Home-Grown Critical Effect Rules

[the_bruiser]

Hello all. Since I got so much helpful/supportive commentary on my last thread (Skill Master Prestige Class), I thought I'd share some critical effect rules I'm using in my campaign.

About my campaign: this campaign is quite gritty and low-magic, so these rules are likely more harsh in my campaign than they would be in most others (sample rule: no more than half your levels may be in a spellcasting class, so our 8th level ranger/cleric doesn't even have cure serious yet). Note, however, that almost all opponents are likewise low-magic humanoid (almost exclusively of the human / orc / ogre / wild elf / etc. variety), meaning that you're not getting a whole bunch of 20+ damage hits, even on criticals (few stat boosters, few magic weapons....). I'd probably scale the severity chart differently in a standard campaign where damage is greater but healing is more prevalent.

They seem to be working pretty well at this point, but I have the luxury of a campaign in which the characters are largely determining their own path and can generally take recovery time when required to do so - but then have to deal with the consequences.

It's really made combat much more intense for us - both offensively (you slash open his stomach and gasp as his guts begin to spill out) and defensively (someone can be at full hit points but still become quite concerned when told to make a fortitude check of unknown DC). One nice thing about this method is that high-threat weapons do many small effects, but high multiplier weapons do bigger effects, which is a nice balancing effect in my mind.

I'm putting the rules in the next post. What do you think?

 

[the_bruiser]

Against the Slavers - Critical Hit Rules

Idea
When a critical hit occurs, the victim rolls a fortitude save vs. the damage dealt.
On a failure, the victim suffers some non-HP-based damage.
The worse the save shortfall the worse the effect.

Effect
To determine the effect, roll a d10 to determine the location of the effect.
Severity is based on the shortfall of the fortitude save (per the left-hand "severity" schedule).

Curing Critical Effect Damage using Spells
To remove critical effects with cure spells, you must use the indicated "cure" spell level to the right.
To determine the level of cure spell necessary, a heal check DC 15 must be made (or you can just guess).
These spells cure HP damage OR critical effect damage, NOT both.

Curing Critical Effect Damage using Rest and Heal Checks (and maybe spells later)
If the appropriate level of cure spell is not available, the character must have extended bed rest.
Each day of rest, any companions may make a heal check DC 15.
For every day of rest with a successful heal check, the severity of the effect is reduced by one point.
If "cure moderate" is the best spell available and bed rest reduces severity to 11-15, cure moderate is then sufficient.


Legs (Left 1-2, Right 3-4)

severity / cure / effect

1-5 / n/a / victim knocked down
6-10 / light / foot broken, 1/2 move
11-15 / moderate / hip broken, 1/4 move, -2 penalty to attacks
16-20 / serious / knee shattered, 1/4 move, partial actions only
20+ / critical / leg shattered, compound fractures, no move or attack, may lose leg

Abdomen / Torso (5-7)

severity / cure / effect

1-5 / n/a / victim stunned 1d3 rounds (fort/will save for partial action, DC of damage dealt)
6-10 / light / abdomen injured, 1/2 move
11-15 / moderate / groin injured, 1/4 move, -2 penalty to attacks
16-20 / serious / intestines spilling out, no move or attack
20+ / critical / ribs crushed, internal bleeding, reduced to 0 HP if not already, d6 bleeding / round

Arms (Left 8, Right 9)

severity / cure / effect

1-5 / n/a / hand struck, anything held is dropped
6-10 / light / hand broken, cannot hold anything
11-15 / moderate / arm broken, 1/2 move, no attacks or spellcasting with that arm
16-20 / serious / elbow destroyed, 1/2 move, no attacks or spellcasting with that arm
20+ / critical / shoulder shattered, no move or attack, may lose arm

Head (10)

severity / cure / effect

1-5 / n/a / victim stunned 1d6 rounds (fort/will save for partial action, DC of damage dealt)
6-10 / light / head struck, knocked unconscious for 1 round
11-15 / moderate / face crushed, -2 to charisma skill checks, knocked unconscious for 1d4 hours
16-20 / serious / skull fracture, reduced to 0 HP if not already, -2 to intelligence
20+ / critical / skull crushed, immediate death

 

[candidus_cogitens]

I have been using a similar kind of rule regarding critical hits. I even use the same mechanic of a saving throw against the damage amount. There are some significant differences of course. Here's my rule:

All critical hit “threats” are critical hits; that is, no second roll is necessary. Whenever a critical hit is rolled, the damage is augmented according to the critical multiplier of the weapon, as usual, but the player also rolls a d12 and refers to the chart below.

D12 RESULTS OF CRITICAL HIT
1 Blow to the face. Dazed for one round. Will save.
2 Severe concussion. d4 Wis damage. Will save.
3 Major blood loss. d4 Con damage. Fort save.
4 Brain damage (aphasia). d4 Wis damage and d4 Int damage. Fort save.
5 Leg wound. d4 Dex damage and half movement rate. Ref save.
6 Broken arm. d4 Str damage, unable to attack with primary arm until healed.* Ref save.
7 Damage to nerves or cerebellum. d6 Dex damage. Fort save.
8 Shoulder/back wound. d6 Str damage. Ref save.
9 Broken ribs. d4 Str damage and d4 Dex damage. Fort save
10 Severe blood loss. d6 Con damage. Fort save.
11 Internal bleeding. d6 Con damage, -1 HP/round until first aid is administered. Fort save.
12 Damage to vital organ. d8 Con damage. Ref save.
* until healed = until all ability points are restored fully.


...................

I've always liked the idea of having more ability score damage, because it seems like getting wounded WOULD affect your abilities. I also like ability score damage because it scares the wits out of players and it makes healing a more protracted process.

Just as you said about your own rule, Bruiser, I sometimes feel like it is a brutal rule, but it doesn't seem to cause problems. It just changes the feel of the game, and makes players feel like their characters are more mortal.

Isn't it gratifying that some of us think on the same general wavelength?

 

[Aaron2]

I'm putting the rules in the next post. What do you think?

I can't see anything wrong with them. You might want to juice up the descriptive text. Plus explain what "may lose arm" means. I have multiple results depending on whether the attack was piercing, slashing, bludgeoning or energy.


Aaron

 

[Wisdom Penalty]

I'm curious if the groups that use homebrew crit hit systems also modify curative systems used to address the wounds?

I never liked how Cure Lt Wounds could pretty much heal any "normal" wound so long as you had enough of 'em, and Cure Minor Wounds will always stabilize a dying character, even if he's pumping arterial spray everywhere.

W.P.

 

[Aaron2]

I'm curious if the groups that use homebrew crit hit systems also modify curative systems used to address the wounds?

Our critical hits table (its more of a serious wounds table since actual critical hits are not necessary), deal ability damage. Because of this, Restoration has become a much more important spell.

For example, one of the bad piercing wounds is:

"The blow pierces through your leg, shattering the bone." Take 1d4 points of permanent Strength damage and you are reduced to one-fourth movement."

By our rules, the leg cannot heal (and the 1/4 movement penalty stays) until all the permanent Strength damage is Restored.


Aaron

 

[Elvinis75]

Re: Against the Slavers - Critical Hit Rules

Can you give an example please?

 

[the_bruiser]

Re: Re: Against the Slavers - Critical Hit Rules

Can you give an example please?

Can you give an example please?

Absolutely, happy to. Note - these are not real names in our campaign .

Bob the Slaver swings his greatsword at Happy the PC, delivering a devestating blow (successful critical) for 23 damage. Happy makes a fortitude save DC 23. His bonus is +7 and his roll is only a 2, so his adjusted roll is a 9; he fails the save by 14.

In addition to the 23 damage, he suffers a critical effect. We roll a d10 to determine where. We roll a nine, so we'd look at the following line for the character;s right arm:

11-15 / moderate / arm broken, 1/2 move, no attacks or spellcasting with that arm

Okay - until the character receives a cure moderate wounds spell (or better), that arm is useless. But let's say that the best cure spell available is a cure light wounds. It would take four days' rest (with successful heal checks) to reduce the 14 severity to a 10 severity, at which point a cure light wounds spell would be sufficient.

In the meantime, the character cannot cast spells, wield a weapon/shield, or do whatever else he might normally with that arm. Because it is the right arm, any character that has not established himself as left handed (or ambidextrous) would receive penalties (probably -4) for attacks with that arm.

Does that help?

 

[Elvinis75]

Wow that system is so cool!!! Good job. I think that I'm going to use it.

 

[candidus_cogitens]

I am concerned about one thing. Both Bruiser's system and the one I use involve the save-vs.-damage mechanic. It seems to work decently at low levels, but I'm wondering how well that is going to work when characters reach higher levels. Something tells me that those saving throws will fail a lot more often because fortitude saving throws will not keep pace with the amount of damage that typically results from a hit.

I might want to tinker with that a bit more. Any suggestions?