or even 3 mage hands at thee same time?

[@12thLevelSithLord]

Mage Hand targets an "unattended object of light bulk or less", with the bulk increasing as you level up, and it grasps and moves the target object. It definitely can't pick pockets or otherwise steal things on somebody's person, due to the unattended thing. Triggering pressure plates, only if the plate is particularly sensitive since the hand is weak enough it can only move 2 bulk tops. As for the rest, I'd probably allow it albeit at a penalty due to distance and not working with the tools directly.

[@brianlane723]

The auto captions don't know daemon 😂

[@kevindaniel1337]

Praise be to the holy algorithm.

[@RatRatRattyRatRat]

Dying 1/2/3? What are those? Is this pathfinder 2? 5e? Third party?

[@HowItsPlayed]

Pathfinder 2nd edition. Dying 1, 2, and 3 are conditions characters normally progress through while at zero HP. At Dying 4, the character dies.

[@nathanhoshal3250]

Commenting to feed the algorithm monster.

[@HowItsPlayed]

Much appreciated!

[@squidrecluse2336]

commenting to feed the algorithm

[@HowItsPlayed]

Thanks again!

[@pandapruitt2542]

I dislike that there are spells that can pretty much instant kill a player without any ability to fight back...seems like a pretty poor game design choice, maybe it's not as a big of a problem as it seems.

[@Unikatze]

Damn. It hurt me to thumbs up the video from 69 to 70.

[@HowItsPlayed]

I appreciate your sacrifice.

[@r2roberts]

I'm not sure I like this trait. It seems too drastic and harsh if used against a PC. I have less sympathy for an NPC, but still don't like it for them either.

[@r2roberts]

Nevermind my comment about NPCs. I very rarely have NPCs important enough to use the Dying rules when reduced to 0 HP.