D&D 5E Replacing Crits wwith Exploding Dice

TallIan · Jan 31, 2017

It certainly can be fun, but as others have pointed out, it will significantly increase damage.

In games where they use exploding damage dice I find things tend to get a bit farcical (which can be fun, just make sure that is what you want) even when the system is designed for it. It might get a bit rediculous in a system not designed for it.

My main issue with this would be the increased number of "crits", going from 5% with a d20 to potential 33% when your damage dice is a 2d6. It also skews crits in favour of smaller weapons (dagger get a bigger boost) and especially for multi dice weapons.

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Blue · Jan 31, 2017

You'd need another way to deal with all of the critical rules. Currently there are things that trigger on a crit, do they trigger on any exploding die? That could be a lot more. How does the barbarian and half-orc extra weapon die work? How about the crusader's extended crit range? Extra failed death save from taking damage?

Right now 5e has bigger dice are better to crit, that is no longer true but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

On the other hand, if you explode a lot and kill a monster, woo! "Cost" to the DM, 1-3 rounds of actions. If a foe explodes a lot and kills a PC, it's a bigger deal. Maybe limiting the maximum range of a crit to adding in the damage dice again has value.

closterphobia · Feb 1, 2017

MNblockhead said:
We use Nord Game's Critical Hit Decks. I like it better than both RAW and exploding die approaches as it is different each time.

How is this deck overall? I missed out on the Kickstarter, but see they're now selling it through their web site. Do you have the Critical Fail and "Player's" critical hits deck as well? If so, how do they rate in your opinion?

FormerlyHemlock · Feb 1, 2017

Shiroiken said:
A similar idea I used during the playtest (and suggested on every report) involved exploding attack rolls. Basically, if you roll a 20, you automatically hit for max weapon damage and make another attack roll; if the roll hits, you roll for damage again. If you roll multiple 20s in a row (unlikely, but possible), you add max weapon damage again, and continue with another attack roll. It allows for the weakest of creatures/characters to theoretically slay anything, even if the probability is very, very low, which helped "balance" story/scripted deaths against something that couldn't possibly deal enough damage by RAW.

I like that a lot. May steal it.

As a DM, I like the fact that it lets me tell the story of how the halfling slew Goliath.

GMMichael · Feb 1, 2017

MechaPilot said:
Basically what it says on the tin. What do you think of replacing critical hits on the d20 with exploding* damage dice?

Crits, as I've seen them in 5E, were underwhelming. I think they amounted to full damage on one attack, or average damage on two attacks?

Exploding dice should resolve faster, since you don't need to wait for the GM to tell you if you confirmed your crit. Just start rolling.

Buuuuuuut...can you explain to me how rolling the highest number on your damage die isn't already a critical hit? If my weapon does d8 damage, how is 8 damage not a crit when average damage would have been 4.5?

UngeheuerLich · Feb 1, 2017

DMMike said:
Crits, as I've seen them in 5E, were underwhelming. I think they amounted to full damage on one attack, or average damage on two attacks?

Exploding dice should resolve faster, since you don't need to wait for the GM to tell you if you confirmed your crit. Just start rolling.

Buuuuuuut...can you explain to me how rolling the highest number on your damage die isn't already a critical hit? If my weapon does d8 damage, how is 8 damage not a crit when average damage would have been 4.5?

You don't have to confirm crits...

77IM · Feb 1, 2017

Combine them: When you roll a crit, you roll 1 additional damage die, PLUS all your damage dice explode (recursively). This still allows for the fluke David vs. Goliath instakill take-down, but requires fewer changes to other rules.

From experience (Savage Worlds), if you allow exploding on every damage roll, it will make the system very swingy. For example, fighting a bunch of goblins with measly d6 weapons, odds are good that one of them will skewer a PC at some point during the encounter. If that's what you want, go for it, but it's one of the things about SW that I always felt vaguely unsatisfying, because it comes out of nowhere.

jasper · Feb 1, 2017

MechaPilot said:
Basically what it says on the tin. What do you think of replacing critical hits on the d20 with exploding* damage dice?

*For those unfamiliar with the term, it means if you roll the highest number possible on the damage die, you get to add another die. If that additional die is the maximum possible roll, then you add another die until you fail to roll the highest number on the die.

Rule number unknown. Skippy is no longer allowed to paint a "1" on a live hand grenade and call it his exploding die. Especially if he gets the second Lt to use it.

MNblockhead · Feb 1, 2017

closterphobia said:
How is this deck overall? I missed out on the Kickstarter, but see they're now selling it through their web site. Do you have the Critical Fail and "Player's" critical hits deck as well? If so, how do they rate in your opinion?

I have three sets:

1. Critical Hits for GMs
2. Critical Hits for Players
3. Critical Fails

I did not buy the Luck set.

My players and I really enjoy using them in our game. The effects are fun but mechanically simple. They do not bog down the game any more then rolling for extra damage. I also like how they are ranked by how deadly they are, so that you can removed deadly and life-threatening cards from the deck for lower level characters.

I highly recommend them.

MechaPilot · Feb 1, 2017

DMMike said:
Buuuuuuut...can you explain to me how rolling the highest number on your damage die isn't already a critical hit? If my weapon does d8 damage, how is 8 damage not a crit when average damage would have been 4.5?

Can you explain to me how a lethal weapon dealing its maximum damage doesn't kill? That's rhetorical, but I feel it illustrates the point appropriately.

D&D 5E Replacing Crits wwith Exploding Dice

TallIan

Explorer

Blue

Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal

closterphobia

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FormerlyHemlock

Hero

GMMichael

Guide of Modos

UngeheuerLich

Legend

77IM

Explorer!!!

jasper

Rotten DM

MNblockhead

A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site

MechaPilot

Explorer

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