The Death Ward is a 4th level abjuration spell that works on both cleric and paladin classes. This spell can be cast as a single action and it has a self-range. The working duration of this spell is eight hour and the components required for this spell is vocal and somatic.
4th-level abjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Spell List: Cleric, Paladin
Components: V, S
Duration: 8 hours
You touch a creature and grant it a measure of protection from death.
The first time the target would drop to 0 hit points as a result of taking damage, the target instead drops to 1 hit point, and the spell ends.
If the spell is still in effect when the target is subjected to an effect that would kill it instantaneously without dealing damage, that effect is instead negated against the target, and the spell ends.
Frequently Asked Question of Death Ward
Death Ward is one of the most powerful spell in dnd, but there have many questions about it, so below you will find the answer:
1. How Good Is Death Ward 5e?
Death ward is worth more than lowly 2nd level spell with an extra 10 hp. Most of the time when you use it, it will save more than 10 hp. If you are not using it, you did not need more hp. A 4th level Aid is 15 HP for three people.
2. Can You Stack Death Wards 5e?
The word “first” is the reason you can’t have multiple death wards trigger in sequence. As soon as you drop to 0 HP after they are cast, it will be the “first” time you do so, thus all of them trigger simultaneously. If only one triggered, then next would trigger on the “second” time you drop to 0 HP.
3. Can You Cast Death Ward On Yourself?
You specified that you are casting Death Ward on yourself, so the least maximum hp you could have would be as a 7th level cleric; a higher level cleric, or any paladin, would have more hp.
4. What Level Spell Is Death Ward?
Death Ward is a powerful abjuration spell that 4th level spellcasters can use. This spell is part of the “Abjuration” school of magic.
5. How Long Does It Take To Cast Death Ward?
The casting time for a death ward spell is one action, and its range is self casting.
6. Can You Cast Death Ward On Multiple People?
The Light spell example prove that some spells without concentration still can restrict having multiple instance active simultaneously and that Death Ward isn’t one of them. You would however have to be an 8th level Cleric to have enough 4th level spell slots to cast it twice between long rests.
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