I know PC's get death saving throws.
I know PC's can choose to do lethal damage or knock a monster unconscious.
Do enemies or monsters ever get death saving throws?
Do NPC's ever get death saving throws? (even if slain by a monster)?
Does the Ranger's Animal Companion get death savings throws?
Are there any rules in the rulebook on this at all?
I give (special) Named NPCs death saving throws but only if there is a chance an ally will save them, the PCs needed to capture them (but "forgot" to use non-lethal damage) or they have valuable information the PCs need. Monsters never get death saves unless they are very special (like a Named dragon) and, even then, it is usually for plot reasons.
I gave animal companions death saving throws during tier 1 (levels 1-4) but warned the players that, once they hit level 5, their companions will die upon reaching 0 hit points -- just like any other animal. Guess what happened? In the very first adventure after reaching 5th level, the ranger's wolf was shredded by a troll because he ordered it to "tank" for the party. Bye, bye, wolfie. Don't say I didn't warn you.
According to the rules, monsters instantly die when their HP reach 0, EXCEPT when a player says he attacks without the intent to kill, in that case they become unconscious and stable when their HP drop to 0. In both cases there are no death saving throws.
The rules also suggest to make special exceptions for bosses to work more like PCs, so in that case you can apply death saving throws.
And not really covered in the rules afaik, but I'd rule that NPCs get death saving throws, because the PCs might want to save them. Animal companions... hmm I never had any in my games so I'm not sure how they work, so I better stay out of that decision.
It's not just implied that special villains get saving throws, it's stated on page 76 of the basic rules
Mighty villains and special nonplayer characters are common exceptions; the DM might have them fall unconscious and follow the same rules as player characters.
I view the "no death saves for monsters" as more of a convenience than anything. It would be annoying in most cases to track death saves for monsters and have no value. Nobody's going to try to save them anyway.
But yeah, I give NPCs death saves if it makes sense for the story. Occasionally (and I mean very occasionally) it's kind of fun to have the PCs think they killed the bad guy and as they are finishing up the rest of his minions only to see that his body isn't there when they go to loot. Did an invisible compatriot pull the body away? Did he get lucky and roll a 20 on a death save and crawl to safety? Or did someone just drag his corpse away so he could be raised?
This should be a rare occurence and only done if it's integral to the story. I don't want my PCs wasting actions doing damage to downed enemies to force death saves.
OoftaMeg wrote:
FrogReaver wrote:
I always just read it as, if it is important then it gets a death saving throw.
So the DM has quite a bit of leeway in allowing an animal companion a death saving throw. That's interesting.
If animal companions got death saving throws would it make the beast master ranger a little more balanced, seeing as a healing spell could bring your companion right back?
OoftaMeg wrote:
If you want a dark campaign, roll death saves for all NPCs, because it forces your players to ensure their foes are dead or otherwise out of action.
Personally I do death saves when I feel like it, and I would probably use them in any fight that includes an NPC that can heal for obvious reasons.
