D&D 5E Critical Hits Appears to be Next in D&D Archive

[Lackhand]

Or maybe its a "slot" system. Wizards get 1 "slots", fighters get 12 or somthing. The weirder and more powerful the weapon the more "slots" it takes.
Maybe?

I didn't read the actual article -- is it a mangled footnote or superscript? It might also just be a weapon proficiency descriptor of some sort, of course!

Maybe even a level requirement.

 

[FireLance]

We also have catagories, ie weapon groups. Lot of implications in that little strip.

Yup. Further speculation: feats that applied to a specific weapon in 3e now apply to an entire category, so you might have Weapon Focus (pick), Improved Critical (pick), etc.

 

[Darth Cyric]

I love it.

Natural 20 only w/ no confirmation was expected, as that's the way it works in Star Wars Saga, and it works very well there.

Maximum damage as opposed to damage multipliers is also welcome, as it makes a critical hit even from a mediocre-STR character hurt, while keeping a rein on a min-maxed high STR build.

Too many times in 3.5, a character with a suboptimal STR (even a finesse Fighter) did weenie damage on a critical if his damage roll was too low. Conversely, a high-STR character would have enough modifiers that his base weapon damage die didn't matter, so all he had to worry about was damage multipliers or threat ranges. Thus making only a select few melee weapons (falchion, scimitar, rapier, scythe, pick) even worth looking at. Very unbalancing.

In 4e, we should see a lot more weapons being viable selections now, between this new critical hit system and the weapon-specific Fighter "powers" (maneuvers).

 

[Gryffyn]

I don't see how this "critical hit" system is an improvement. Rolling damage dice is FUN. Rolling more dice on a special occasion is even more fun. Now, in 4e, a critical hit means you roll no damage dice at all (or fewer). It seems like a real step backward in fun, to me.

No confirmation roll? Again, less fun. That moment between rolling the critical threat and rolling the confirmation die is one of the most exciting, most tense moments in D&D. When that confirmation roll succeeds, it really feels special. High-fives all around, hooting and hollering, etc. If you fail, well, you still do normal damage! This 4e system is...anticlimactic. A 20! Okay, my turn's over, next!

Finally, did critical hits really need fixing? Really?

The new system won't be "broken" or anything. It'll be faster, yes, and simpler, but not better.

 

[Wormwood]

So I assume that crits work for spells the same way. If I throw a 5d6 fireball and it crits, I do 30 damage

Makes sense.

Makes me *very* happy as well.

 

[glass]

Unless crits are really spectacular in 4e I'm houseruling in the crits from Hackmaster. And until 4e comes out, I'm definitely houseruling them in for my 3.X games.

What are crits like in Hackmaster?


glass.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

I'm all for making the game more fun, but that doesn't mean we have to protect the player from every moment of disappointment!!! Sure, it's a bummer--but hey, you still did damage, didn't you. And the confirmed crit is just that much sweeter for it.

I have heard rumors that one of the design philosophies of 4e is that fun should never be defined as a negative. For instance:

"It was fun this round that I hit because most rounds I don't."
"Against most enemies I'm useless but against undead I rule. This battle was so much fun."
"I almost never crit, so the one time I do is awesome."

are all examples of defining fun with a negative. In other words, you feel good because normally you feel bad. You won't see this happen in 4e very often if at all.

 

[Wormwood]

My favorite thing about this is not only are crits exciting and a bit more frequent, there actually faster to resolve than standard attacks!!

Another step in the right direction.

 

[Voss]

I'm all for making the game more fun, but that doesn't mean we have to protect the player from every moment of disappointment!!! Sure, it's a bummer--but hey, you still did damage, didn't you. And the confirmed crit is just that much sweeter for it.

I think the mechanics here are more important than the disappointment factor. The 3e crit system is extraordinarily breakable and abusable.

As for the skill factor, there is a lot of design space for fighters to have powers or feats that center around criticals and other 'weapon mastery' effects. And as long as they keep it reasonable, it can be good. (There doesn't need to be a giant pile of dice coming from feats, powers, item, magic properties, because that could get just as bad as '20s crit and everyone gets a x3 multiplier')


@Gryffyn- yeah, yeah they did. depending on the character build, they ranged from 'completely irrelevant' to 'I can one shot anyone who isn't flat-out immune, on a regular basis'

 

[Spinachcat]

I love the 20 = double damage randomness - especially when it splatters PCs. But then again, I love dangerous, crazed combat that could lead to death at any turn.

When a 3D6 attack suddenly becomes 34 damage and the demon standing in front of you gets his head lopped off, that is an awesome moment. Last year, we ended a tournament with a massive crit on a dragon that got the table howling with excitement. At the Gateway convention, we lost two heroes to evil elves with great crits with both swords which left the table gasping when the 5 PCs suddenly become 3 PCs in one round. My group still laughs about the TPK thanks to goblins in the darkness getting 4 crits in a single round...and then 3 more crits on the next party who were also a TPK.

But sadly, awesome moments must be sacrificed on the Altar of Balance to make sure little Timmy doesn't keep crying when his character dies.

Too bad we just can't crit Timmy.