19
\$\begingroup\$

In a session where I was the DM, I made my players fight a hydra. In the end I had to end the battle by stating the hydra became unconscious. It was at 0 hitpoints for a good 4 turns before I made my decision.

I took so long to make my decision because of a statement made in the hydra's information in the monster manual pg. 190

Whenever the hydra takes 25 or more damage in a single turn, one of its heads dies. If all its heads die, the hydra dies.

So at first I assumed until all the hydra heads fall off it would not die. But my players were unable to kill the heads resulting in the hydra just falling to 0 health without any heads having been killed. If I let them try and cut off all the heads they would never had done it.

In short my question is What are the different ways to kill a hydra

\$\endgroup\$

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
45
\$\begingroup\$

The rule about all of its heads dying is an exception particular to the hydra. It is not immune to the effects of being defeated when reduced to 0 hp.

If the hydra were immune to defeat at 0 hp, its description would have to say so.

\$\endgroup\$
6
  • 3
    \$\begingroup\$ I guess the rule is there not as defensive armour (you must destroy all heads to defeat this creature) but for the equally odd situation of continuing to fighting against the headless hydra (you may destroy all the heads but then there is no point in the body keeping going uselessly). \$\endgroup\$
    – Neil Slater
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 9:23
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ So there's a reading of the entry that could take it as needing to kill all heads with fire to kill it. "At the end of its turn, it grows two heads for each of its heads that died since its last turn, unless it has taken fire damage since its last turn. The hydra regains 10 hit points for each head regrown in this way. " This could be taken to mean that even after it's died all heads have died and now grow two new heads. I don't think it's supposed to be read that way but it could be interpreted that way. \$\endgroup\$
    – Ringo_St R
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 12:30
  • 3
    \$\begingroup\$ That reading would require the hydra's special traits to be active even after it dies, and it would be the only creature in the game that does this without specific mention of the fact. \$\endgroup\$
    – Polisurgist
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 15:49
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ @Polisurgist Remember though that nothing dies at 0hp; treating monsters that hit 0hp as “might as well be dead” is a DMing shortcut of convenience only and doesn't override the actual rule that they need to fail three death saves or take massive damage before properly dying. \$\endgroup\$
    – SevenSidedDie
    Commented May 13, 2016 at 0:03
  • 4
    \$\begingroup\$ Generally they do. MM p. 7: "A monster usually dies or is destroyed when it reaches 0hp. For more on hit points, see the Players Handbook." PHB p. 198: "Most DMs have a monster die the instant it drops to 0 hit points...Mighty villains and special nonplayer characters are common exceptions; the DM might have them fall unconscious and follow the same rules as player characters." So, "most," with particularly special villains marked as an exception. \$\endgroup\$
    – Polisurgist
    Commented May 13, 2016 at 15:34
-1
\$\begingroup\$

I've always taken the approach of making it necessary to kill each head to reach 0hp and then successfully burning each head to cauterize it. Literally how Hercules killed the hydra in Greek Mythology.

\$\endgroup\$
1
  • \$\begingroup\$ Hi, welcome to the site. It's recommended that you review the terms and the rules of this forum, as well as basing your answers off of cited mechanics or excerpts from content pertaining to the question asked. The question is based on Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, so it's best to reference pages or passages from its rules or other credible sources to back up your claims and leave opinion based solutions out. \$\endgroup\$
    – He Who Rules As Intended
    Commented Oct 6, 2020 at 7:57

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .