There already exist a few questions asking similar things about such scenarios, like the following:
- If a wildshaped druid somehow got Undead Fortitude, would this prevent them from reverting?
- Does Phoenix Spark overcome Disintegrate?
- Does casting Disintegrate on a polymorphed enemy still kill it after the 2018 errata?
- Does the Way of the Long Death monk's Mastery of Death feature protect against the Disintegrate spell?
- What happens if a sorcerer is hit with Disintegrate while he has turned into a potted plant?
What I am wondering is whether the wording differences between all of the following features means anything; how should these wording differences be interpreted/used? In particular, some features use the phrase "when you would be reduced to 0 hit points" while others use the phrase "when you are reduced to 0 hit points".
The first link above currently has an answer stating that the wording difference is important, and that it does result in differences between the features and rulings regarding them. Below are some example features:
Barbarian's Relentless Rage feature:
If you drop to 0 hit points while you're raging and don't die outright, you can make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. If you succeed, you drop to 1 hit point instead.
Undead Fortitude feature (Zombie):
If damage reduces the creature to 0 hit points, it must make a Constitution saving throw […] On a success, the creature drops to 1 hit point instead.
Half-Orc's Relentless Endurance feature:
When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 instead.
You automatically revert if you fall unconscious, drop to 0 hit points, or die.
Long Death Monk's Mastery of Death feature:
When you are reduced to 0 hit points, you can expend 1 ki point (no action required) to have 1 hit point instead.
If the boar takes 7 damage or less that would reduce it to 0 hit points, it is reduced to 1 hit point instead.
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.
Only the last two features actually use the phrasing "would drop" and "would reduce" instead of simply "are dropped" and "are reduced" (or similar). Does this mean that death ward and the Relentless feature act differently in terms of rulings to be made?
Is there a difference between "when you are reduced to 0 hit points" and "when you would be reduced to 0 hit points?"
I would like answers to assume that the wording choice of "if" vs "when" is irrelevant. These words (at least to me) seem to be used interchangeably throughout the rules with no difference in meaning, so they can be ignored here. Alternatively, if you feel they are different, that should be a separate question of its own.
Best Answer
Grammatically speaking, there is a very important difference, and that is order of operations.
The order of operations is as follows:
The order of operations is as follows
Thus, the big difference here is that features that activate when you are reduced to 0 hitpoints mean you still had 0 hitpoints for a moment. On the other hand, features that activate when you would be reduced to 0 hitpoints activate before you hit 0 HP, so you never had 0 HP.
This is important for effects that immediately kill you if you hit 0 hitpoints. There is a slightly out-of-date sage advice comment to this effect:
I will note (as an aside) that since this Sage Advice item was created, errata has altered the Disintegrate spell--which likely changes the outcome laid out for that specific spell. (That bit of Sage Advice is from 2016, the errata is 2018)
Based off of this change in wording, effects that activate when you are reduced to 0 HP would still save you from Disintegrate because you are not left with 0 hit points. On the other hand, a Beholder's Death Ray...
In this case, an effect that activates when you are reduced to 0 HP would not save you--because you were reduced to 0 HP before that feature activated, and thus died before the effect could activate. However, an effect that activates when you would be reduced to 0 HP can save you--because you were never actually reduced to 0 hp.
As a bit of non-official support, here's a comment from J. Crawford on Twitter...
While Crawford's tweets are no longer considered official, it does offer perspective. Back when Disintegrate could kill you through Polymorph or Relentless Endurance, Death Ward could protect you from those before you never actually reached 0HP.
Order of Precedence
This is a bit of odd English to try to explain, but I'll do my best. The sequence in which the four terms used here would happen in goes like this:
TL;DR:
A Half-Orc's Relentless Endurance would not save you from death via being reduced to 0 HP by a Beholder's Death Ray--while the spell Death Ward would. This is because Relentless Endurance activates after you have been reduced to 0 HP, while Death Ward happens before you would be reduced to 0 hp.