[RPG] Can a creature be brought to consciousness while they have a max HP of 0

ability-scoresdnd-5ehealinghit-points

As explored in this question there is at least one situation where a character’s Max HP could be reduced to 0 without explicitly or immediately killing them. We've recently been looking into what does happen when the cause of such a situation is rolling poorly when leveling up or simply having an incredibly low Constitution score, and it seems pretty clear they fall unconscious (and potentially begin rolling death saves). We've also established elsewhere that temporary hit points don't bring you to consciousness if you're at 0 HP.

Let's assume that a character has taken a hit to their max HP for whatever reason and therefore is now a mid-level character with 0 max HP. Could an especially dedicated party keep them around and conscious in any way while searching for a cure?

I had a think and came up with a potential 3 part process to achieve this:

  1. Cast false life on the character, giving them 1d4+4 hit points for one hour. At this point she is still unconscious.
  2. Cast cure wounds on her, which won't give her actual hit points, but may still bring her to consciousness as she has temporary hit points from false life (though these comments suggest that might not work.)
  3. In order to keep her conscious, cast heroes' feast to give temporary hit points that will last 24 more hours. (We cast false life just to give enough time to benefit from heroes' feast as common sense suggests someone who is unconscious cannot meaningfully partake in a feast of any sort.)

My only concern here is that I'm not sure if coming back to consciousness as a result of a healing spell like cure wounds is dependent on acquiring actual hit points.

Could a party member be kept functional indefinitely (regardless of the cost) until a permanent way of recovering from the Constitution score hit could be found?

Best Answer

If their maximum hit points is zero then healing magic won't do anything. Healing magic allows a character to "regain" or "restore" hit points, which is always up to your maximum.

When a creature receives healing of any kind, hit points regained are added to its current hit points. A creature's hit points can't exceed its hit point maximum, so any hit points regained in excess of this number are lost.

Basic Rules, Combat chapter.

This disallows cure wounds and healing word and their mass versions, prayer of healing, goodberry (assuming you can feed a berry to an unconscious person) and pretty much all healing potions.

One spell that will help is aid - as long as you keep casting it over and over again.

Your spell bolsters your allies with toughness and resolve. Choose up to three creatures within range. Each target's hit point maximum and current hit points increase by 5 for the duration.

Please note that many effects that reduce maximum hit points also specify really bad things for when the character reaches 0 (for example, the strength drain attack of a shadow). Keeping someone conscious isn't much of an issue when they've turned into an undead monster and are trying to eat your face.

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