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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pauper" data-source="post: 6794984" data-attributes="member: 17607">As a DM, I'm likely to ignore this ruling -- note the text on p.73 of the Basic Rules:"If the d20 roll for an attack is a 20, the attack hits *regardless of any modifiers* or the target's AC." (emphasis mine)The only way to justify allowing Cutting Words to negate a critical hit is to rule that the phrase "subtracting the number rolled from the creature's roll" means that you're subtracting the result from the die directly rather than imposing a negative modifier to the roll. If that's the interpretation, however, then it would follow that the standard use of bardic inspiration ("the creature can roll the die and add the number rolled to one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw it makes") would allow a non-20 to be 'promoted' to a critical hit, which would almost certainly be seen as overpowered, especially at later levels when the bardic inspiration die grows significantly larger -- the average result of adding an 18th+ level bardic inspiration die to an attack roll would be 17.If the description of Cutting Words specifically noted that it modified the die roll and thus could prevent a critical hit, that would be different, but as written, there's nothing in Cutting Words to suggest that it isn't simply a modifier, which is already covered in the base rule regarding critical hits.--Pauper</blockquote>