Power Word Kill — Complete D&D 5e Spell Guide

Table of Contents

• •Quick Answer
• •Overview
• •Stat Block
• •When NOT to Use This
• •Spell Slot Efficiency
• •Pro Tips
• •Common Mistakes to Avoid
• •Usage Tips
• •Rules Notes
• •Synergies
• •Anti-Patterns
• •Tactical Modules
• •Countermeasures
• •Power Word Kill in the 2024 Rules
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Quick Answer

Power Word Kill is a 9th-level enchantment spell for Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. Pick one creature you can see within 60 feet. If it has 100 hit points or fewer, it dies. There is no saving throw and no attack roll. In the 2014 rules, a target above 100 hit points is unaffected. In the 2024 rules, it takes 12d12 psychic damage instead (average 78).

Overview

Power Word Kill is a finisher. It does nothing clever and asks for nothing from the target: no save, no attack roll, no creature-type limit. The only question is the target's current hit points.

That makes it the cleanest answer in the game to a boss that has already been worn down. Liches, vampires, and archmages carry saving throw bonuses, Legendary Resistance, and Magic Resistance. None of those matter here, because Power Word Kill never asks for a save.

The weakness in the 2014 version is the all-or-nothing threshold. Cast it at a creature with 101 hit points and you lose your only 9th-level slot for nothing. The 2024 version fixes that by dealing 12d12 psychic damage when the target is above 100, which can push it under the line for a follow-up.

Enemies can cast it too. The 2014 and 2024 SRD liches both have it, and a 17th-level wizard with average hit points starts close to the 100 line (see Usage Tips).

Stat Block

When NOT to Use This

• •The target clearly has more than 100 hit points and you are playing 2014 rules. The spell does nothing.
• •The target is a minor creature that a cantrip or weapon attack would finish. Your 9th-level slot is worth more.
• •You can't see the target. The spell needs a creature you can see within 60 feet.

Spell Slot Efficiency

When worth the slot: A dangerous enemy that the party has already brought near or under 100 hit points.

When NOT worth the slot: A target with lots of hit points left in 2014, or a weak target anyone could finish.

Upcasting

Power Word Kill has no higher-level effect. It is already 9th level.

Pro Tips

Tip #1: Track the damage the party has dealt.

Why it works: You need the target's current hit points to be 100 or less. A running total of damage dealt, compared with the monster's listed maximum, tells you when you are close.

This avoids the mistake of: Guessing, casting it at 120 hit points, and losing the slot in a 2014 game.

Tip #2: Use it on the enemies with the best saves.

Why it works: There is no save to pass and no Legendary Resistance to spend. A lich with +10 Constitution and +9 Wisdom saves gets no defense from those bonuses.

This avoids the mistake of: Burning save-or-suck spells into Legendary Resistance.

Tip #3: Warlocks get it as a Mystic Arcanum.

Why it works: In the 2014 SRD, warlocks choose one 9th-level warlock spell as Mystic Arcanum at 17th level and can cast it once per long rest without a spell slot. Power Word Kill is on the warlock list, so it qualifies.

This avoids the mistake of: Assuming only wizards and sorcerers get it.

Tip #4: Bards at 20th level get two targets in 2024.

Why it works: The 2024 bard's level 20 feature, Words of Creation, keeps Power Word Heal and Power Word Kill always prepared. When you cast either, you can target a second creature within 10 feet of the first.

This avoids the mistake of: Splitting damage across two lieutenants when one cast could end both.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Checking maximum hit points instead of current hit points

Why it's bad: The spell asks whether the creature "has 100 hit points or fewer." That is its current total. A lich with 135 maximum hit points that has taken 40 damage is a valid target.

Do this instead: Compare damage taken against the monster's maximum.

Expecting a save or Legendary Resistance

Why it's bad: There is no saving throw, so Legendary Resistance (which turns a failed save into a success) and Magic Resistance (advantage on saves) never come into play.

Do this instead: DMs, plan around Counterspell and Death Ward instead.

Thinking undead or constructs are immune

Why it's bad: The spell targets "one creature." There is no creature-type exception. A lich or a stone golem dies the same way a human does.

Do this instead: Check only hit points and line of sight.

Forgetting it is only verbal

Why it's bad: With no somatic or material component, you can cast it with your hands full or tied. You cannot cast it while silenced.

Do this instead: Cast it from inside a grapple if you have to. Stay out of a Silence zone.

Usage Tips

Worked example: hit points before Power Word Kill works. The table shows how much damage the party must deal before the spell kills each SRD monster from full hit points.

• •2014 lich: At 135 hit points, one round of focused attacks usually covers the 35 points needed. The lich has Rejuvenation, so if it has a phylactery it returns in 1d10 days. Power Word Kill ends the fight, not the lich.
• •2024 mummy lord at full 187 hit points: Power Word Kill deals 12d12 psychic damage. A roll of 87 or more (about 24%) drops it to 100 or fewer for a follow-up; the average roll of 78 leaves it at 109. Against a 2024 archmage, the damage does nothing at all: it is immune to psychic damage.
• •2014 vampire: Its Regeneration restores 20 hit points at the start of its turn. Bring it to 100 or fewer on your allies' turns, then cast before it acts again.
• •Mummy lord (2014): It dies at full hit points. Its heart still brings it back in 24 hours if intact.
• •Rakshasa: Its 2014 Limited Magic Immunity only covers spells of 6th level or lower, and its 2024 Greater Magic Resistance covers saving throws and spell attack rolls. Power Word Kill uses neither.
• •When the enemy casts it: A 17th-level wizard with 14 Constitution has 104 hit points using average hit points. Four points of damage puts that wizard in range of the lich's Power Word Kill.
• •Related guides: Finger of Death for big necrotic damage, Disintegrate, Death Ward, and the spell guide index.

Rules Notes

• •Target: one creature you can see within 60 feet.
• •100 hit points or fewer: it dies. No save, no attack roll.
• •More than 100 hit points: no effect (2014) or 12d12 psychic damage (2024).
• •The check uses current hit points.
• •Temporary hit points don't count. Both SRDs say temporary hit points aren't actual hit points, so a creature with 90 hit points and 20 temporary hit points still dies.
• •Death Ward: It negates an effect that would kill a creature "instantaneously without dealing damage" (2014) or "instantly without dealing damage" (2024). Power Word Kill's death clause is that kind of effect, so Death Ward stops it and ends.
• •Death without 0 hit points: The vampire's Misty Escape and similar traits trigger when a creature drops to 0 hit points. Power Word Kill makes the creature die without reducing its hit points. Whether those traits still trigger is a DM ruling, not rules text.

Synergies

• •Heavy single-target damage first: Disintegrate, Finger of Death, or a round of martial attacks to bring a boss into range.
• •Haste on your strikers: More attacks means the boss crosses the 100 line sooner.
• •Counterspell cover: An ally with Counterspell ready protects your cast from an enemy caster's counter.

Anti-Patterns

• •Casting it in round one at a boss with hundreds of hit points under 2014 rules.
• •Casting it at a creature immune to psychic damage while it is above 100 hit points in 2024. The fallback damage does nothing.

Tactical Modules

• •The closer: Let the party fight. When the tracked damage brings the boss to 100 or fewer, end it on your turn.
• •2024 two-target cast: A level 20 bard with Words of Creation can kill two creatures at 100 or fewer hit points with one cast if they stand within 10 feet of each other.
• •Protect the party: Against a lich, cast Death Ward on the lowest-hit-point party member before the fight.

Countermeasures

• •Threat: An enemy caster has Power Word Kill. Response: Death Ward on likely targets before the fight. Fallback: Keep hit points above 100 when you can, and stay out of its 60-foot range and line of sight.
• •Threat: An enemy caster counters your spell. Response: Bait out their reaction with another spell first. Fallback: Cast it from outside their 60-foot Counterspell range while still within your 60-foot range of the target.
• •Threat: You don't know the target's current hit points. Response: Track damage against the stat block's maximum. Fallback: In 2024, the 12d12 damage is not wasted unless the target is immune to psychic damage.

Power Word Kill in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 SRD keeps Power Word Kill as a level 9 enchantment for Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards, with an action casting time, 60-foot range, and only a verbal component.

The death effect is the same: a target with 100 hit points or fewer dies, with no save. The change is the failure case. In 2014, a target above 100 has no effect. In 2024, "it takes 12d12 Psychic damage." That averages 78 and ranges from 12 to 144. Creatures immune to psychic damage, such as the 2024 archmage and stone golem, take none.

The 2024 bard's level 20 feature, Words of Creation, always has Power Word Kill prepared and lets the bard add a second target within 10 feet of the first.

Many 2024 monsters have more hit points than their 2014 versions. The 2024 lich has 315 hit points against 135 in 2014, so the 12d12 failure damage matters more.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Power Word Kill work in 5e?

Choose one creature you can see within 60 feet. If it has 100 hit points or fewer (current, not maximum, and not counting temporary hit points), it dies. There is no saving throw or attack roll. Above 100, nothing happens in 2014; in 2024 the target takes 12d12 psychic damage.

Does Power Word Kill allow a saving throw?

No. The spell never calls for a save. Legendary Resistance and Magic Resistance can't stop it because both work on saving throws.

Does Power Word Kill use current or maximum hit points?

Current hit points. The text asks whether the creature "has 100 hit points or fewer," so a damaged boss with a high maximum is a valid target.

What happens if the target has more than 100 hit points?

In the 2014 rules, nothing happens and the slot is spent. In the 2024 rules, the target takes 12d12 psychic damage, an average of 78.

Does Death Ward stop Power Word Kill?

Yes. Death Ward negates an effect that would kill the warded creature instantly without dealing damage, and the ward then ends. In 2024, if the target is over 100 hit points, the 12d12 damage is normal damage, and Death Ward's other clause keeps the target at 1 hit point if that damage would drop it to 0.

Does Power Word Kill work on undead in 5e?

Yes. It targets any creature you can see. There is no exception for undead, constructs, or any other type.

Can you counterspell Power Word Kill?

Yes. It is a spell with a verbal component, so a caster who sees it being cast within 60 feet can use Counterspell. In 2014, a Counterspell cast with a slot below 9th level needs an ability check against DC 19.

Who can cast Power Word Kill?

Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards, starting when they get 9th-level spells at 17th level. Warlocks take it as a 9th-level Mystic Arcanum. Among SRD monsters, the 2014 lich has it prepared in its one 9th-level slot and the 2024 lich can cast it once per day.

Citations: SRD 5.1 (2014 rules), SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules)

Includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, licensed under CC BY 4.0.