Esker
Hero
Normally a natural 20 on an attack roll automatically hits, regardless of the modified value and the targets AC. This also means that abilities or spells that boost AC (such as the Shield spell), along with abilities that dock the attack roll after the fact (Cutting Words, Bane, etc.) are impotent to stop crits.
Meanwhile, adamantine armor (as well as the Grave Cleric ability Sentinel at Death's Door) turns critical hits into normal hits.
How do these interact? Is a natural 20 vs someone wearing adamantine armor still an auto-hit, or is it just a 20+modifier, that can be turned into a miss with an ability that can turn hits into misses? Or does it depend on the ability?
It would seem that the Shield spell cast by a character wearing adamantine could perhaps turn a natural 20 into a miss, provided the +5 gets their AC above the modified roll, since the spell is cast in reaction to being hit by an attack. But it's not clear; I could see ruling that the fact that the attack hits (as a normal hit, due to adamantine) is independent of the target's AC.
Things like Cutting Words or Bane are I think clearer, since they are technically applied before any hit or miss determination is made, so I would think they wouldn't help.
Has anybody dealt with this interaction? If so, how did you handle it?
Meanwhile, adamantine armor (as well as the Grave Cleric ability Sentinel at Death's Door) turns critical hits into normal hits.
How do these interact? Is a natural 20 vs someone wearing adamantine armor still an auto-hit, or is it just a 20+modifier, that can be turned into a miss with an ability that can turn hits into misses? Or does it depend on the ability?
It would seem that the Shield spell cast by a character wearing adamantine could perhaps turn a natural 20 into a miss, provided the +5 gets their AC above the modified roll, since the spell is cast in reaction to being hit by an attack. But it's not clear; I could see ruling that the fact that the attack hits (as a normal hit, due to adamantine) is independent of the target's AC.
Things like Cutting Words or Bane are I think clearer, since they are technically applied before any hit or miss determination is made, so I would think they wouldn't help.
Has anybody dealt with this interaction? If so, how did you handle it?