My games critical fumble chart

[Evilhalfling]

I love fumbles, but being aware of the problems (lots of attacks means more fumbles, and missing is more likely than hitting.

I use the following checks.
1. Only the first attack can fumble. This preventsa hydra from fumbling every 2 rounds.
2. Avoidace is based on a reflex save. (DC 12+ situational) Thus heavy armor is not further penalized, and it gets less likely as you gain levels.

My fumble checks also involve a lot of situational modifiers - bad footing makes save harder, and increases chance of falling over vs dropping weapon. Hitting your friends/self happens only if the conditions favor it ie: in close quarters, when the PC is enlarged, or using a spiked chain. I just jot down 4-6 likely possiblities and roll to see which happens.

 

[Lanefan]

We've used fumbles for ages. There's two types of fumbles - minor and major. A major fumble is a nat. 1 to hit followed by a 1 on a d6. A minor fumble is the same except the to-hit roll was brought to 1 or lower by external forces (being badly hurt, shooting into melee, bane-type effects, etc.; in 3e the minuses from iterative attacks do not count toward this) This makes it the same ratio of fumbles to rolls for everyone - fighters fumble more often only because they do more things that can cause fumbles. We also make casters roll to aim their spells and these can also fumble; and of course monsters can fumble just the same as PCs.

On any fumble, roll d%. The DM has a table to determine results; the possible results from a minor fumble are a less-dramatic subset of the full table. Some possibilities:

**Damage to Self - either d4 or full or critical, depending on roll.
**Damage to Friend - ditto; if no friend near, damage self instead.
**Damage to Weapon - non-magic weapons auto-break, magic ones get a save. If weapon is part of self (claw, fist, etc.) then damage self instead.
**Drop weapon near (at feet) or far (up to 5' away).
**Throw weapon 10' or 20' - treat as a random missile.
**Drop or break shield if in use - if none, then damage to weapon.
**Free attack for opponent (same as AoO) provided opponent can see you've screwed up.
**Slip and fall.
**Combinations of above.

In any case, a fumbling character loses all remaining actions that round. Spell fumbles sometimes require some case-by-case rulings.

Lanefan

 

[jeffh]

We've used fumbles for ages. There's two types of fumbles - minor and major. A major fumble is a nat. 1 to hit followed by a 1 on a d6. A minor fumble is the same except the to-hit roll was brought to 1 or lower by external forces (being badly hurt, shooting into melee, bane-type effects, etc.; in 3e the minuses from iterative attacks do not count toward this) This makes it the same ratio of fumbles to rolls for everyone - fighters fumble more often only because they do more things that can cause fumbles. We also make casters roll to aim their spells and these can also fumble; and of course monsters can fumble just the same as PCs.

Doesn't this make major fumbles substantially more likely than minor ones at higher levels? It also doesn't solve (but at least it makes a token attempt to explain away, and does its best not to exacerbate) the problem with iterative attacks.

 

[Lanefan]

Doesn't this make major fumbles substantially more likely than minor ones at higher levels?

Quite the opposite, in fact. True (major) fumbles are always at exactly the same likelihood - 1/20 then 1/6 - no matter what. At mid-high levels, there tend to be more things giving minuses to hit, be they weakened stats, baneful effects, etc. of the sort that lead to minor fumbles. At low level, the most likely minus-causing effect that can lead to minor fumbles is fighting at 0 h.p. or less.

It also doesn't solve (but at least it makes a token attempt to explain away, and does its best not to exacerbate) the problem with iterative attacks.

We-ell, it only makes sense that if you're going to attack 4 times in a round, you have 4 times the chance of screwing up than the guy who only attacks once in a round. That said, you also have a bit less than 4 times the chance of scoring a crit (the confirm roll gets harder each attack if you're using 3e rules) than the 1-attack guy.

However, keep in mind this system was developed for a 1e-based game; yes there's multiple attacks possible there too, but not as common. We also use a flat roll to confirm criticals rather than basing it on what you need to hit; this assumes criticals are mostly lucky shots unrelated to skill, and we're cool with it. I understand this wouldn't be to everyone's tastes, however.

Lanefan

 

[Derro]

This is a very interesting thread. Both sides of the fence seem to have good arguments to me.

I use fumbles. Roll to confirm with highest attack bonus after a natural 1. If you roll another natural 1 you're screwed. Basically I decide what would be the worst circumstance the fumbler could be in and apply it. I think the double 1's have come up 3 times in what, 7 years of 3.x gaming.

Any way, standard fumble results in d20% check vs. rough guidelines:

01-05 Something pretty bad, all threateners gain AoO
06-25 Something not so bad, dazed one round
26-75 Fort save (DC 20) or become fatigued
76-95 Something not so bad, staggered one round
96-00 Something pretty bad, fling weapon and wackiness ensues

I know it's not the pinnacle of accuracy or objectiveness but that swings both ways. I get the idea of the severity of the fumble and can apply it accordingly. I'm not so much an RBDM that I'll use this to really wring the players and fumbles never throw the encounter for the villain. It's just spice. The extra die rolls are time for me and the players to say things like, "oh schnitt, what's gonna happen" or "f-yeah, we're gonna get this guy."

The fatigue right in the meaty part of the curve there might seem harsh to some. It actually allows me to capture an effect that I never could with hit point damage. I like the idea of people getting tired in combat but not so tired they're near dead. Now that I've adapted Second Wind there's a way to rid yourself of the penalty if you feel you must charge or run or do whatever the fatigue might be inhibiting.

If a PC really must not fumble they can generally blow a Fate Point but that's another ball of wax. I use many house-rules and variants so take this all with the proverbial grain I guess.

 

[jeffh]

We-ell, it only makes sense that if you're going to attack 4 times in a round, you have 4 times the chance of screwing up than the guy who only attacks once in a round.

That's only a sensible argument if you assume, falsely, that one attack roll = one swing of your weapon.

 

[CleverNickName]

We've used fumbles before; they can be quite fun at low levels. We sort of phased them out once the characters got around 6th level or so, though, because as a previous poster stated, subsequent attacks have lower to-hit bonuses.

The way we did it was, a roll of 1 was a "threat" for a fumble. You confirmed the attack roll again, and if it was a miss, you dropped your weapon (as if you had been disarmed.) If you had the Quick Draw feat, it was no big deal to just swap weapons and pick up your fallen one at the end of the battle.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

2) A natural attack roll of "1" is then followed by a Dexterity check. If successful, then the attack was only a normal miss.

If I were to include a critical fumble affect, it would be just one constant affect.

I like this one right here. I'm gonna try it in my next game.

 

[Lanefan]

That's only a sensible argument if you assume, falsely, that one attack roll = one swing of your weapon.

I assume that one attack roll = x amount of working up to taking the best shot you could at your opponent. In 3e, with the very short rounds, there's not nearly as much "working up" involved as there was in earlier editions, but the principle still applies.

There's no escaping the math that says a given random outcome is 4 times as likely to happen if it is given 4 times as many chances to happen. There's also no escaping the math that says that a random outcome that has about a 9-in-1000 chance of occurring is going to occur *on average* 9 times in 1000 regardless what the source of the 1000 is.

So, a 4-attack guy is going to fumble 9 times in 1000 attacks, just like a 1-attack guy. The only difference is the 4 attack guy will do it in 250 rounds rather than 1000, which is perfectly logical. If he wanted to take 1000 rounds to fumble 9 times, he'd better back down to only taking 1 attack per round.

Lanefan

 

[Celebrim]

Since we are all doing it, here's mine.

01-07 Off Balance – Make a DC 5 balance check or suffer a -2 circumstance penalty on all attacks and opponents have a +2 bonus to hit you until the beginning of your next round.
08-13 Off Balance – Make a DC 10 balance check or suffer a -2 circumstance penalty on all attacks and opponents have a +2 bonus to hit you until the beginning of your next round.
14-16 Off Balance – Make a DC 5 balance check or fall prone.
17-18 Off Balance – Make a DC 10 balance check or fall prone.
19-22 Off Balance – Make a DC 10 balance check or become flatfooted until the beginning of your next round.
23-25 Off Balance – Confirm the fumble. If you fail a second time, if you are threatened by your target and the target has an available attack opportunity, the target may make a free trip attempt. If it fails, you may not attempt to trip your opponent.
26-30 Off Balance – Confirm the fumble. If you fail a second time, your weapon becomes unreadied. If you can ready a weapon as a free action, you may ignore this result.
31-33 Off Balance – Make a DC 20 balance check or lose remaining attacks in the round, and drop to the end of the initiative order.
34-35 Off Balance – Make a DC 20 balance check or lose remaining attacks in the round, and you may only take a partial action in your next round.
36-42 Clumsy Attack – DC 10 Dex check or drop weapon into your space. Ignore this result if you are using a natural weapon.
43-47 Clumsy Attack – DC 10 Dex check or drop weapon into adjacent space (roll direction randomly). Ignore this result if you are attacking with a natural weapon.
48-51 Clumsy Attack – DC 10 Str check or drop weapon into adjacent space (roll direction randomly). Ignore this result if you are attacking with a natural weapon.
52-54 Clumsy Attack – Confirm the fumble. If you fail a second time, and if you are threatened by your target and the target has an available attack opportunity, the target may make a free disarm attempt. If it fails, you may not attempt to disarm your opponent. Ignore this result if you are attacking with a natural weapon.
55-56 Clumsy Attack – Confirm the fumble. If you fail a second time, and if you are threatened by your target and the target has an available attack opportunity, the target may make a free sunder attempt. If it fails, you may not attempt to sunder your opponent’s weapon in reply. If you are attacking with a natural weapon, your opponent receives an attack of opportunity.
52-57 Drop Guard – Lose your shield bonus to AC, if you have one, until the beginning of your next round.
58-62 Drop Guard – Confirm the fumble. If you fail a second time, opponents have a +2 circumstance bonus to hit you until the beginning of your next round.
63-66 Drop Guard – Confirm the fumble. If you fail a second time, opponents have a +4 circumstance bonus to hit you until the beginning of your next round.
67-69 Drop Guard – Confirm the fumble. If you fail a second time, become flatfooted until your next action.
70-71 Drop Guard – Confirm the fumble. If you fail a second time, the target of your attack receives an attack of opportunity against you at the end of your attack.
72-74 Overexert Self – Make a DC 5 endurance check or become fatigued until you can catch your breath for 1 full round in which you take no other action.
75-77 Overexert Self – Make a DC 10 endurance check or become fatigued until you can catch your breath for 1 full round in which you take no other action.
78-79 Overexert Self – Make a DC 10 endurance check or become fatigued until you can rest for 1 minute.
80-81 Overexert Self – Make a DC 5 endurance check or pull a muscle, dealing 1 pt. of Dex damage at the end of the encounter.
82-83 Overexert Self - Make a DC 5 endurance check or pull a muscle, dealing 1 pt. of Str damage at the end of the encounter.
84 Overexert Self – Make a DC 10 endurance check or pull a muscle, dealing 1d3 pt. of Dex damage at the end of the encounter.
85 Overexert Self - Make a DC 10 endurance check or pull a muscle, dealing 1d3 pt. of Str damage at the end of the encounter.
86 Overexert Self – Make a DC 10 endurance check or pull a muscle, dealing 1d3 pt. of Dex damage immediately.
87 Overexert Self - Make a DC 10 endurance check or pull a muscle, dealing 1d3 pt. of Str damage immediately.
88-89 Trip Self – Confirm the fumble. If you fail a second time, make a trip attack against yourself. Ignore this result if you are using a light weapon.
90-91 Strike Self – Confirm the fumble. If you fail a second time, make an attack against yourself. If the attack is successful, deal normal damage for the weapon ignoring your strength bonus and additional damage from critical hits or sneak attacks. Ignore this roll if you are attacking with a bludgeoning or natural weapon.
92 Strike Self – Confirm the fumble. If you fail a second time, make an attack against yourself. If the attack is successful, deal normal damage for the weapon ignoring your strength bonus and additional damage from critical hits or sneak attacks. If you are using a bludgeoning weapon, the damage is not lethal. Ignore this roll if you are attacking with natural weapons.
93 Strike Self – Confirm the fumble. If you fail a second time, make an attack against yourself. If the attack is successful, deal normal damage for the weapon ignoring your strength bonus and additional damage from critical hits or sneak attacks. Ignore this roll if you are attacking with natural weapons.
94 Strike Self – Confirm the fumble. If you fail a second time, make an attack against yourself. If the If the attack is successful, deal normal damage for the weapon including your strength bonus and additional damage from critical hits, but ignoring sneak attacks or other attacks that require precision. Ignore this roll if you are attacking with natural weapons.
95-00 Roll Again Twice – Ignoring a second roll in the same category.