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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GMMichael" data-source="post: 6666154" data-attributes="member: 6685730">You could look at critical hits like this: they're an admission that there's something wrong with the other combat rules.  I see the (D&D) Crit as basically a chance to make an extra-effective attack.  This isn't necessary though, since there's the hit/miss dichotomy, and the die roll for damage.Hit/miss: an adventurer who consistently swings a weapon or shoots an arrow and hits nothing but air is one who should be staying home instead.  More likely, a "miss" is a parried attack, a glancing blow, or a direct hit that was absorbed by armor.  The alternative then, the "hit," should be a worthwhile effort.  Drawing blood, breaking bone, chipping off armor - these are hits, and all pretty critical if you ask me.Rolling damage: as if misses weren't bad enough, there's still a chance that you can roll so little damage that your opponent just laughs off your hit.  There's also a chance that you roll so much damage that your opponent starts writing his last will.  (There's no chance that your opponent runs away, for some strange reason.)  Why is there a need to make an attack "critical," when there's already this range of outcomes?The critical hit seems to me like a band-aid: misses are boring, and normal attacks don't do enough damage to be interesting - at least not in the face of climbing hit points.I really like Zweihander's three tables of gruesome injuries.  For these criticals, the effectiveness of an attack is tied to whether it changed your category of health (damage track), not necessarily the number of hit points it removed or what you rolled on your attack die.In my game, criticals are built into the damage mechanics, not a separate rule.  Attackers roll a damage die while defenders roll a protection die.  You could call it a critical hit if the attacker rolls high while the defender rolls low.  However, since players have some dramatic control over their characters, a player can choose to roleplay a grievous wound, or ignore damage like a superhero - until he drops dead...</blockquote>

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