Death saving throws are the most tense moment in a fight, and also the easiest to lose track of. Between other players’ turns, monster attacks, and the general chaos of combat, it is genuinely hard to remember whether the downed character is sitting on one success or two failures. Clean tracking keeps a dramatic moment from turning into an argument.
The core rule
While a character is at 0 HP and unconscious, they roll a d20 at the start of each of their turns. No modifiers apply. The result splits into two outcomes:
- 10 or higher: one success.
- 9 or lower: one failure.
Successes and failures each accumulate toward three. Three successes and the character stabilizes: still unconscious, but no longer dying. Three failures and the character dies.
The edge cases that decide fights
A few results carry extra weight, and they are the ones tables forget:
- Natural 20: you regain 1 HP and wake immediately. The counts clear.
- Natural 1: counts as two failures at once.
- Damage at 0 HP: each hit is an automatic failure. A critical hit is two failures.
- Any healing: brings the character back to consciousness at whatever HP the healing provides, and clears the counts.
That damage rule is why a downed ally next to an enemy is in real danger. A single hit is a failure, a crit is two, and a monster’s turn can burn through the whole count before the character ever rolls.
Tracking death saves without losing the thread
Adventure Codex tracks the two counts as three success pips and three failure pips, so the current state is always visible at a glance. It applies the full 5e rules automatically: a natural 20 wakes you and clears the marks, a natural 1 adds two failures, and healing above 0 pulls you straight out of the dying state. The death save tracker is part of the free character tracker on web, iOS, and Android.
Frequently asked questions
What does a natural 20 do on a death save?
You immediately regain 1 hit point, wake up, and are no longer dying. Your success and failure counts reset.
What happens if I take damage while at 0 HP?
Taking damage at 0 HP counts as one death save failure. If the hit was a critical hit, it counts as two failures. This can end a character fast, so getting them out of melee matters.
Do my successes and failures reset if I get healed?
Yes. Any healing that brings you above 0 HP restores consciousness and clears both counts. If you stabilize on three successes, you stay at 0 HP but stop rolling, and the counts reset once you are healed or after a stretch of time.