Fumbles??

[Ironstorm]

IMC we used to use the "Good Hits Bad Misses" chart in a best of dragon mag. We have since migrated to 3.x. Now there is a whole new "Criticle Hi" system. What i am looking for is a flavorfull fumble chart. It just adds so much color to a game to have your character lose his grip and have his sword fly across the room rather than just losing the rest of his attacks. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

IMC we used to use the "Good Hits Bad Misses" chart in a best of dragon mag. We have since migrated to 3.x. Now there is a whole new "Criticle Hi" system. What i am looking for is a flavorfull fumble chart. It just adds so much color to a game to have your character lose his grip and have his sword fly across the room rather than just losing the rest of his attacks. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I created one that integrates both a character's advancement and weapon size vs. opponent in an easy to read system that is fairly realistic yet not so complicated it can't be used. If you're interested, email me at dungeonmastercal@yahoo.com and I can send you the file.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

I created one that integrates both a character's advancement and weapon size vs. opponent in an easy to read system that is fairly realistic yet not so complicated it can't be used. If you're interested, email me at dungeonmastercal@yahoo.com and I can send you the file.

Wait..I'm sorry...I misread your post...the fumble system I use I copped from the net...can't remember the creator's name, though. I at first thought you were looking for a crit chart. My bad. But I can still send you the fumble chart from the net, if you're interested.

 

[drunkmoogle]

Welcome tot he boards.

Anyways, I used to use the Crit Sucess/Crit Fumble tables out there, but found that it too often broke the flow of the game by breaking out the tables and looking up the results.

IMC, a natural 20 on a confirmed critical results in an increase in the critical multiplier. A fumble for a ranged/thrown weapon simply misses. A confirmed fumble with a melee weapon provokes an AoO, except the melee attackers may only perform special melee attacks (bull rush, disarm, sunder, trip) and the defender does not get a chance to react to the maneuver (disarm after the attacker failed).

That simple blanket rule sped up my combats immensely, in a time where I had to speed up my combats.

 

[Darklone]

Similar for me. Confirmed fumble (Refl DC 15 instead of Dex check 10) provokes AoOs and the character is flat-footed till his next action

 

[Timeboxer]

What i am looking for is a flavorfull fumble chart. It just adds so much color to a game to have your character lose his grip and have his sword fly across the room rather than just losing the rest of his attacks. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

First, I should mention that I hate critical fumbles, because in the long run it gives the players the shaft, and it tends to break down any sense of heroism you have when no matter how good you get with a sword, an attack roll of 1 isn't just a miss, but an "accident" like impaling yourself on your weapon. And even worse, if you're a spellcaster -- those fumble-and-damage-yourself things can kill you.

That said, if I were forced to use one, I'd use this one. It helps that it doesn't really get horrible until after you've rolled a 1 on both a d20 and a d12. It's also not just pure mechanics, so it'll give you something to describe.

 

[Scharlata]

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi and welcome!

If you're looking for a straight and fair table, then use this one:
After rolling a natural 1 on an attack roll, confirm a miss by missing a second time (analogous to a confirmation roll for a critical hit).

Then roll d20 and apply the entry.

Critical Misses

20 You overstep yourself. You lose all remaining actions for the turn but you are still able to make attacks of opportunity.
19 You leave an opening. You lose all remaining actions for the turn but you are still able to make attacks of opportunity. Until the beginning of your next turn all opponents who attack you get a +2 bonus to hit.
18 You are distracted for a short while. You lose all remaining actions for the turn. You are also considered to be flat-footed (no Dexterity-Bonus to AC without Uncanny Dodge, no attacks of opportunity without Combat Refelxes).
17 You slip. You lose all remaining actions for the turn and fall down on your square.
16 You hit something (but not the original target). A wild swing or a stray arrow destroys something in the nearer vicinity of the original target. DM`s decision.
15 Your equipment gets into your way. In the heat of battle your helmet slips into your face, your armor hinders your movement or your backpack binds your arms. Until you take a full-round action to bring your equipment into order you suffer a –2 penalty to all to hit rolls and your armor check penalty is increased by 2.
14 You lose your weapon. Your weapon falls down on your square.
13 You overstep yourself and lose your weapon. You lose your weapon and all remaining actions for the turn but you are still able to make attacks of opportunity (probably barehanded.)
12 Your weapon slips from your grasp and glides away. Your weapon flies 1D4 squares in a random direction. You also lose all remaining actions for the turn but you are still able to make attacks of opportunity (probably barehanded.)
11 Your weapon gets stuck. A wild swing buries the weapon in a wooden beam, the ground or the shield of an opponent. You can free the weapon with a Strength check vs. DC 15. If you attacked with a projectile weapon the string breaks. Refitting the string is a full round action that provokes attacks of opportunity.
10 Your fumble could damage your weapon. Roll damage normally. The weapon must make a saving throw vs. the damages DC. If it fails the weapon gets a –1 penalty to hit and damage rolls.
9 You damage your weapon. The weapon gets a –1 penalty to hit and damage rolls.
8 Your fumble could destroy your weapon. Roll damage normally. The weapon must make a saving throw vs. the damages DC. If it fails the the weapon is destroyed.
7 You destroy your weapon. Your weapon is destroyed.
6 You hit a randomly determined friendly target within reach (that always includes you!). You deal only basic weapon damage (no strength, no specialisation).
5 You hit a randomly determined friendly target within reach (that always includes you!). You deal normal damage.
4 You hit a randomly determined friendly target within reach (that always includes you!). You deal normal damage and you loose all remaining actions for the turn but are still able to make attacks of opportunity.
3 You hit a randomly determined friendly target within reach (that always includes you!). You deal normal damage and the target must make a Reflex save vs. DC 15 or fall down. You also lose all remaining actions for the turn but are still able to make attacks of opportunity.
2 You hit a randomly determined friendly target within reach (that always includes you!). You deal normal damage and the target must make a Fortitude save vs. DC 15 or becomes stunned for 1 round. You also lose all remaining actions for the turn but are still able to make attacks of opportunity.
1 You hit a randomly determined friendly target within reach (that always includes you!). Make a to hit roll against the new target. If you succeed the hit is a critical. If the second roll misses you deal normal damage. You also lose all remaining actions for the turn but are still able to make attacks of opportunity.

Kind regards

 

[Liquidsabre]

I use a critical fumble chart as well, with a reflex save (DC 10+CR of creature you rolled the fumble against) to avoid fumbling. Not sure where I got it but it works wonderful and my group have had endless fun with both the save chance and the fumble chart here. It also has an interesting crit charts relative to weapon damage-type and scales to reach relative to size of creatures you're attacking. Pretty interesting.

 

[The Souljourner]

I'm definitely not a fan of "you screwed up and impaled yourself" and I wouldn't play any game that worked that way. The way we do it is that you have to confirm fumbles just like criticals, except in reverse... if you roll a 1 to hit, you roll again, and if you miss again, you provoke an attack of opportunity (from anyone who threatens you, of course).

That's all. You'd be surprised at how much this *doesn't* screw the PCs. Against peons, confirmed fumbles are rare, because they're usually relatively easy to hit, and even if you do provoke an attack of opportunity, the opponent often misses (or has already used his attack of opportunity). On the other hand, PCs often pound the crap out of monsters who fumble... I've actually seen, on several occasions, a monster die because someone provoked an attack of opportunity and it fumbled the roll, and the PCs housed on it.

I like it... it happens just enough to give combat a little extra randomness in the negative direction to counteract the randomness of critical hits, and it takes almost zero extra time.

While fumble charts like the one Scharlata posted are fun to make and fun to look at, but I would hate playing with them. Your 200000 gp weapon can spontaneously fall apart? You could critically hit a teammate? Those are hugely bad things that could sway a battle drammatically, or even change the course of a campaign!

And by the way... Loose is the opposite of tight. The word you want is lose. You lose money at a casino.

-The Souljourner

 

[danielinthewolvesden]

Ladieeees & gentlemen! In this corner- weighing in at 185# is Conan the 40th level TWF, with every TWF feat that exists. He swings something like 10 times a round. He has two epic level magic light weapons that he has known how to use since birth.

In this corner- weighing in at 98#-is Irving the 0 level commoner. He has chosen a Dire Flail. He doesn't even know which end to hold.

Every "critical fumble" system that I have seen has Conan fumbling more often than Irving. Conan roles a 1 every second round- and Irving rolls one once every 20 rounds.

The system where you roll a Dex check DC 10 means that Conan (dex of 40) still fails on a 1. Thus, he fumbles once every 20 rounds. Irving has a DEX of 10- so he fails the check 45% of the time. Thus he fumbles once every 40 rounds or so.

With the "roll again to miss" we must assume the two are fighting things with AC's in their range. With Conan, that means he misses half the time- and thus he fumbles every 4th round. Irving is pretty bad off with a -4 to his BAB of 0, so he misses 3/4s of the time. Thus, he fumbles once every 30 rounds or so.

Thats why every single Fumble system I have seen is stupid,and fumbles that can last after that one combat is over are even more unfair to the PC's (see Scharlata's post. Unles of course- as a DM- you randomly have groups of monster have their weaposn broken prior to combat becuase of "fumbles" earlier.