Critital miss chart advice

[MarauderX]

Just as there are critical hits, there are critical misses, which apply to both player and DM attack rolls. See below and please post feedback on what you'd remove, add or change. Thanks in advance!

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For critical misses (natural 1) roll a d20 again. If the result is 8 and above, the critical miss can be ignored. If the roll is 7 or less, there are consequences...


Natural 1 followed by:

Another 1 - The item used in the attack is destroyed; the wielder is dazed.

2 - a magical item used in the attack loses +1 from its bonus; if +1 or non-magical, the item is destroyed.

3 - the attacker is stunned until the end of their next turn.

4 - the attacker is dazed and weakened until the end of their next turn.

5 - the attacker rolls damage and applies 1/2 to themselves.

6 - the attacker is dazed until the end of their next turn.

7 - the attacker is weakened until the end of their next turn.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

YMMV, but that is far too much bookkeeping for my liking. I do use a variant to make natural 1s mean something, but basically it is just an adaptation of the Reckless Breakage rule from Dark Sun.

If someone rolls a 1, they can opt to take a reroll, but risk breaking their weapon. If they decide to make the roll, hit or miss, the item gets a saving throw (made by the DM), adjusted for any magical plusses, and any bonuses its wielder gets to saves. If the item fails the save, it is rendered useless, or something bad happens.

How severe this is depends on the tone of the campaign. I think it's pretty safe to destroy things that are easily replaced, like mundane weapons and implements. Magical stuff, I would just have effectively broken until a short or an extended rest. Or, with things like bows and crossbows, maybe the string snaps or the mechanism jams and they need a Standard action to fix it. Broken items might still be useful, but may suffer a penalty to hit, or lose part of their functionality - I once had a halberd-wielder fail his reckless breakage, and had the shaft snap near the middle, turning it into a battle axe until he could replace the pole.

It is still a little more complicated and not as gritty as Dark Sun, but that was my aim. I have not found it to slow gameplay down much, and it has certainly helped speed up combats while making them more interesting by turning (roughly) 50% of all natural 1s into hits. Mathematically, this con increase everyone's hit chance by about 2.5%, depending on their hit chance. It does some wonky things to the math for calculating the effects of critical hits on your DPR (if you care about that), since you can theoretically turn 5% of every re-rolled critical miss into one.

 

[the Jester]

Re: Equipment damage- I use a system involving "wear points" for most equipment-damaging effects (fumbles, sundering attacks, certain monsters, etc). Basically:

-An item with one wear point is cosmetically damaged.
-An item with two wear points takes a -1 to its effectiveness (to attacks and damage, to AC, etc).
-An item with three wear points is destroyed.
-A magic item can withstand one extra wear point per tier before taking a -1.

Re: Fumbles in general- I do recommend that there be an outside chance in a worst-case-fumble situation that the poor bugger suffers spontaneous human combustion.

 

[Rune]

Those are pretty harsh.

In my games, anyone who rolls a 1 on an attack just grants combat advantage to everyone else (you know, from fumbling their weapon) until the start of their next turn.

I mean, let's face it--rolling a 1 sucks enough, anyway, especially with encounters or dailies. No need to go overboard.

Edit--I used to go with the house-rule that a 1 on an attack either provoked opportunity attacks (if anyone was in range) or ended the attacker's turn (as per the DMG house-rule) when no one was in range to attack.

I found that to be too harsh (and time-consuming), also.

 

[the Jester]

One thing about fumbles: multi-target attacks are inherently more likely to fumble.

My solution has been that only the first roll on a multi-target attack is susceptible to fumbles.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

One thing about fumbles: multi-target attacks are inherently more likely to fumble.

My solution has been that only the first roll on a multi-target attack is susceptible to fumbles.

That's a very good point. That's one of the reasons I use Reckless Breakage - the player gets to choose if they want to risk it or not, so multiattackers like rangers, sorcerers, wizards, etc, are not necessarily any more prone to it than any others.

That, and if they miss one of, say, three targets, it's not so bad, but when you get one attack at one target and you whiff... that's awful. Especially if it happens a lot.

 

[MarauderX]

Very good points, thank you for the input. Keep in mind that the fumble also applies to the DM rolls too.

I have revamped it to the following:




Natural 1 followed by:

Another 1 - The item used in the attack is destroyed.

2 - a magical item used in the attack loses +1 from its bonus; if +1 or non-magical, the item is destroyed.

3 - the attacker is dazed and weakened until the end of their next turn.

4 - the attacker is dazed until the end of their next turn.

5 - the attacker is weakened until the end of their next turn.

6 - the attacker grants combat advantage.

7 - the attacker grants combat advantage.

 

[the Jester]

Psst! You forgot spontaneous human combustion.

Just reminding you.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

That's still really harsh.

The thing to remember is that the players are in EVERY fight. They will roll way more 1s than any of your baddies ever will (individually). All rules like this do is punish the players 5% of the time.

If you're going to have horrible consequences, at least offer it as a choice, and do so with a suitable carrot to make it worth risking sometimes.

 

[Neubert]

That's still really harsh.

The thing to remember is that the players are in EVERY fight. They will roll way more 1s than any of your baddies ever will (individually). All rules like this do is punish the players 5% of the time.

If you're going to have horrible consequences, at least offer it as a choice, and do so with a suitable carrot to make it worth risking sometimes.

..Perhaps by letting them turn the miss into a hit? Could be tempting when using a daily or encounter power.