Minion critical hits

[OnlineDM]

I realized that I should probably cross-post house rule discussions from my blog onto EN World, since people here tend to be very interested in this sort of thing. My most recent post deals with minions rolling crits.

What do you do as a DM when one of your minions who deals static damage scores a critical hit? I've seen a few options floating around:

• Nothing special. A minion that deals 5 damage on a hit also deals 5 damage on a crit.
• Double damage. 5 damage on a regular hit -> 10 damage on a crit.
• Bonus damage die. 5 damage on a regular hit -> 5+1d6 damage (or something similar) on a crit.
• Bonus effects. 5 damage on a regular hit -> 5 damage plus some effect like prone or push 1 square on a crit.

I know that by "rules as written" nothing special happens when a static-damage minion scores a critical hit. Personally, I think it's more fun to have crits matter, even when it's only a minion rolling them. I've been using double damage for a while; I'm currently toying with the bonus damage die idea.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Personally, I go by RAW. Minions already deal the most damage of all monsters, pound-for-pound. So I don't think minions require crit-potential, although I admit, if I had a dime for every time I rolled a crit for a minion...

Anywho, if I were to give minions crit-potential, I'd add a d6 per 5 levels.

 

[Quickleaf]

What about automatically aiding the next attack against the PC they critted? Or causing the PC to become vulnerable to a certain damage type?
The Tulgar from MM3 grant a basic attack to an ally when they crit, but they *are* epic minions.

At first I thought this thread was about what happens when a PC crits a minion, which is actually a more interesting question to me. Players hate to feel like their critical hit does nothing. Some sort of 'overkill' or 'finishing move' effect would be cool...

 

[OnlineDM]

Good point - I should probably write about fun things to do when a PC "wastes" a crit on a minion. I agree with you that having some cool bonus would be nice.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I sometime do as Tequila Sunrise mentioned with an extra d6 per 5 levels..actually for all monsters..

But an option for specific minions might be to mark the target, grant combat advantage, push...lots of things.

I would tailor it to the minion type and the encounter.

Sent from my SPH-M900 using Tapatalk

 

[FireLance]

Here are some ideas off the top of my head. Any time a character rolls a critical hit, he may opt to roll on the critical hit table or on the critical inspiration table instead of dealing maximum damage. This could be because his attack deals fixed damage (e.g. in the case of a minion), no damage (e.g. in the case of certain powers), or he believes that dealing maximum damage will be of no benefit (e.g. he is attacking a minion). Flavor text in the critical hit table assumes a humanoid opponent, but should be easily adaptable.

Critical Hit Table (roll 1d8)

1 - Head strike: The target suffers blurred vision and treats all its enemies as having concealment until the end of its next turn.

2 - Chest strike: The target staggers backward and is pushed 1 square.

3 - Gut strike: The target is winded and grants combat advantage to all attackers until the end of its next turn.

4 - Interfering strike: The target is hit in the arm and takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls until the end of its next turn.

5 - Kneecap strike: The target loses its balance and falls prone.

6 - Foot strike: The target's movement is hampered and it is slowed until the end of its next turn.

7 - Arterial strike: The target starts bleeding profusely and takes 4 ongoing damage (save ends). This increases to 8 ongoing damage if the attacker is 11th or higher level, and 12 ongoing damage if the attacker is 21st or higher level.

8 - Vitals strike: The target is hit in a sensitive area and takes 5 extra damage. This increases to 10 extra damage if the attacker is 11th or higher level, and 15 extra damage if the attacker is 21st or higher level.

Critical Inspiration Table (roll 1d6)

1 - Inspired speed: The attacker may shift two squares as a free action.

2 - Inspired defence: The attacker gains a +2 bonus to all defences until the end of his next turn.

3 - Inspired accuracy: The attacker gains a +2 bonus to his next attack roll.

4 - Inspired ferocity: The attacker gains a +5 bonus to the next damage roll he makes before the end of the encounter. The bonus increases to +10 if he is 11th or higher level, and +15 if he is 21st or higher level.

5 - Inspired vigor: The attacker gains 5 temporary hit points. This increases to 10 temporary hit points if he is 11th or higher level, and 15 temporary hit points if he is 21st or higher level.

6 - Inspired recovery: The attacker may make a saving throw. If the attacker is not subject to a condition that a saving throw can end, he gains temporary hit points instead (as Inspired vigor, above).​

 

[OnlineDM]

Per the suggestions here, I decided to go ahead and write a blog post about some house rule options for a PC getting a critical hit against a minion. I wrote the draft before the cool ideas from [MENTION=3424]FireLance[/MENTION] went up, but I edited the final version to give you a nod.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Making it +d6 per 5 levels lines it up with the PCs. Personally I think that if you're going to make this change it should be applied to all monsters, otherwise regular monster crits will end up being humdrum.

It should probably be noted that although overall damage will not change much (after all, you're going to get an average of 1/20th of 21 damage at level 30 per attack) it will make combat significantly more risky. That might be a good thing or a bad thing for your games. I think that 4e has enough get out of jail free cards in it that you won't really need to amend much to cope with the change, it's just that it will behoove players to have tailor their power and item choice to take advantage of more of them.

 

[airwalkrr]

Minions aren't supposed to be nasty. They aren't supposed to score lucky shots. They are supposed to get in the way. They are supposed to be obstacles. They are supposed to be expendable. I don't think there is anything wrong with RAW. If anything add 1 point of damage on a crit. But that's as far as I would even consider going.

 

[OnlineDM]

Minions aren't supposed to be nasty. They aren't supposed to score lucky shots. They are supposed to get in the way. They are supposed to be obstacles. They are supposed to be expendable. I don't think there is anything wrong with RAW. If anything add 1 point of damage on a crit. But that's as far as I would even consider going.

Fair enough. I guess I see minions slightly differently in that they CAN get lucky, but I respect the view that no, they can't.