Trying to understand what is o hit points.

[michaelzep]

My group said when you hit 0 you can just be healed to bring back to + hit points. Then what is Spare the Dying for or Revivify for?

[Nickademus]

Spare the Dying is for when you don't want to use a spell slot to heal or don't have the means to magically heal.
Revivify is for after a character fails three death saves and dies (which can happen if you don't heal it quickly enough).

[LordEntrails]

Zero hit points means you are unconscious and by default in the process of dying. When you are dying you have to make a death saving throw each turn. 3 fails and you are dead, 3 saves and you are stable and no longer dying. (A natural 20 and you are at 1 hp, a natural 1 counts as 2 fails, plus some other rules.)

I believe Spare the Dying automatically makes you stable (and no longer dying). And Revivify brings you back from death within so many minutes.

[Zacchaeus]

As the others have said above. And your friends are correct; at any time when a player is a zero hit points if they receive any healing they go back up to positive hit points and no longer need to make death saving throws.

[Blackwolf]

There is also a rule called Instant Death. when a character takes damage that reduces them to zero and the remaining damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, they die. This can be very brutal on low level characters even with max hit points per hit die, especially if your playing with critical wounds.
I use a house rule of the characters hit die type times two plus constitution attribute score and total character level plus one for the number that must be reached below zero in the carried over damage to INSTANT KILL a character it gives a bit more survivability to the lower levels and the high level fighters are not invincible this way they need to keep an eye on their Hit Point totals. Still a level 20 fighter assuming 20 constitution HD10 takes (2x10)+20+20+1=61 has to be dropped to a negative 61 after being reduced to zero from what ever hit points he had. But this way even a weak spell caster has a little more survivability with a Constitution of 10 hit die of 6 level one 10+(2x6)+1+1=24.

[rhammer2]

I just do not apply instant death to characters below level 3. Gives them a chance to build attachment to a new character. I like to imposing a special description or handicap to a character that should have died, instead of killing them below 3rd level as well.

- Robert

[Blackwolf]

I agree to not killing characters at low level if you can help it but I run a game for adults with a High fantasy high danger heroic risk. we use the critical tables, along with the rules on taking one half your hit points in a single attack and as I already stated above my house rule modified Instant Death Rule. Which gives more survival to low levels but increases the risk for a High level character running on the edge of his Hit Points.
I rarely star Players at level One normally level two and give max Hit Points on both Hit Die.