Anyone use instant kill criticals?

[mmadsen]

I don't want to add anymore dice rolls to the combat really. Two rolls is enough.

You wouldn't be adding any rolls -- unless you had a crit. And the rolls would have the same target each time, so you wouldn't have to look anything up.

 

[frankthedm]

- only there are hundreds of orcs to fight (not at once, of course),

AND just why not at once? I have seen some fighter heavy groups try just that. Too bad for them they didn't understand thier large shields, full plate, and natural armor NEVER matters in a graple... thier next PC's invested in armor spikes.

 

[Dr. Zoom]

I use a variant of the DMG variant. Here it is:


When you roll a natural 20, you threaten a critical hit. If you roll a natural 20 on your critical hit roll, you threaten an instant kill. You roll again, and if the roll is high enough that it would ordinarily score a hit, add one to your critical multiplier (x2 = x3). If you roll a third natural 20, the target is instantly killed (reduced to –10 hp). Those immune to critical hits are immune to instant kills.


This requires three natural 20's in a row for an instant kill. Possible, but not too likely. Moreover, if you roll two 20's in a row and then a third roll that would have hit the target, you get a more powerful crit. In the DMG, this would be an instant kill. But in my variant, it only adds one to the crit multiplier. So far it works really well. Have had a few better crits, but no instant kills yet.

 

[Crothian]

The biggest problem I have with these sorts of rules is they are PC unfriendly. PCs get attacked more then anyone else, so the chances of them getting killed by this rule is greater then anything else.

Note, that dispite this I still use this rule.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Remember, the DMG instant kill rule isn't 20, 20 = kill, but 20,. 20, hit = kill.

 

[las]

I use them if they apply.