Quote Originally Posted by Asrrin View Post
Did the NPC respond with lethal force? I may have missed that.
The NPC attacked with a club. There was no mention of whether or not he was taking the -4 attack penalty to inflict non-lethal damage with it, so it's unclear. The OP will have to clarify.

That said, it just sounds like the player didn't realize he could kill the NPC. I'd simply retcon it to non-lethal, and clarify for the PC that in the future, he needs to specify if he's trying to knock the guy out (deal non-lethal), or kill him.