Does EVERY attack form have a critical?

[Phaedrus]

A friend of mine says that some attacks (explicitly a donkey's natural attack of kicking) have no critical threat range or multiplier... that some attacks can never crit.

Is this true?

I thought that every attack was 20/x2 unless specified otherwise.

I need chapter and verse in RAW, if possible, so I can win this argument.

 

[Goolpsy]

well maigc does not always have a critical... how could you make a critical hold person? if he rolls 1 on saving throw it lasts double..? No it does not... could be a fine house-rule though..
Does fireball have a critical... - No

Does ray spells have one? (sometimes -Yes)
Damaging touch, ranged touch and ray spells does often and msot of the time have a critical threat range.. .but.. alot of things dont..

 

[Nareau]

I'm pretty sure that any attack that requires a to-hit roll can result in a critical hit.

combat
Automatic Misses and Hits: A natural 1 (the d20 comes up 1) on the attack roll is always a miss. A natural 20 (the d20 comes up 20) is always a hit. A natural 20 is also a threat-a possible critical hit.

Critical Hits: When you make an attack roll and get a natural 20 (the d20 shows 20), you hit regardless of your target's Armor Class, and you have scored a threat. The hit might be a critical hit (or 'crit').

Spider

 

[Phaedrus]

So I win!

Now if someone would say explicitly, "Yes, Phaedrus, you win", then I can email this thread to my buddy and call it a day.

Thanks to everyone for your replies.

 

[werk]

Attacks by a weapon, like a donkey kick, always have 20/x2 at least.

"Yes, Phaedrus, you win" (if that is what you were trying to prove)

 

[ThirdWizard]

"Yes, Phaedrus, you win" (if that is what you were trying to prove)

Isn't that the most important thing?

 

[Henry]

A friend of mine says that some attacks (explicitly a donkey's natural attack of kicking) have no critical threat range or multiplier... that some attacks can never crit.

Is this true?

I thought that every attack was 20/x2 unless specified otherwise.

I need chapter and verse in RAW, if possible, so I can win this argument.

You are correct, your friend is not.

Unless noted otherwise, creatures using natural weapons deal double damage on critical hits.

It's also listed in the opening section of I believe every single monster manual, in the description of the stats blocks. A natural 20 ALWAYS threatens, according to the combat chapter:

Critical Hits: When you make an attack roll and get a natural 20 (the d20 shows 20), you hit regardless of your target’s Armor Class, and you have scored a threat. The hit might be a critical hit (or “crit”). To find out if it’s a critical hit, you immediately make a critical roll — another attack roll with all the same modifiers as the attack roll you just made. If the critical roll also results in a hit against the target’s AC, your original hit is a critical hit. (The critical roll just needs to hit to give you a crit. It doesn’t need to come up 20 again.) If the critical roll is a miss, then your hit is just a regular hit.
A critical hit means that you roll your damage more than once, with all your usual bonuses, and add the rolls together. Unless otherwise specified, the threat range for a critical hit on an attack roll is 20, and the multiplier is x2.

 

[Henry]

Drat - too slow!

 

[atom crash]

I can't seem to get the SRD 3.5 to load, but I got this from the glossary at www.wizards.com, under natural weapon:

Unless otherwise noted, a natural weapon threatens a critical hit on a natural attack roll of 20.

...

Natural weapons have types just as other weapons do. The most common are summarized below.

Bite: The creature attacks with its mouth, dealing piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning damage.

Claw or Talon: The creature rips with a sharp appendage, dealing piercing and slashing damage.

Gore: The creature spears the opponent with an antler, horn, or similar appendage, dealing piercing damage.

Slap or Slam: The creature batters opponents with an appendage, dealing bludgeoning damage.

Sting: The creature stabs with a stinger, dealing piercing damage. Sting attacks usually deal damage from poison in addition to hit point damage.

Tentacle: The creature flails at opponents with a powerful tentacle, dealing bludgeoning (and sometimes slashing) damage.
Source: PHB, MM, MM3

"Yes, Phaedrus, you win"

well maigc does not always have a critical... how could you make a critical hold person? if he rolls 1 on saving throw it lasts double..? No it does not... could be a fine house-rule though..
Does fireball have a critical... - No

Magical attacks that require an attack roll will threaten a critical on a natural 20. A fireball cannot critical because it doesn't require an attack roll; neither does a magic missile. But an acid arrow does, and can therefore threaten a critical hit.

Drat - too slow!

You said it! My post is swimming through molasses!

 

[werk]

You said it! My post is swimming through molasses!

Sounds like this thread is almost done, so here's a little entertainment...


Mama Mole, Papa Mole and Baby Mole are down in their mole hole.

Papa Mole says "<sniff><sniff>I smell pancakes!"
He jumps up and sticks his head out of the mole hole. <sniff><sniff>

Mama Mole says "<sniff><sniff>I smell pancakes too!"
She jumps up, squeezes in next to Papa Mole, and sticks her head out of the mole hole too. <sniff><sniff>

Baby Mole smells and smells but doesn't smell any pancakes.
So he goes over to the mole hole and squeezes up in there as far as he could, which wasn't very far.

"<sniff><sniff>All I smell is molasses!"