AD&D 2nd Edition

Range: 10 yards/level
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Instantaneous
Casting Time: 6
Area of Effect: 30 ft cube/level
Saving Throw: None

When a death spell is cast, it snuffs out the life forces of creatures in the area of effect instantly and irrevocably. Such creatures cannot be raised or resurrected, but an individual slain in this manner might be brought back via a wish. The number of creatures that can be slain is a function of their Hit Dice.

If creatures of differing Hit Dice are attacked with a death spell, roll the dice (4d20) to determine how many creatures of under 2 Hit Dice are affected. If the number rolled is greater than the actual number of sub-2 Hit Dice creatures, apply the remainder of the roll to the higher Hit Dice creatures by consulting the following table.

In other words, for the 4d20 roll subtract the number of creatures of less than 2 Hit Dice (these creatures die). If there are any remaining points from the 4d20 roll, subtract 2 for each creature of 2 to 4 Hit Dice (these creatures also die). If this still doesn’t use up all the 4d20 roll, subtract 10 for each creature of 4+1 to 6+3 Hit Dice, and so on. Stop when all the creatures are dead, all the 4d20 roll is used up, or the remainder is less than half the CF of any remaining creatures. (If the remainder is one-half or more of the CF of a creature, that creature dies.) For example, a mixed group of 20 goblins, eight gnolls, and four ogres, led by a hill giant, are caught in the area of a death spell. The 4d20 roll gives a total of 53 points; 20 of this eliminates the goblins (20 x 1 CF), 16 kills the gnolls (8 x 2 CF), and the remaining 17 kills two ogres (l0 points to kill one ogre, and the remaining 7 points are enough to kill one more ogre). The other two ogres and the hill giant are unharmed. A death spell does not affect lycanthropes, undead creatures, or creatures from planes other than the Prime Material. The material component of this spell is a crushed black pearl with a minimum value of 1,000 gp.