To make a long story short, I believe that you, as a DM, should encourage your players to describe how they kill things. As I see it, it’s a fun reward for your players when they deal a killing blow on a defeated foe (yay rhymes). Plus it can let them get some frustration off on a particularly annoying enemy once they finally kill it.
I also believe that you can glean a lot from how a character slays an opponent in regards to their personality. Some characters might put on a clean, collected face but be brutally violent towards their targets (see Percy from Critical Role’s Vox Machina). Others might act just how you think they’d act. Perhaps the Oath of Redemption paladin grants a quick, clean, and merciful death to a worthy foe, or the swordsman Battle Master fighter ends his quarry with one clean blade stroke, or the College of Glamour bard sends the villain off with an explosion of fireworks while singing Bon Jovi’s ‘Blaze of Glory’.
Who knows. Maybe that paladin loses their cool and goes into a blood rage (not to be confused with the Rage mechanic), the fighter might let their opponent bleed out on the ground, and the bard might even spare the opponent because perhaps a personal kill isn’t their style.
I’d also advise letting them be a little crazy with it. Not too crazy mind you, don’t let them just magically be able to throw Hadokens and Spirit Bombs. But let them pull off feats that may strain realism like a fighter cutting an enemy clean in half with a single swing, or a monk punching a hole in an enemy’s chest, or a Domain of Light cleric calling down a beam of holy light. This is D&D after all, and it’s the end of combat to begin with, so let them have a little bit of fun.
Of course, don’t do this for *every* kill. No one wants to do overly cinematic hoard combat that lasts longer than The Godfather trilogy. But keep it as an idea to motivate that bit of cathartic violence into your campaigns when felling a tougher beast.
And, of course, you don’t have to do this if your party is squeamish or just not into that sort of campaign style. But, if your players have the creativity, and maybe a tad of morbidity, then get those impromptu Mortal Kombat Fatalities ready!
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