[Combat, Weapons] Crits for Con damage

[Irda Ranger]

I heard that in Monte's WoD, a confirmed critical hit does the weapons "damage dice" in Con damage. I assume this means that a Short Sword always will do 1d6, regardless of how many +'s to damage you have.

I say: awesome.

Man, this is really evocative of the sword through the gut - the telling blow. It also doesn't require adding new mechanics, like Wound Points, or require Massive Damage rules. Just your Con. That's an elegant solution.

I realize that any time you add crits, it works against PC's more than for them, and I'm ok with that. With this rule:

• The 10th level Fighter can't simply ignore mook crossbow-men. As a DM, castle guards are still somewhat useful.

• Fights can end abruptly with a killing blow. They don't have to be drawn-out slug fests.

• Critical Wounds can't be cured with a simple Cure Light Wounds - a thematic improvement.

I think this is great, and am seriously considering adopting it. Anyone else love or hate this? Any analysis from the rules optimizers?

 

[jaker2003]

This does sound like an awesome fix!

 

[TheCrazyMuffinMan]

Interestingly, they are still relatively easy to cure, only via lesser and normal restoration.

The truth is, a called shot variant, when combined with this, could invoke other kinds of damage based on the body part. Imagine great-clubbing someone over the head, going critical with it, and turning him into a vegetable (if he's lucky).

Head- Int, Wis, Cha or possible negative levels*
Body- Con or Str
Legs or arms- Dex or Str

*- Because Int, Wis and Cha damage don't kill you, using RAW. Also, head trauma can be as fatal as body trauma, but I don't see the head being associated with Con. These negative levels simply leave you dead with no after-effects if they exceed your character level.

 

[Machiavelli]

Hm. There are a few ways available to increase the threat range of a weapon, making a confirmed critical potentially much easier to obtain. Of course, these methods would need to be removed or rendered universally non-stackable in the same house rules that include the wounding critical rules.

I rather like this idea.

 

[udalrich]

You also need some way to deal with the fact that the Scythe (20/x4) is no longer such a great weapon for criticals. You could say it does x3 the base damage as Con damage, but then it's really vicious when it hits, as well as highly variable.

Actually, it doesn't really increase the variability much. Instead of (picking an average damage at random) normally doing about 10 points of damage, with the occasional 40 point hit, it now does 10 points of damage, with the occasional 10 hp + 9 con hit.

 

[TheCrazyMuffinMan]

You also need some way to deal with the fact that the Scythe (20/x4) is no longer such a great weapon for criticals. You could say it does x3 the base damage as Con damage, but then it's really vicious when it hits, as well as highly variable.

Actually, it doesn't really increase the variability much. Instead of (picking an average damage at random) normally doing about 10 points of damage, with the occasional 40 point hit, it now does 10 points of damage, with the occasional 10 hp + 9 con hit.

The solution could be to turn x3s into 1.5x attribute damage and x4 into doubled attribute damage. Your scenario would turn into 10 hp + 18 con, which is enough to destroy anything normal.

 

[Irda Ranger]

The solution could be to turn x3s into 1.5x attribute damage and x4 into doubled attribute damage. Your scenario would turn into 10 hp + 18 con, which is enough to destroy anything normal.

Maybe. I'm not too worried about the scythe - in 8 years I don't think I've ever seen it used. But whatever. The real danger with this rule would be the greataxe - 1d12 * 1.5. That's potentially a one-hit kill to anyone. I'll ask on Monte's boards how he handles it.

 

[TheCrazyMuffinMan]

Maybe. I'm not too worried about the scythe - in 8 years I don't think I've ever seen it used. But whatever. The real danger with this rule would be the greataxe - 1d12 * 1.5. That's potentially a one-hit kill to anyone. I'll ask on Monte's boards how he handles it.

I never really said it was a problem, though I understand. This sort of thing happens .41% of the time. 5% for the crit, divided by 12 for the prospect of max damage on a d12. You have a 1 in 240 chance of doing 18 con with that weapon.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I haven't seen Monte's version but I think simply having a critical deal 1D6 CON damage per the critical multiplier (in addition to the normal weapon damage} . In this fashion a x4 weapon would max out at 24 CON, but average more along the lines of 12 points. {or maybe 1D4 instead...max 16, average 8 points... or maybe a x1 crit = 1D6, x2 crit = 1D8, x3 =1D10 , x4 = 1D12... I like that better...}

Also there could be the option of 'called shots' that target other stats.

 

[TheCrazyMuffinMan]

World-crushing ability damage should be possible, but rare.

Your system is pretty good too, PS, as it provides a more reasonable cap on ability damage than my own. However, mine might work too for cases in which someone would WANT a hit good enough to crush anyone no matter what. YMMV.