D&D (2024) DM's no longer getting crits on PC's

[Minigiant]

Here's a q

Does this mean that 1DnD will convert to a 4e style where every monster has high base damage or a bursty recharge attack or get superior dice?


So those 2 orcs will use Aggressive to charge then Auto Crit turn 1.

Level 1 feats Monkey claw indeed.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

Unless there is some epic scale system or balance changes, of course my NPCs and monsters will keep on critting.

 

[James Gasik]

You just said you won't allow 1s to be auto fails and 20s to be auto successes other than for attack rolls. So when a character rolls a saving throw that requires a 10 and they have a +9 bonus to it they can't fail. And if a another character tries to recall knowledge about an obscure piece of knowledge that a more knowledgeable character failed at with a DC of 22, this character with only a +1 to their score can't succeed.


They give inspiration now.

While that is a buff, it's kind of a boring one.

 

[pantsorama]

I like it. Of course the devil is in the details, but I see no issue with replacing monster crits with abilities unique to the monster. Those are much more interesting for the player and the DM, IMO, than occasionally doing extra damage. I do not understand the need for monsters to play like the PCs anyway.

To the extent that these changes are realized as we learn more, I am all for it.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Maybe critical hits should do something more interesting than more damage, such as debuffing enemies or indirectly buffing allies. This might be a good place to put things that normally you need to be a Battlemaster to accomplish.

I do like mechanics that allow for bonus successes to be used in multiple ways.

But…when I play D&D I appreciate the (over?)simplification.

 

[James Gasik]

I do like mechanics that allow for bonus successes to be used in multiple ways.

But…when I play D&D I appreciate the (over?)simplification.

Yeah, something similar to Legend of the Five Rings where you can turn success into a variety of advantages would be nice.

 

[Reynard]

Yeah, something similar to Legend of the Five Rings where you can turn success into a variety of advantages would be nice.

I don't think it would be terribly complicated to provide a few simple options.

"On a critical hit you may choose to a) double your damage dice, b) knock your target prone, c) shove your target 5 feet away from you, or d) cause your target to drop an item they are holding." It literally doesn't need to be any longer that that since all of those terms are defined elsewhere.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I don't think it would be terribly complicated to provide a few simple options.

"On a critical hit you may choose to a) double your damage dice, b) knock your target prone, c) shove your target 5 feet away from you, or d) cause your target to drop an item they are holding." It literally doesn't need to be any longer that that since all of those terms are defined elsewhere.

I have always thought that monks should be able to choose stunning strike on a crit. Or maybe some subclass should.

 

[OB1]

Yeah, something similar to Legend of the Five Rings where you can turn success into a variety of advantages would be nice.

That's exactly what the new inspiration mechanic does. Once gained, the PC now get's to choose when to use it for maximum advantage. For example, the Rogue in my party used the advantage he gained on a Nat20 hit to get sneak attack on an enemy he wouldn't have been able to otherwise (he needed to use his bonus action to dash into range and there were no allies around the enemy). Or a wizard might use it in combination with a leveled spell attack to make it more likely that the spell slot won't be wasted on a miss.

I don't think it would be terribly complicated to provide a few simple options.

"On a critical hit you may choose to a) double your damage dice, b) knock your target prone, c) shove your target 5 feet away from you, or d) cause your target to drop an item they are holding." It literally doesn't need to be any longer that that since all of those terms are defined elsewhere.

But the problem here is that Crits are so unreliable as to be useless for strategy. All of those abilities sound great, but a PC can't count on them happening when they need it to. With Inspiration, the PC get's to choose when to use it for maximum advantage. And with it being able to be passed around once one character has advantage, it's much more reliable as a feature. One character may not Nat20 for a whole session, but could get inspiration several times because another player is rolling lucky.

I (and the rest of my group) were blown away by how well the new rules worked in actual play.

 

[Reynard]

But the problem here is that Crits are so unreliable as to be useless for strategy. All of those abilities sound great, but a PC can't count on them happening when they need it to.

I'm not sure how that is relevant. You can still use your action to do all those other things. The whole point was to make crits more interesting.