How does Death Ward interact with the Oath of Redemption paladin’s Emissary of Redemption feature

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Does Death Ward affect the amount of damage taken or does it affect how that damage affects a redemption paladin's HP? For instance, if a redemption paladin who has 2 HP and death ward active takes an attack that would deal 40 damage normally would their Emissary of Redemption feature reflect 1 damage (if Death ward changes the amount of damage taken) or 20 damage (if Death ward changes the effect of the damage taken) back towards the attacker?

Best Answer

Death Ward only triggers when you hit 0 HP (or are subject to an effect that would kill you without any damage)

The description of the Death Ward spell reads (emphasis mine):

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.

Death Ward does not reduce the damage you take, it just triggers after you took the damage and would end up at 0 HP.

Since you still took 20 damage, the attacker would be subject to 10 radiant damage in retribution.

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