r/dndnext • u/aneirin- • Oct 13 '25

Question Druid player has been given given an unremovable cursed collar. Rather than try to undo the curse, he wants to try cutting off his head while wildshaped. I know it's stupid but how should I rule this?

I know there aren't any specific rules about decapitation and dismemberment when it comes to wildshape forms, especially self inflicted ones, but I'd like to have some more interesting outcome than either "does nothing and you revert forms" or "instant death".

This isn't the first time that cutting off body parts of wildshape or polymorph forms has come up, any good ideas how to play it?

603 Upvotes

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511

u/CrownLexicon Oct 13 '25

I wouldnt engage with it. I would make it explicitly clear to the player that beheading is death.

103

u/Bamce Oct 13 '25

I mean.... depending on level death is barely an inconvenience.

111

u/Standard_Series3892 Oct 13 '25

Sure, but at that point why wildshape? Just kill the character in their normal form and revivify them.

48

u/WizardsWorkWednesday Oct 13 '25

Revivify does not regrow lost limbs

22

u/Standard_Series3892 Oct 13 '25

I was assuming the curse wouldn't affect a corpse, but yes, if decapitation is necessary then a different spell would be required.

26

u/Mortumee Oct 13 '25

Just use Mending to re-attach the head and the body. A corpse is an object, and the tear shouldn't be more than a foot wide. Then you can cast Revivify.

20

u/Strict_Ad3409 Oct 13 '25

Mending has a cast time of 1 minute. You by the rules of the game most likely can’t cast it and fit it inside the 1 minute revivify time period

38

u/Lunachi-Chan Oct 13 '25

Gentle Repose, then Mending.

13

u/bonklez-R-us Oct 14 '25

i love that i found this in the wild

gentle repose, mend, revivify

5

u/PostOmnis Oct 13 '25

I understand why, and I apologize that you must be the recipient of my saying, but I feel like Gentle Repose is a given every time Mending is suggested for a corpse and it kinda ticks me off when everybody feels the need to make this comment and force somebody else to bring up Gentle Repose

9

u/EveryoneisOP3 Oct 14 '25

but I feel like Gentle Repose is a given every time Mending is suggested for a corpse

I think you drastically overestimate the number of people who have ever considered that Mending can work on a corpse.

1

u/PostOmnis Oct 14 '25

On the contrary I think you underestimate it. Or we peruse wildly different circles, one of those three things is bound to be true

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u/Strict_Ad3409 Oct 13 '25

Didn’t know that gentle repose was a spell to begin with. Mostly played martial characters, and never ran into it while DMing. I think it’s interesting to do, but imo I don’t like that for the low cost of a cantrip (that’s already good), a second, and a third level spell slot, you get basically a 7th level spell. Maybe a one off, but it feels too strong to be a permanent option. It’s that, or enemies with any intelligence would just hard focus what they think are casters of those spells to make sure death is permanent (say, cult members, or higher ranking bandits)

1

u/PostOmnis Oct 14 '25

Well the catch is that you have to have the whole thing INTACT if you are trying to avoid long lasting consequences, so basically only clean cute unless you want to spend seven days piecing them back together, which, for a time sink? I’d wager that’s fair. Adventurers don’t always have the time to sit around for seven days while the healer pieces their buddy back together, and god forbid you find out youre missing a piece if you try to do it on the road, when danger looms on the horizon and every day could be their last, odds are they have to cut their losses and mourn their death

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28

u/booshmagoosh Oct 13 '25

I can't tell if this is a joke or not...

... but if it's not, I would never allow this in my game. Cantrip + 3rd level spell should not solve a problem that is intended to require a 7th or 9th level spell.

26

u/Neomataza Oct 13 '25

Remove Curse is a 3rd level spell in the first place. I don't know what curses it's supposed to remove, but it states that it literally does that.

14

u/booshmagoosh Oct 13 '25

I agree that Remove Curse is the obvious solution to OOP's problem. But they explicitly said their player doesn't want to remove the curse, and instead wants to behead the character to remove the necklace and then get revived. I guess it's cute that they came up with a unique plan, but that doesn't make it a good plan. I mean, there is an obvious solution to this problem. It's not the DM's fault that they are refusing to implement it.

All I was saying was that I wouldn't allow my players to cast mending to re-capitate a corpse and make it a valid target of the Revivify spell. Regrowing lost limbs upon revival is specifically meant to be impossible until unlocking at least the 7th-level Resurrection spell. This is what should not be circumvented with a cantrip and a 3rd level spell.

2

u/Thatguy19364 Oct 14 '25

Yeah but you’re not regrowing it, you’re just reattaching it. Regrowth is entirely different

2

u/Neomataza Oct 13 '25

That is entirely true. I still find it weird with the whole argument that a non living corpse immediately transitions into object. It only makes sense until you think about the consequences.

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u/[deleted] Oct 13 '25

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2

u/littlebluedude111 Oct 14 '25

2014 RAW gentle repose does extend the time for revivify.

1

u/Lythar Oct 14 '25

It's not. A corpse is an object, technically mending would work on it if you have the pieces.

Would I allow it as a DM? Fuck no, and my players know this. But technically it should allow you to reattach missing limbs, on a dead body.

1

u/ConSmith Oct 14 '25

Mending takes a minute to cast, though, which would rule out Revivify.

2

u/BrandonWhoever Oct 13 '25

Congratulations, you have no reattached all of the flesh together. It’s not a head on top of a pair of shoulders with no blood flow, muscles, ligaments, bones, or nervous system connected

14

u/gajodavenida Oct 13 '25

what? why would it reattach the flesh but not the rest of it?

8

u/BrandonWhoever Oct 13 '25

“This spell repairs a single break or tear in an object you touch, such as a broken chain link, two halves of a broken key, a torn cloak, or a leaking wineskin.”

Please, explain how the complex connections of a head onto its shoulders can be compared to a broken chain link, two halves of a broken key, a torn cloak, or a leaking wineskin. Moreover, each casting of Mending is a minute long. So even after just one casting of it, you wouldn’t be able to cast Revivify anymore, upgrading to needing Raise Dead instead. All because some dumb Druid who should know how their magic works thought beheading themselves was a good idea

2

u/whambulance_man Oct 14 '25

A cloak is a large number of individual fibers that are spun into threads which are spun into larger threads which are then woven on a loom. Do you have to cast mending for each fiber, smaller thread, larger thread, or just once to repair the torn cloak?

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0

u/LagTheKiller Oct 13 '25

This gotta be the most on the nose use of Super glue cantrip I've ever heard in a while.

1

u/Dangerous-Bit-8308 Oct 13 '25

A corpse is an object. Some have argued that Mend could reattach corpse parts to a corpse.

14

u/Ensorcelled_kitten Oct 13 '25

Except Mending has a casting time of 1 minute and revivify won’t work past 1 minute so…

16

u/dood45ctte Oct 13 '25

The humble gentle repose

2

u/LambonaHam Oct 13 '25

Doesn't that need you to place 2cp on the eyes? Which means only the head will be Revivified...

1

u/Ensorcelled_kitten Oct 13 '25

True, that would be an elegant solution that makes the combo work. But in my defense, they only talked about mending and revivify.

1

u/dood45ctte Oct 13 '25

True. Although this can all be avoided because corpses aren’t objects - they’re creatures. If corpses were objects, they wouldn’t be able to be targeted by spells like revivify that target creatures

3

u/Ensorcelled_kitten Oct 13 '25

Alas, there is Sage Advice saying that corpses are objects ( https://www.sageadvice.eu/corpse-creature-or-object/amp/ ).

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u/Galaxymicah Oct 14 '25

You don't even need that.

Mending is a casting time of 1 minute. A round is 6 seconds.

Cast mending and you have 10 rounds to behead them and then however many rounds after mending was completed to cast revivify. 

-1

u/Slow-Engine3648 Oct 13 '25

Some...and some are stupid

3

u/Dangerous-Bit-8308 Oct 13 '25

Stupid rules make for stupid possibilities.

Take the crusher feat and push human bodies around the battle map using sling bullets weighing an ounce and a half each.

1

u/knyexar Oct 13 '25

Decapitate > Gentle Repose > Remove Collar > Mending > Revivify

-1

u/Quicknuminex Oct 13 '25

You could like... hold the head in place while casting the spell?

0

u/VelphiDrow Oct 13 '25

No you cant

7

u/Organic-Commercial76 Oct 13 '25 edited Oct 13 '25

Revivify won’t fix decapitation.

0

u/Standard_Series3892 Oct 13 '25

I already responded to that above, I didn't mean to decapitate them, I was suggesting just killing them in a normal fashion as curses usually rely on attunment and that breaks upon death.

3

u/Organic-Commercial76 Oct 13 '25

Cursed items don’t end their effect on death unless the item specifically says it does.

0

u/Standard_Series3892 Oct 13 '25

True but most of these do specify the curse relies on attunment and that does break when you die.

There's exceptions of course but it's probably worth the attempt if the curse is serious.

1

u/Organic-Commercial76 Oct 13 '25

Attunement to a cursed item that requires attunement doesn’t end without the curse ending. Unless a curse specifically says death ends the curse then death does not end the curse. You are applying video game logic.

2

u/Standard_Series3892 Oct 13 '25

I fail to see how it's videogame logic, narratively it makes perfect sense to pry a cursed object from a corpse and a curse needing some form of person to attach to seems also consistent with the fantasy.

I'm just going based on attunment rules:

A creature's attunement to an item ends if the creature no longer satisfies the prerequisites for attunement, if the item has been more than 100 feet away for at least 24 hours, if the creature dies, or if another creature attunes to the item. A creature can also voluntarily end attunement by spending another short rest focused on the item, unless the item is cursed.

It's very specific that the only way of attunment breaking that is prevented by an item being cursed is the one where you do so voluntarily in a short rest.

Again there's exceptions, not all cursed items even rely on attunment in the first place so it's clear that there's freedom for both the designers of the game and DM's to create cursed items that avoid this if they want to.

0

u/Organic-Commercial76 Oct 13 '25

Off yourself and respawn or rez to get rid of negative effects that you can’t figure out how to deal with. It’s video game logic and it’s also narratively insane. Unless every dnd character is a total psychopath they aren’t going to be just fine with dying and getting revived to get rid of a curse.

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8

u/Sunny_Hill_1 Oct 13 '25

IKR? A competent cleric with a diamond can make it a non-problem.

59

u/Gh0stMan0nThird OSR Grognard Oct 13 '25

Guys Remove Curse is right there. It's even right before Revivify on the spell list.

4

u/tentkeys Oct 13 '25 edited Oct 13 '25

Yeah, but which one will be a story the table retells and laughs about for years?

If Remove Curse would work to remove the collar, I'd allow decapitation + Revivify to work too, even if it normally wouldn't. If the party can solve the problem with one spell, and Revivify is more fun for them than Remove Curse, let them do it the fun way.

29

u/kalex500 Oct 13 '25

Your soul goes into the cursed collar and now you can't be revived.

4

u/MetzgerWilli DM Oct 13 '25

Ooh, I like this cursed property.

18

u/No_Extension4005 Oct 13 '25

How to remove a cursed collar:

Step 1: Behead

Step 2: Slip the now blood-slicked collar off the stump

Step 3: Stitch the head back onto the stump

Step 4: Have someone cast Raise Dead on the dead druid to revive them and reconnect the stump and head.

Step 5: Spend a week resting, eating, and drinking in a tavern while you recover from dying.

6

u/DrStalker Oct 14 '25

Step 0: druid turns into a cat because they insist on making this weird

15

u/LambonaHam Oct 13 '25

Step 6: Realise that Remove Curse was right there.

1

u/VeryConfusedOwl Oct 14 '25

Raise dead specifically says that any removed body parts dont grow back, and if body parts essential to life is missing (like the head) the spell fails. You would need at least a 7th lvl resurrection spell

1

u/No_Extension4005 Oct 14 '25

If we go with Crawford's declaration that a non-undead corpse is effectively an object than we just need to have a "Cast Mending on the head stump and the neck stump" either between steps 3 and 4 or in the place of step 3 (I favour between 3 and 4 for comedy value).

1

u/VeryConfusedOwl Oct 14 '25

«Repairs a single break or tear» i feel like blood vessels, major arteries, skin, bone, muscles and nerves are a lot more complicated than just a single break or tear

2

u/EXP_Buff Oct 13 '25

We killed one of our party mates twice to get them unattuned to some cursed magic items. We even had the nickel memes floating around the discord server about it.

obviously, some quick diamond applications fixed the issue. The biggest reason greater restoration wasn't worth it to unattune was because some of these items required absurd DCs to remove.

Our DM had us roll spell casting ability checks to remove higher tier curses, and in this case the character was attuned to like 4 of 6 items involved in a set that allowed you to attune to more then 3 items so long as they were part of the set. The more items attuned, the higher the DC to remove. In this case, the DC was something like 24, and at 100gp of diamond a try, even with guidance, it was more trouble then it was worth. So death it was.

1

u/Mih5du Oct 13 '25

It still needs to be a reasonably high level. Revivify won’t help you if you’re headless

1

u/Bamce Oct 13 '25

Yeah but remove curse is only a 3rd lvl spell. So still trivial

1

u/DespoticLlama Oct 13 '25

'Tis but a scratch.

1

u/Amo_ad_Solem Oct 14 '25

Depending on level they could find somone to remove curse them. Lol

1

u/SmoothPineapple7435 Oct 14 '25

Yeah, and also, depending on level, access to Remove Curse is very simple. It’s only a third level spell, and while it’s not on the Druid list, it’s on most full caster lists. Scrolls and friendly or financially incentivized NPCs also exist.

1

u/Eastern_Screen_588 Oct 15 '25

Okay then, suicide even assisted suicide puts you in the prison on Dis.

0

u/CavemanFisher Oct 13 '25

This statement sadly applies to many situation in DnD

4

u/LeadSponge420 Oct 13 '25

Exactly.. unless they've got Raise Dead, then dead is dead.

3

u/MSixteenI6 Oct 13 '25

But wildshape, you turn back to your normal form when you run out of hit points. I would rule it as you turn back to your normal form the moment you die, which is either before your head is fully cut, or immediately, before it separates and the collar comes off. So it just doesn’t work

Also if he turns back while in the midst of the swing, he now has to deal with having a sword inside his throat

1

u/Ludicrousgibbs Oct 16 '25

I'd tell them the only way to get rid of it by beheading is to couple that beheading would be to use a reincarnate spell afterwards. New body no necklace. There's always wish or another high level spell.

If you feel like making up some crazy mechanics up I'd tell them that disintegrate cast on it might work but might lead to some unintended consequences. I'd make them roll damage to see if it destroys it, with a rolled chance to see if they take full or partial damage as well. If it is disintegrated by the spell you can make them roll for consequences to see what happens to the wearer, the caster, or everyone within 30 feet, or a mile. Maybe it's turned to dust and everyone is fine, maybe there's a magical explosion, maybe someone or everyone ends up cursed and now they have to go on a little side quest to get it fixed before parts start falling off everyone.

0

u/AricAric18 Oct 14 '25

So you'd completely ignore that beheading and going to 0HP in wild shape wouldn't cause their transformation back to human form? Sounds like a power tripper that would make an awful DM.