Improve the critical multiplier question

Tagore · May 15, 2002

What do you want??? Hack Slash or what?!?!

Stop thinking about damage!

kreynolds · May 15, 2002

Here's a source...

http://www.enworld.org/messageboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12824

and here...

http://www.enworld.org/messageboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12778&pagenumber=2

Have fun.

Mortaneus · May 15, 2002

IMC, I did the following as weapon enhancements:

Sharpness (+2): Increases the crit multiplier of the weapon by 1. Slashing weapons only.

Vorpal(+5): Increases the crit multiplier of the weapon by 3. Slashing weapons only.

Personally, I've always felt vorpal falls into the same catagory as Harm. I despise instant kills with no opposed roll, so I decided to change vorpal to the above. It might seem a bit underpowered, but consider: A rapier could have a x5 crit multiplier. For 1-10 HD opponents, that still has a decent chance doing enough damage to kill in one blow. I just didn't want people cutting off dragon heads and such. I added sharpness as well, as a carryover from AD&D2e.

Larcen · May 15, 2002

Mortaneus said:
IMC, I did the following as weapon enhancements:

Sharpness (+2): Increases the crit multiplier of the weapon by 1. Slashing weapons only.

Vorpal(+5): Increases the crit multiplier of the weapon by 3. Slashing weapons only.

Personally, I've always felt vorpal falls into the same catagory as Harm. I despise instant kills with no opposed roll, so I decided to change vorpal to the above. It might seem a bit underpowered, but consider: A rapier could have a x5 crit multiplier. For 1-10 HD opponents, that still has a decent chance doing enough damage to kill in one blow. I just didn't want people cutting off dragon heads and such. I added sharpness as well, as a carryover from AD&D2e.

Dude, that's pretty elegant. I like it!

AGGEMAM · May 16, 2002

Larcen said:
Dude, that's pretty elegant. I like it!

Or for Vorpal let the crit multiplier be squared (x2 = x4, x3 = x6, etc) and a succesful crit is considered a CDG.

Mortaneus · May 16, 2002

AGGEMAM said:
Or for Vorpal let the crit multiplier be squared (x2 = x4, x3 = x6, etc) and a succesful crit is considered a CDG.

I think you mean doubled. If it were squared, it would be x3 = x9. Using the doubling would also mean that scythes do x8 damage. I preferred to trim it back a little, and help the low end a bit more. Doubling gives you a spread of x4,x6,x8. +3 gives you x5,x6,x7. It's a matter of taste I guess.

As for a successful hit being considered a CDG, you might as well make it the old vorpal. With a sword doing x4 (or x5 using my version), the chances of them being able to make the CDG save are so low as to be impossible. Consider. A +2 Vorpal Scimitar, doing x4 damage (using your version), with a 16 STR, would be doing 4d6+20. That's an average of 34 points of damage. Even dragons have problems making fortitude saves vs. a DC44 to resist the CDG.

Using the same scimitar, using my version, it would do 5d6+25. That's a ton of damage for one hit from a weapon. And that's only making the weapon a +2, and giving a 16 STR. Put it in the hands of a competant high level fighter, with 24 STR and weapon spec, you're talking more on the order of 5d6+55. If they power attack, then it just gets horrifying. It still has a decent chance of killing an opponent in one blow, but it also means that powerful villains and BFMs won't drop in one lucky hit.

BTW, replace rapier w/ scimitar in my earlier post. Rapiers are piercing, not slashing weapons. Oops.

AGGEMAM · May 16, 2002

Mortaneus said:
I think you mean doubled. If it were squared, it would be x3 = x9.

No! If you double something in D&D you just add (x2) to the multiplier, which for a crit x2 would be x3.

You have to square it to gain the double crit multiplier.

Well, that is how D&D math works, anyway!

Magus_Jerel · May 18, 2002

Well there ARE some feats that let you get extra multipliers.

Spirited Charge grants you an extra X2 while charging IIRC - and it is PHB. I am unaware of anything that directly improves this modifier other than this feat.

There is the "Weapon Master PrC" - but I don't think that is what you are looking for.