How do YOU crit?

[scruffygrognard]

When I DM, I have criticals deal maximum damage on the base damage. Rogues would only max their base damage, not their sneak attack dice.

When I play, we used the standard 3.5 crit rules.

 

[irdeggman]

This probably should be in the house rules section, but it's not really introducing a house rule.

Actually it is talking about house rules since there is a specific rule to cover this.

For 3.5

PHB pg 134


or SRD

Multiplying Damage: Sometimes you multiply damage by some factor, such as on a critical hit. Roll the damage (with all modifiers) multiple times and total the results. Note: When you multiply damage more than once, each multiplier works off the original, unmultiplied damage.
Exception: Extra damage dice over and above a weapon’s normal damage are never multiplied.

2nd ed didn't really have such a rule for "critical" hits as I recall so there were lots of house rules involving it.

We used to have a critical hit on a nat 20 and then usually the DM had a critical hit table where you rolled for location and such.

This was more or less captured in the optional rules of Skill and Powers: Combat and Tactics.

 

[G-Man]

Roll for a damage, add modifiers and then multiply.

 

[Herzog]

'Roll all the dice (so a crit with a x3 weapon that does d8 base damage means roll 3d8) and add the non dice bonus damage, multiplied (following the example, you'd triple it), then add any extra dice damage once.

this.
I voted 2, since I think this is what you meant by that.

Although we do not use critical hit tables, we do use the critical fumble deck.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

One last thing I and some of my friends do is a houserule with weaponlike spells, so that if you confirm a crit and then fail to overcome SR, you can reroll the caster level check for a chance to do regular (non-critical) damage.

I'm considering a similar rule for confirmed crits and missing due to miss chance.

 

[Magesmiley]

Our DM uses these cards with random effects on them whenever someone crits. Also, we ignore critical confirmation; a crit is a crit, period.

I use the cards as well for my game - they're put out by Paizo and my player's enjoy them considerably. We use the regular rules for confirming however.

 

[udalrich]

I should add, while I personally don't use it, and actually rather hate and despise it, most groups I've played with have some variation of "If you roll a nat 20, then roll a nat 20 to confirm, roll again and if you hit, the target is killed outright." I can't remember the last game I played in where that wasn't the rule, it's so common IME.

I agree. This is a great way to randomly kill a goblin that wasn't a major threat and a PC.

Most things fighting the PC's are not a major challenge and will die soon regardless. Even in the fights that seriously challenge the PC's, there are often several minions and one BBEG. So any insta-kills by the PC's probably kill some small to moderate threat.

OTOH, most to all of the attacks made by monsters are against the PC's, so when the triple 20 does come up, you probably have a dead PC. And by the above logic, it probably wasn't even from a BBEG, but from some monster that the PC could have taken by himself.

 

[Uder]

In 3.5 we just follow the rules: After you confirm the crit you roll damage once for each crit multiplier, adding all appropriate modifiers. Someone that with a strength bonus of 7 hitting with a greataxe (x3 crit) will do 3d12+21. Extra damage isn't multiplied, so if it was a frost greataxe, the crit would be 3d12+21 + 1d6 cold damage. It's one of the clearest rules in the book.

We do have a house rule on what can be affected by crits (everything but swarms and incorporeal creatures), but that's neither here nor there.

When I run C&C, AD&D or B/X/Labyrinth Lord, 20's just multiply the damage by 2 with no roll to confirm, regardless of weapon or creature type. 1's can be fumbles for NPCs and monsters only, on a whim.

 

[Persiflage]

As several others have said, we just use the rules for critical hits.

Where we differ significantly - and this has some bearing on the frequency of critical hits - is that a natural 1 doesn't necessarily miss and a natural 20 doesn't necessarily hit. I've always hated those rules, forvarious reasons, and I beat them out of my gaming groups years ago

 

[radmod]

As several others have said, we just use the rules for critical hits.

Where we differ significantly - and this has some bearing on the frequency of critical hits - is that a natural 1 doesn't necessarily miss and a natural 20 doesn't necessarily hit. I've always hated those rules, forvarious reasons, and I beat them out of my gaming groups years ago

Yes, I do the same thing. If even after all your modifiers you need a 25 or even 30 to hit, a nat 20 doesn't cut it for me. I give them an additional d10 on a 20 and add it to the roll. Then and only then is it a hit if you break AC. (Also, and yes the 'math' doesn't really work, if they roll a nat 10, I give them another d10 and so on.) Likewise for a nat 1 against something you need a -5 to hit.