Death & Dying Rules in Every Edition of D&D and Then Some, Part 1: Coups de Grâce
How every edition handles coups de grâce. Ranked by deadliness.
In ancient Greek myth, Perseus, a hero victorious not through might but only with the gifts and guidance of the gods, sneaks into the gorgons’ lair and slays Medusa while she and her sisters sleep.
Rules governing death in Dungeons & Dragons shape gameplay even in games where they seldom arise in play. Subtle distinctions between death rules can have an outsized influence in the long run as the game trains the players. This is part 1 of my morbid look at rules for death & dying in games within the D&D family. I hope this series makes you more confident to make rulings and house rules at your table to foster the gameplay you desire.
Death & Dying Rules in Every Edition of D&D and More
Coups de grâce
Coming up
Coup de grâce translates as “blow of mercy.” It usually refers to a blow that kills a mortally wounded enemy or animal. D&D authors have expanded its meaning has at times to include any attack against a helpless enemy, such as an enemy that is sleeping, magically frozen in place, bound, or incapacitated by wounds. This broader meaning of coup de grâce includes simpler methods of assassination that players and NPCs might consider.
Hit Points: Go Around or Through?
Higher level characters in D&D usually have enough hit points to withstand many successful attacks with swords, axes, and claws. While game designers and players debate whether hit points represent how wounded a character is or how tired, lucky and otherwise able to avoid becoming wounded they are at the moment, coups de grâce force your game to decide which interpretation of hit points you are using.
If hit points represent a character’s current capacity to avoid blows, then a coup de grâce should bypass hit points entirely since the target is helpless. If hit points represent how wounded a character is, then a coup de grâce might involve loss of hit points. But if hit points are high enough then it starts to strain credulity when a dagger to the heart of a magically sleeping character would only cause them to lose a tiny fraction of their hit points (such as losing just 5 out of their 44 hit points) simply because they are an experienced adventurer, at least for me and many of the designers of D&D’s rules.
Fiction First?
You can also argue that how a game or referee handles the niche situation of a coup de grâce is one test of whether the game puts fiction first or rules first. In many genres, the fiction of an assassination by blade of a motionless and defenseless victim who does not awake before the killing blow suggests that the coup de grâce should more or less automatically slay a human or human-like victim, regardless of hit point rules and other mechanics.
In other genres, that might not be the case. Comedies about bunglers, chosen one fantasies and any other genres with plenty of plot armor for the protagonists and archvillains to name a couple.
D&D’s designers have written a number of distinct rules to address these niche circumstances.
Coup de Grâce Rules
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) 1st edition provides rules for attacking magically sleeping or held opponents. If this happens in the fray of battle where the attacker must still evade attacks, the attack against the helpless target automatically hits and the maximum damage of the weapon is dealt. The attacker can make twice the number of attacks against the target as they normally could. On the other hand, outside of battle one bound or magically sleeping or held target can be slain per round. It seems that only the assassin class has special rules governing attacks against naturally sleeping creatures and their chance of success is based on how their level compares to their targets.
AD&D 2nd edition has similar rules except any victim that is sleeping or held is automatically hit and dealt normal damage, regardless of whether the sleep is magical or not. If the attacker has no other opponents around, the target may be slain automatically.
In D&D 3.5 edition and Pathfinder 1st edition, an attacker can deliver a coup de grâce to an incapacitated creature as long as that creature is not immune to critical hits such as a golem. The attack requires a melee weapon or a ranged weapon fired within melee range. The attack automatically hits. Delivering a coup de grâce provokes attacks of opportunity from nearby opponents (compare with the AD&D 1st edition distinction between being in and out of the fray). The attack scores a critical hit. If the target survives the damage, they roll a Fortitude saving throw and die on a failed roll. This roll represents the possibility that no amount of hit points can save a victim from a coup de grâce.
D&D 4th edition has an explicit coup de grâce rule that works similarly to 3.5 edition’s. The attack automatically hits and scores a critical hit. But instead of forcing the target to make a saving throw to avoid dying, the target dies if the coup de grâce dealt damage greater than or equal to half the target’s maximum hit points. Hit points still protect from coups de grâce in this system but less effectively. Coups de grâce work similarly in 13th Age in that they also automatically score a critical hit, but it is no more likely to slay its victim than any other critical hit. In 13th Age hit points provide their full protection against coups de grâce. Sneaking into an enemy camp and delivering a coup de grâce will likely initiate a more typical battle.
D&D 5th edition also has a de facto coup de grâce rule. If a creature is unconscious, attacks against them have advantage (as opposed to automatically hitting like it does in prior editions). If an attacker is within 5 feet of the creature and the attack hits it deals damage as a critical hit. If a character is dealt damage while they have 0 HP, they receive a death saving throw failure. If that damage was dealt by a critical hit, they instead suffer two death saving throw failures. A coup de grâce would therefore deal damage if the victim’s hit points were 1 or more or if they are stable. Otherwise it would inflict two death saving throw failures (a character dies when they reach three). If the damage is so much that it reduces the victim to the negative of their maximum hit points, they would also die, although this is unlikely unless the victim is very low level.
I could not find other coup de grâce rules in other games I looked at in the D&D family. Basic D&D has lower hit points and death at 0 hit points. Perhaps coup de grâce rules are less needed as a result. Ordinary attacks are deadly enough. And earlier designers may have trusted the referee with adjudicating niche circumstances like coups de grâce in a sensible way on their own. This may also be the case for Old School Renaissance games following the philosophy of rulings over rules.
The key questions that rules or referee rulings handling coups de grâce must answer are:
In what circumstances can coups de grâce be performed?
Do coups de grâce automatically slay their victim?
If not, do coups de grâce automatically hit? Do they count as critical hits? (in systems with critical hits)
Do hit points provide any protection from coups de grâce? If so, how much?
Coup de grâce rules ranked from deadliest to least deadly:
AD&D 1st & 2nd editions
D&D 3.5 & 4th editions, Pathfinder 1st edition
D&D 5th edition
13th Age
Over the decades designers have seen a role for these rules but the designers at TSR and Wizards of the Coast have consistently made surviving a coup de grâce more likely.
Deadly coup de grâce rules mean that characters are vulnerable when they sleep or when a mage captures them in a hold person spell. They mean that even the toughest heroes and villains can still die to a knife in the hand of a cook or cobbler in some circumstances. Everyone but the sleepless dead are vulnerable sometimes. Posting a watch and casting the alarm spell has higher stakes. Coup de grâce rules that lack deadliness tend to force enemies into stand-up toe-to-toe slugfests. In this case, the game dictates that villains can only be slain in climactic battles.
Part 2 will look at massive damage rules across the editions, another niche within D&D’s death and dying rules. Later parts in this series will look at the core death and dying mechanics in every edition of D&D and many other games in the D&D family.