[RPG] Can an unconscious person drink a potion

actionsdnd-5epotionsunconscious

PHB 153 reads:

Potion of Healing. A character who drinks the magical red fluid in
this vial regains 2d4 + 2 hit points. Drinking or administering a
potion takes an action.

By my interpretation, this means that while the rules are flexible in regards to who has to spend the action, they are inflexible in that a character must still actually drink the potion. In other words, any character can administer a potion to save someone else's action, but their target must be conscious and able to drink.

I know part of a DM's job is to apply common sense to my rulings, and common sense tells me that an unconscious person is more likely to choke to death than to swallow 4oz of liquid.

A few of my players disagree. Who's right in this situation?

Best Answer

Your players are right. An unconscious character can consume a potion administered by another player.

This ruling is held up by the Sage Advice Compendium (p. 21):

Can potions be administered to unconscious characters as an action?

Yes, you can administer a potion to someone else as an action (DMG, 139).

As with all things, it's perfectly allowable to house-rule this, especially considering the real-life concerns with dumping fluids down someone's throat. If you decide to do so, make sure your players know that you are making the house rule, and if they are new players, that it is a house rule, so they do not get confused in future games. Additionally, it might not be a bad idea to allow players who purchased potions for use on others to retroactively not purchase them, as the world does not work the way they thought it did when the purchase occurred.