waiting for seeds to sprout, soil got dry. are they done for?

I germinated 6 seeds.. 5 out of 6 got tap roots in 48hours.. so Itook them and put them all in soil in peat pots (I know not the best but no solo cups available) anyway.. got the fresh soil nice an damp throughout.. dropped seeds in just barely above the service.. I just checked on them 20 hours into it and the soil seemed to be throughly dry.. if not throughly dry at least the top where my seed is.. Iwatered them all again... are my seeds worthless now you think?? I started more seeds in germination just incase.. but what's your input?? There under my 400watt hps about 18inchs.. probly what caused them to dry out

Yeah the HPS would be the culprit.
You're just wasting power with that thing if they haven't even popped the surface yet. Maybe you cooked em maybe you didn't. Give em a day or 4 to pop and then go from there. I've had seedlings take a week to pop the surface AFTER they popped out taproots and were buried in a cup. Stubborn little bastards.
So yeah just set em aside somewhere and wait for them to break the surface and then start blasting em with that light.

Like Monkey Grinder said, they may indeed be done for but putting that 400 watt hps so close will almost certainly toe-tag your seedlings. If they don't pull through, I would try again by soaking new seeds for 24 hrs in plain water, then directly plant them in to water growing medium you desire at about 1/2" and keep them slightly moist (usually 1 watering is adequate for germination). Screwing around with paper towels etc. may satisfy ones curiosity about germination rates but can potentially stunt/stress young plants so direct planting is definitely preferred. Once the plants have emerged, start your grow light at no lower 30". If they stretch slightly you can always lower gradually. Done correctly, you will certainly be raising that light again. The most common cause of plant death early on is overwatering so monitor the soil moisture carefully and allow the soil to dry out slightly between waterings. This may entail watering as little as twice in the first 2 wks. Good luck.

x2 no need for high wattage during germ, or seedling stage. back off on the lighting keep em moist, hopefully they pull through.