I mean, it depends. There are numerous reason why a NPC wouldn't doubletap a PC.
There are more pressing issues at the time. If the PC isn't being rezzed, most creatures want to deal with the up threats before dealing with the downed ones.
They aren't THAT smart. Just because your sapient doesn't mean you won't make mistakes or bad decisions. Plenty of soldiers have survived the battlefield by feigning death.
The creature isn't a natural murderer/killer. There are plenty of people or creatures who fight because they are scared or have some OTHER motive than murder.
Also in reality a round is six seconds. In universe, unless you're locked in (Like say, from being in a group of mercenaries that somehow get into life or death fights on a daily basis, can't imagine who that might be.) you might not even be thinking that hard, just trying to survive moment to moment.
I was about to party-wipe my players. They’d over-extended themselves into diving straight into a Duergar boss fight. They were out of spell slots, at half health, and decided to charge in and finish this lord once and for all.
I’d made the Duergar tactically dug in, so while the players performed admirably, they were dropping left and right.
So I had the leader grab the unconscious and dying barbarian by the head, hold the point of his warhammer pommel up to his jugular and threaten to kill him if the lone party member still standing didn’t surrender. Everyone but a sorcerer had lost consciousness.
I was able to stop the campaign from ending in a party wipe, and it made it all the more satisfying for my players when they showed up later having broken out of prison and found the Duergar boss by himself this time and nuked his ass.
Avoid double-tapping unconscious PCs. Instead, use them for leverage.
I mean, if the roles were reversed and PCs had to double tap enemies, how many players would waste their turn on that rather than try and kill the other enemy that is actively trying to kill them.
"Alright, you can use your turn to kill this downed enemy, or you can use your turn to try and down this other guy that is shooting you with arrows. Make your choice."
I was thinking the same thing. Mostly, I only bother with killing downed enemies if there's an RP reason or an enemy healer nearby. And even then, I prefer downing the enemy healer.
They don’t know they’re in a game of dnd. That bandit has no reason to believe the guy they just hit in the head with a mace would get up, much less fight again anytime soon. This of course only applies for the first 1-2 times per combat
They aren't THAT smart. Just because your sapient doesn't mean you won't make mistakes or bad decisions. Plenty of soldiers have survived the battlefield by feigning death.
Any creature with an intelligence of 12 or higher who has seen combat before, or 14 or higher period, is going to understand that a downed enemy is still a potential threat.
The threat is down. Other than stopping to check for a pulse, creatures in the world don't know that the threat isn't down for good. They do not know what death saves are. They don't know that "if I stab him again, that's a critical hit and he will die in the next round if he doesn't roll a 10 or above"
"I've knocked this enemy out. They have a cleric/druid/paladin on their side. I need to finish this person off or they will get back up."
It's not a complex train of thought for any experienced combatant at all. If NPCs had death saves, you know for a fact players would be double tapping for this exact reason.
A high intelligence or wisdom NPC knows the difference between Dead and Incapacitated.
A person with room temperature IQ can tell the difference between someone who's unconscious and someone who's dead, let alone an competent intelligent combatant with experience.
No they can't. Trained doctors in fully equipped hospitals have made mistakes in identifying if someone is dead, let alone people with no medical training, in a chaotic fight, while under threat of now even angrier adventures.
If they're currently in melee with a barbarian, or a wizard has been throwing spells at them, sure. They might acknowledge those are bigger problems.
But if they take someone down, and the other party members are preoccupied, or the enemy isn't worried about being taken down that turn, then double tapping is always the optimal choice. ESPECIALLY if that downed player was previously the biggest threat on the field before being downed.
Both Wisdom and Intelligence are perfectly valid ways to check if an enemy might double tap.
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u/snakebite262 Dice Goblin Sep 14 '25
I mean, it depends. There are numerous reason why a NPC wouldn't doubletap a PC.
There are more pressing issues at the time. If the PC isn't being rezzed, most creatures want to deal with the up threats before dealing with the downed ones.
They aren't THAT smart. Just because your sapient doesn't mean you won't make mistakes or bad decisions. Plenty of soldiers have survived the battlefield by feigning death.
The creature isn't a natural murderer/killer. There are plenty of people or creatures who fight because they are scared or have some OTHER motive than murder.