D&D 5E How fantastic are natural 1's?

[Don Durito]

A natural 1 is one point less than a natural 2, no more and no less. It is absolutely not an indication of any sort of crazy shenanigans that could otherwise never happen. That would be ascribing far too much weight to random chance, and away from things that should matter, like the choices we make while creating the character and playing the game.

There's a reason why critical fumbles aren't in the rule book. A narrative where something crazy happens 5% of the time would quickly turn into a joke.

And it is of course more likely to happen to a Fighter making multiple attacks a round, then to the wizard who can sit back and make his enemies make the dice rolls.

I feel there's a place for critical fumbles, but only for exceptional circumstances. For me, in 5E, they only become possible when a character has at least one level of exhaustion and only for ability checks, not saving throws or attack rolls.

 

[zarionofarabel]

Does a Nat 20 still do anything?

I agree that the 5% is a little too much for Crit Success/Fumble and much prefer Mythras where it's usually 1-3%, but c'mon! Eliminating Crits must make for super boring combats.

 

[Andras]

Nat1's are great. I love having one in my portents as a DivWiz so I can slip it to some sucker after casting Hold Person as a bonus action using (UA) Metamagic Adept-Quicken and then go on to smash them into the dirt on the same turn.

 

[Charlaquin]

Does a Nat 20 still do anything?

On an attack roll, yeah, it’s a critical hit. On any other kind of roll, no.

This has also always been the case.

 

[Don Durito]

On an attack roll, yeah, it’s a critical hit. On any other kind of roll, no.

This has also always been the case.

Well sort of. In the beginning they didn't even do anything on an attack roll. Critical hits are basically Free Parking.

 

[Charlaquin]

Well sort of. In the beginning they didn't even do anything on an attack roll. Critical hits are basically Free Parking.

Yeah, I guess what I meant was, it has always been the case that natural 20s don’t do anything other than critical hits. It hasn’t always been the case that natural 20s are critical hits, but since the introduction of critical hits, that has been their only effect.

 

[Arvok]

There's a reason why critical fumbles aren't in the rule book. A narrative where something crazy happens 5% of the time would quickly turn into a joke.

You mean like when a natural 20 in combat--no matter the skill level of the attacker or the difficulty of hitting the target--is always a hit?

 

[The Crimson Binome]

You mean like when a natural 20 in combat--no matter the skill level of the attacker or the difficulty of hitting the target--is always a hit?

It would be more like, if you rolled a natural 20 in combat, the enemy exploded into a shower of gore. There's nothing crazy about swinging at an enemy and actually hitting them; anyone can do that.

 

[rgoodbb]

I must clarify.

I do know the rules!

I think it's just funny when someone rolls a 1 and new fantastic stories get created, often with hilarity.

It was those stories I was interested in.

But please do keep telling me the rules (that I know) if it makes you feel groovy...

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I must clarify.

I do know the rules!

I think it's just funny when someone rolls a 1 and new fantastic stories get created, often with hilarity.

It was those stories I was interested in.

But please do keep telling me the rules (that I know) if it makes you feel groovy...

If you know the rules, then why would you expect anyone else to have stories for what happened when they implemented your goofy house rule?

There are good reasons why such a rule isn't in any of the books. It turns the whole game into even more of a joke than it already is. It's bad for the game, and bad for the hobby.