My Take on Fumble

[n'haaz-aua]

The Fumble rules in the house rules section of the DMG are kind of awkward and don't allow a save against other effects like poison on your turn. in addition they are very frequent.

Here is my take: "Whenever you make an attack roll of natural 1, you grant combat advantage to all attackers (save ends) as an immediate reaction until the start of your next turn. You can take no further actions in this turn. Fumbles from close and burst attacks grant a +2 on this saving throw."

Also, "Some critically failed skill checks in combat (like athletics) might be treated as critical failures in attacking and be subject to combat advantage as the situation arises. "

What do you think? Reduced frequency, still fun because it allows a save to negate, and still allows saves vs. other things.

Edit: Oh, and it cuts spellcaters a break since they roll so many attacks.

 

[Vaeron]

I agree that the fumble rule in the DM needs some work, but downplayed it even further.

I wanted to make sure fumbles had an in-game effect, but not a debilitating one for monsters and especially not for PCs. My rule is, a natural 1 grants combat advantage til the beginning of your next turn. That's it. No loss of actions.

And I also ruled that only attacks that target a single opponent can be fumbles. If a wizard casts a scorching burst and hits 8 enemies but rolls a 1 against the ninth, ruling the attack a fumble just isn't fair.

But I feel that fumbles do add a fun dynamic to combat, especially for the rogue. I don't feel like players (or monsters!) should be penalized for a random roll that has a 5% chance of coming up no matter what you do (unless you have Elven Accuracy, etc.) so I made the effect as minor as possible.

To be honest, so far the effect has proven far more detrimental to monsters than it has to PCs. Further playtesting may cause me to drop the fumble altogether, but people seem to enjoy it. Just like in real life - "what, one of the psycho killers dropped his knife? Quick, everyone jump him NOW!!!"