Anyone use instant kill criticals?

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I gave it a try last night. If you roll a 20 and then roll another 20 on your critical roll you get an instant kill. Of course I, the DM seem to roll far more 20's than the pc's. So i rolled the dice right in front of the players and bang 20...20! My NPC was smoked by a goblin mace. Anyone been doing this and notice any ill effects?

 

[MythandLore]

Hope, never have, never will.

Some people just have better luck with dice, vorpal is a +5 power afterall.
And undead and constructs, what do you do with them?

 

[Dragonjester]

Instant kills in our game are 20..20..hit, decreases the odds a bit. I think it's one of the critical kill variants from the DMG. even so I once managed to kill off my player's lvl 7 fighter, with a lucky shot from an orc. I rolled three 20's in a row that time.

 

[CRGreathouse]

No, I don't - and I'm sure I won't. My players would feel cheated out of a good fight if they did it, and my players would hate to be killed by a minor monster on a good series of rolls.

 

[Dragonjester]

I made a mistake, in our game it's 20..20..critical range hit. Actually my players are the ones who wanted to put the rule into effect, and I'm not sure why because the odds are definitely against them.

 

[Crothian]

WE have the 20 20 instand death rule and it has never come up. THe current game is in it's 20th+ session. No one has rules a 2 nat 20's in a row like that. Heck, the monk has yet to actually critical hit any one.

 

[Dristram]

I use 3 20's to be a critical kill. Not an instant kill mind you. It takes the PC/NPC to -10 hp that can be healed if hit with a cure spell or bound before the end of that round.

I also use the critical fumble rule of rolling 3 1's will do the same thing, but to yourself!

 

[dvvega]

I've been using the variant 20, 20, hit from the DMG for the last year that I have been running my campaign with 3 different groups.

It has never come up in the countless hours we have played. Yes a double 20 has been rolled, however the follow through has never resulted in a hit. Players start cheering when that second 20 comes up and all wait expectantly for the third roll. But never has it happened.

I do have a house rule in effect though regarding -10 hps. You stay at your negative hit point total for a full round of actions. If you reach -10 you cannot stabilise on -10, so you have to be saved by someone else. This adds to the tension of a combat.

Of course with the super kill option, I have a super fumble option.
Roll 1, 1, miss and you're going to regret it miserably.

 

[hong]

It's a superfluous rule. If you get critted by a Str 20 monster with a x3 crit weapon like a greataxe, that stands a good chance of being an instant kill anyway.

 

[Joker]

We use: threat, threat, hit equals maximized crit.

Works nice.