How do I set DCs for attempted grappling kills?

Question

What would be the DC be for crushing a creature of the same size category to death during a grapple?

What about choking another character to death during a grapple?

How do I determine DCs and what criteria do I use for when my players ask off-the-wall, out-of-the-box questions like that?

At the moment they asked I just went with a strength check vs fortitude save. It made sense to me that a large, high strength barbarian could easily snap a wolf's spine while grappling.

Answer 1

There's no "DC" for either of those, any more than there's a DC for killing an enemy in combat with a sword.

Instead, there's grapple checks (like AC) and damage rolls that progress toward death or unconsciousness (depending on non-lethal vs lethal damage).

If your players are asking for a homebrew save-or-die in grappling, tell them there is absolutely no reason to add more complexity to an already-overburdened subsystem (grappling) and short-circuit existing defense systems (HP) more than is already the case.

In particular, save-or-dies are almost never available at low levels, almost always require daily resources (spell slots) or extra time spent, and almost always require significant character build investment in feats or spellcasting. Their request appears to be for a rule that any character can use as often as they like with investment needed only in perhaps a high Strength score and one feat (Improved Grapple, to remove a few penalties). That is terribly unbalanced.

Answer 2

Learn About Grappling First

Before you do anything else as a DM, learn the grappling rules. You can find some additional resources provided by Wizards of the Coast here:

• All About Grappling (Part One)
• All About Grappling (Part Two)
• All About Grappling (Part Three)
• All About Grappling (Part Four)

Some things of interest to learn so you know what can be possibly exploited (before your players start doing them to your NPC's) can be found in the Grappling Handbook.

---

**Specific Answers to Your Three Questions**

1. Crushing a character to death would be bludgeoning damage as part of a successful grapple check.
2. Choking a character to death, specifically, would be a 3rd Edition feat called Chokehold¹, a special ability of Reaping Maulers called Sleeper Hold², or a special ability of Black Blood Cultists called Stranglehold³.
3. You determine DC's of things like that (you really shouldn't be thinking of DC's for things like that) by basing them on something readily found in the rules and making a slight modification to suit the situation. That sort of information of how to do that is outlined in the Dungeon Master's Guide. If you are new to DM'ing, I highly recommend reading the entire thing first. Especially since you don't understand all the combat rules in the Player's Handbook.

---

¹_{If you pin your opponent while grappling and maintain the pin for 1 full round, at the end of the round your opponent must make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 your level + your Wisdom modifier). If the saving throw fails, your opponent falls unconscious for 1d3 rounds.}
²_{At 3rd level, a reaping mauler learns how to render an opponent unconscious with pressure. If the character pins his opponent while grappling and maintains the pin for 1 full round, the opponent must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the reaping mauler's class level + the reaping mauler's Wis modifier) at the end of the round or fall unconscious for 1d3 rounds. A creature with no discernible anatomy has immunity to this effect.}
³_{At 5th level, you learn to snap the necks of fallen enemies, allowing you to administer a coup de grace with your bite attack as a move action.}