Confirming crits, good idea, bad idea, or worst idea ever

[hemera]

I personally hate them with a passion, but that stems from a keen rapier and really bad luck on confirmation rolls.

Objectively though, I do think it diminishes the "specialness" of the natural 20 a bit. I do like the idea of trading the crit for a disarm, trip, sunder attempt though. That's a mighty fine idea! ^.^

 

[Stormonu]

In my game, we treat the d20 roll as an "open roll". That is, if you roll a 20, you get to roll again to hit again. Should you roll 20 again, you get to attempt a 3rd hit, and so on. (Similar mechanic for fumbles)

So technically, in my game it's not a confirmation so much as a chance to get in extra "hits". Though now I'm considering to make it that on a 20, the damage is also maxxed (the second/confirm roll wouldn't be automatically maxxed).

 

[Dausuul]

It should also be noted that if you are absolutely wedded to the concept of directly simulating "people with more accurate attacks critical more often, however swingy those criticals are," then confirmation rolls is probably your best mechanic.

However, if what you want is the concept of "people with more accurate attacks do more damage on criticals," then you can get the same effect with less annoyance and handling time by simply adding an extra damage roll for crits, based on the flat plus of the attack. This is especially true in a system that seeks to flatten out the attack bonus.

That is, you don't need to consider the relative accuracy of the attack versus the AC (or other defense). If Joe the 1st level Fighter has +4 to hit with his longsword, he gets some modest bonus to damage on all crits (in addition to max damage or normal roll or whatever else you do to make them special). Joe at 10th level hits harder, so that number goes up.

To boil this down to the simplest possible version: Any natural 20 is a crit, and the meaning of "crit" is "bonus damage equal to your attack bonus." So if you've got +7 to hit, then you get +7 damage any time you roll a 20 on the attack roll.

 

[El Mahdi]

I don't mind the confirmation roll if there's also a critical range being used (not just 20, but like 19-20, 18-20, etc.). But I also think that natural 20's should be automatic crits and not require a confirmation roll.

Twenty always brings the pain.

 

[vagabundo]

If the leak is true then the new crit mechanic seems pretty tasty. Max damage is the meat and potatoes.The confirmation roll the gravy. Even if I don't make it I still have a satisfying meal.

Now for dessert I want a generous helping of critical fumbles.

 

[Dausuul]

Now for dessert I want a generous helping of critical fumbles.

Ick, no. I freaking hate critical fumbles. Auto-miss on a natural 1 is plenty. If crit fumbles must be in the system, I hope they're off in some extremely optional module.

 

[vagabundo]

Ick, no. I freaking hate critical fumbles. Auto-miss on a natural 1 is plenty. If crit fumbles must be in the system, I hope they're off in some extremely optional module.

Don't be such a wuss, soldier. What kind of adventurer are you?

 

[JoesephBear]

Nat 20 = Crit.

A crit is an automtic hit.

Roll damage, then double it.


That's how I've always done it. That's how I always will do it.

 

[BobTheNob]

Agreed. Nat 20 = crit. Done.

Eh. We have to remember WHY confirms were there in the first place. The level 10 warrior with his +X plate, his +Something Feat, His "Shield of you shall not hit me"

Then a goblin with a lowsy to-hit comes up at take a shot. The goblin needs to get a 19 or better to hit.

That means they will hit once every ten swings but 50% of those hits will crit

Thats what I call odd

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Make it full damage before confirmation and let the roll add even moar damage or cool things like tripping.

That's what the NDA "breaks" say it is, not crit confirmation.

It's likely this:

Some people like crit confirmation 'cause it stops the problem of always critting if you always need a 20 to hit, and removes some swingy-ness.

Everyone hates it when they roll a crit and fail the confirmation. It's a huge burst of your fun bubble.

Some people hate crit confirmation because of the above, and because it's just another die roll.

WotC probably decided to check if they removed the bubble-burst, but kept the rest, they could have the best of both worlds. It's a test, and really, really easy to change before publication if no-one likes it.

But for now they are testing: Crit for max damage, hit again for extra damage (and/or riders?).

Not the same as confirming crits, but may still prove unpopular.

I kinda like it, though I'd have to play with it awhile to see for sure.