What do they lose? Well - the Black Dragon is going to be very pissed at the Character which tried to 'one shot kill' it.

If I was the DM, I might only award some fraction of the XP based on the form - say 1/2 - so 1,450XP, which for 3rd level characters is a LOT.

What do they win? Well - let's assume it's a Young Black Dragon - CR 7, with 2,900 XP and a ton of treasure.

That means that Player has a 4 in 20 chance of snapping the neck.

Let's say that is was a strong character, with a +3 Strength modifier.

Let's put the DC of snapping a neck at 20 - Hard.

Taking the above example of trying the snap the neck of the Dragon while it is in human form:

You have to set the probability ( based on how you understand the world to work ), and set the consequences for failure, to match the reward, as scaled by the probability.

What you do have to do is match the consequences to the reward, through the probability, to keep game balance. It points out that - pseudo-realistically - if something should be a possible ( if unlikely ) thing to do from inside the world, and the rules don't allow for it ( and in this case, 5e rules don't allow for this ), then you need to step at least partly outside the rules to accommodate the 'realism' of the campaign world. I think the first point is a crucial one.

If both #1, and #5 - then it's an acceptable gamble for the DM to take from a game balance perspective.

if they only have a 1 in 3 chance of succeeding, do they gain twice as much as they'd lose, or less )?

Does the Player risk as much, or more - adjusted for probability - than they gain if they win? ( E.g.

What does the Player/Character 'lose' if they fail.

What is does the Player/Character 'win' if they succeed.

What are the odds of the Player/Character succeeding?.

Does the proposed action fall within the envelope of 'things that should be possible, or plausible, within the context of the fantasy world'?.

Sorry, but back to the original 'sudden death' mechanic - I just read an interesting article by The Angry DM about how to deal with this kind of thing.īasically, the argument goes long these lines:

Does snapping a neck kill instantly