Critical hits in 4e

[Vorput]

I hate to even start a thread given the board climate, but meh. I feel like complaining.

In 4e- a critical hit does maximum damage. You roll a 20, you deal max damage instantly.

Booo!!!!! One of the best things about a critical was always the fact you got to roll lots of dice!!! That's why I loved those 2d4 or 2d6 weapons. Oh man, a 2d4 weapon with a x4 critical?! Awesome!!!! 8 dice!!!!

It just seems boring to me now. It's almost more fun to barely hit (with that roll of 13 + your mods) and to roll an 8 on your d8 than to roll a 20 and not even get to roll damage! Sure the damage is the same in both cases, but I liked the sound of lots of dice in my hand.

Am I alone in this? I know it was possible to roll poorly before and do less than max damage... which was depressing- but you still got to roll lots of dice!

Thoughts?

 

[Victim]

Magic weapons/implements add bonus dice on a crit. So after about 2nd level, characters are generally doing max damage plus some extra dice. So if you like rolling dice, you still get to do that.

 

[SSquirrel]

We always skipped the confirm a critical step and just went straight to double damage. This does cut out the "wait do I roll once then double that or is it twice the number of dice" that came up EVERY TIME we introduced the game to someone new and half the time from half the other people we played with every time someone got a crit. Not stupid people, just not dedicated to gaming like some of us

The new "I crit woo! max damage, your turn" is a-ok in my book

 

[The Human Target]

If you haven't noticed, 4E cuts waaaay down on the amount of dice people roll at once.

I view it as a plus, you view it as a minus.

 

[Skywalker]

In 3e, it annoyed me that after rolling a natural 20 you could still be denied a good result by either failing to confirm or rolling bad damage. I much prefer the certainty that comes with 4e, and how you also now roll roll dice on top of max damage

 

[Vorput]

If you haven't noticed, 4E cuts waaaay down on the amount of dice people roll at once.

I view it as a plus, you view it as a minus.

Really? I always thought liking to roll lots of dice was a staple of RPers. My first DM's earliest epic weapons was a boxful of dice. Corny, but it was fun! Live and learn.

Magic weapons/implements add bonus dice on a crit. So after about 2nd level, characters are generally doing max damage plus some extra dice. So if you like rolling dice, you still get to do that.

I hadn't noticed that. Our first session with the new rules isn't till tomorrow. That's something I suppose.

 

[Deverash]

I hadn't noticed that. Our first session with the new rules isn't till tomorrow. That's something I suppose.

Well, considering that for a vicious weapon, you're rolling 1d12 per plus on the weapon when you crit, you can still roll at least some dice.

 

[Shabe]

As stated basic weapon damage is now automatically maxed on a crit, but magic weapons and the high crit weapon property can lead you to rolling 9d12 at 30th, you're looking at max damage with a greataxe +1d12 +1d6 with a vanilla +1 magic greataxe, which you may get at lvl 1(?).

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I personally never liked it, since you would be like, "Awesome got a critical" *rolls damage: get two 1's* "crap..."

Criticals are supposed to be your big hits, this isn't conveyed well in the old system.

 

[BlueBlackRed]

Less dice rolled per person means quicker combats.
The faster combats move, the less likely someone is to not pay attention because it'll be 10 minutes before the action gets back to them.

The last year or so when I've DM'd I gave the players options at higher levels to roll less dice but get a more average result. Those in the group who "count the dots" appreciated it.

5d6=7+3d6
10d6=28+2d6