A Critical Hit rule

[korgoth]

Here is a rule I have been toying with for the dreaded "critical hits" that many love and many loathe:

On an unmodified (i.e. "natural") To Hit roll of "20", damage dice "explode" (i.e. when an unmodified "6" is rolled, an additional die is rolled and added to it, this progression continuing until a non-6 is rolled).

Or as stated without gloss: On a natural 20, damage dice explode.

I have also been toying with a version of a critical miss rule, namely that on a To Hit roll of "1", there is a 5% chance that the weapon breaks. This chance is ignored if the weapon is magical, or is a sword (thus showing why the sword was so highly prized as a weapon).

[philotomy]

I think that if you're going to offer critical hits, this is a reasonable system. Five percent of attacks are potential critical hits. Even if you've made the five percent (i.e. rolled a 20), with a d6 for damage you're looking at 16.7% chance for a die "explosion." I think I read that the average damage from a (potentially) exploding d6 would be around 4.2, which isn't that much better than the average damage from an unmodified d6. Doesn't sound unbalancing.

I also like that there's no "confirmation roll" -- your damage roll serves in that capacity.

The only potential weirdness is if you're using variable weapon damage. In that case, you'll have different chances to explode (25% for d4, 16.7% for d6, 12.5% for d8, and 10% for d10).

[makofan]

I have never liked critical hits, for the simple reason that then I think the monsters should get them and then it gets too deadly. But maybe I am strait-jacketing myself here. Who says monsters and characters have to use the same rules?

[coffee]

makofan said:

I have never liked critical hits, for the simple reason that then I think the monsters should get them and then it gets too deadly. But maybe I am strait-jacketing myself here. Who says monsters and characters have to use the same rules?

No one says that. If you want the characters to be more heroic, go ahead and a give them critical hits.

Don't worry; the monsters will still be deadly!

[Deleted]

I've always used the method of "natural 20 = double damage" (multiply the damage die result by 2), but I like the "exploding dice" method, korgoth. I'm gonna have to try that one...

[crimhthanthegreat]

We use this, on a natural 20 roll again, if it is a natural 20 on the second roll you do triple damage, or if the second roll is a 19 you do double damage. The rule is the same for characters, NPCs and monsters. We have been doing it this way for almost the entire time we have been playing.