Power Word Kill
- Level: 9
- School: Enchantment
- Class: Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
- Casting Time: Action
- Range: 60 feet
- Components: V
- Duration: Instantaneous
You compel one creature you can see within range to die. If the target has 100 Hit Points or fewer, it dies. Otherwise, it takes 12d12 Psychic damage.
Tactical Usage
Absolute Execution Authority. Power Word Kill provides instant death to targets with 100 hit points or fewer, making it the ultimate finishing move for weakened high-value enemies that might otherwise escape or recover.
Psychological Warfare. The spell's reputation creates fear and respect that extends beyond its mechanical effects, potentially influencing enemy behavior and negotiation dynamics.
High-Damage Alternative. Against targets exceeding the hit point threshold, the spell deals substantial 12d12 psychic damage, providing significant offensive capability even when the death effect fails.
Spell Combinations
Damage Preparation. Combining with damage-dealing effects to reduce target hit points below the 100-point threshold significantly increases the spell's lethal effectiveness.
Information Gathering. Divination magic or perception abilities help estimate target hit points before committing the valuable 9th-level spell slot to ensure optimal timing.
Backup Planning. Preparing alternative actions for when targets exceed the hit point threshold prevents wasted turns and maintains offensive pressure through contingency planning.
Material Component Details
Verbal-Only Power. Power Word Kill requires only verbal components, making it accessible even when restrained, disarmed, or in situations where somatic or material components would be impossible.
Component Simplicity. The lack of material requirements eliminates resource concerns and component availability issues, allowing focus on tactical timing rather than preparation logistics.
Silent Environment Vulnerability. The verbal requirement prevents use during silence effects, making sound suppression a potential counter to this powerful execution option.
Creator Notes
Campaign Climax Spell. Power Word Kill represents the pinnacle of lethal magic, typically reserved for dramatic moments, final confrontations, or situations requiring absolute resolution.
Hit Point Threshold Balance. The 100 hit point limitation prevents low-level abuse while maintaining relevance against appropriately challenging high-level enemies.
Death Reversal Planning. Creators should consider resurrection options and death consequences when this spell eliminates important NPCs or potentially player characters.
Environmental Interactions
Range Limitations. The 60-foot range requires positioning within medium distance of targets, potentially exposing casters to retaliation or area effects during execution attempts.
Line of Sight Requirements. Standard targeting rules apply, requiring clear visibility to the intended victim and potentially complicating assassination attempts in cluttered environments.
Instant Effect Resolution. The spell resolves immediately without ongoing effects, preventing environmental interactions but ensuring decisive resolution of the death effect.
Common Rulings & Clarifications
Hit Point Threshold Mechanics. Targets must have exactly 100 hit points or fewer to trigger the death effect, with higher totals resulting in damage instead.
Death vs Damage. The spell either kills instantly or deals 12d12 psychic damage - there is no middle ground or partial effect based on hit point totals.
Damage Resistance. When dealing damage rather than causing death, normal resistance and immunity rules apply to the psychic damage component.
Unconscious Target Interaction. Unconscious creatures can still be affected, though their hit point status determines whether death or damage occurs.
Alternative Applications
Mercy Killing. Ending the suffering of dying allies or innocents in hopeless situations, though this requires careful consideration of resurrection possibilities and moral implications.
Interrogation Pressure. The spell's reputation can serve as an intimidation tool during questioning, though actual use might eliminate valuable information sources.
Political Assassination. Eliminating key figures during conflicts, though the verbal component and range requirements limit stealth applications compared to mundane methods.
Related Spells
Power Word Series. Power Word Heal and Power Word Stun share the verbal-only, no-save mechanics but provide different tactical applications with varying effectiveness thresholds.
Death Magic. Circle of Death, Finger of Death, and similar necromancy spells offer alternative approaches to causing death with different mechanics and targeting options.
High-Damage Alternatives. Meteor Swarm, Disintegrate, and other 9th-level damage spells provide comparable destruction without hit point thresholds but with different tactical applications.
Scaling Analysis
Maximum Power Investment. As a 9th-level spell, Power Word Kill represents the pinnacle of spell slot investment without scaling potential, requiring careful timing for optimal effectiveness.
Campaign Finale Relevance. The spell's power level makes it most appropriate for epic-level encounters where instant death effects become necessary for resolving legendary threats.
Resource Scarcity Impact. The single 9th-level slot available to most characters makes each use a significant strategic decision with potentially campaign-altering consequences.
Narrative Flavor
Cosmic Authority. The power word format suggests command over fundamental forces of death and ending, with spoken incantations that carry universal authority over life and death.
Immediate Execution. The spell should emphasize the instant and absolute nature of the death effect, with targets simply ceasing to exist at the moment of successful casting.
Word of Ending. Different magical traditions might use specific death words - divine names that end life, arcane formulas that unravel existence, or cosmic truths that compel mortality when spoken with sufficient power and authority.