L^: mu9, wj9	-	R#: (1/4")*	-	D^: P
C^: v	-	CT: 1s	-	S^: None
A^: 2" diameter	-	-	-	-

Effect: When a power word, kill is uttered, one or more creatures within the spell range and AREA of effect will be slain.

The power word will destroy a creature with up to 60 HP,
or it will kill 2 or more creatures with 10 or fewer HP,
up to a maximum of 120 HP.
The option to attack a single creature, or multiple creatures, must be stated along with the spell range and area of effect center.
 

Wu Jen: This spell slays a single creature of up to 60 HP, or multiple creatures up to 120 HP, at the option of the caster, with the utterance of a single word.
 

Question: In the ninth-level Magic-
User spell Power Word, Kill the spell
description states, “The power word will
destroy a creature with up to 60 HP, or it will kill 2 or more creatures
with 10 or fewer HP...” How should
the word “destroy” be interpreted, as
“blown out of existence” or “merely
killed”?

Answer: One way to answer this ques-
tion is to refer to the description of the
sixth-level MU spell, Death Spell. That
spell’s description states that affected
creatures are slain “instantly and irre-
vocably,” which means without possibil-
ity of resurrection. Since Power Word,
Kill is a more powerful spell than Death Spell,
it is reasonable to assume that victims of that spell are also not able to be
resurrected. Whether or not they are
literally “blown out of existence” depends
on the nature of the creatures(s) des-
troyed, but in any event victims are not
“merely killed.”

A Typo in the PH? Tim Kask on Power Word, Kill +