Natural 20's & 1's?

[Smoke Jaguar]

Out of curiosity... what do you fellow DM's do when a player or monster rolls a natural 20 or 1 on their attack roll or skill checks? Do you have a method to decide to help keep it somewhat even?

I have been having the PC's then roll a d6 after a natural 20 on the attack roll. Depending on that they get anywhere from an extra d6 to triple max. I am not completely sold on the method. The monster do similar with the roll of a d6 but usually only do up to max damage.

On a natural 1, something goes wrong. Any where from hurting himself or the those around him to dropping and breaking his weapon.

Just wondering what all of you do or like, doesn't just have to be DM's.

 

[Klaus]

Why do you need to do anything? A natural 20 is a critical hit. A natural 1 is a fumble only as a house rule.

 

[Shin Okada]

I just play as it is written. Natural 20 or 1 matter only when making an attack roll. A natural 1 is an automatic miss. A natural 20 is an automatic hit and maybe a critical hit.

I don't think anything more is needed. When rolling a 20 on a skill check, that usually gives PC a success if at least he is trained in that skill or high enough ability score. On the other hand, in most cases rolling 1 gives PC a failure (though sometimes not).

When a PC fails in a significant skill check, something goes wrong anyway. Say, spending an action trying to climb up the wall in vain, or add one failure in a skill challenge. I don't think I should punish that PC (and his player) more.

 

[babinro]

We play natural 20's as written in combat given the critical hit rules.

On a skill check there are often added benefits provided...IE) a natural 20 on a climb check allows you to climb your speed rather than half your speed for the turn.

I don't personally like this houserule, however, my party likes to rule that a natural 1 immediately ends your turn after resolving said action. This includes free actions/no actions/action points. I find this a little too harsh but constantly adds tension to the game. Characters who attack multi-targets frequently miss minor/move actions. Leaders who forget to heal before an attack could lead to character death due to the miss. I am in favor of some sort of fumble rule...but often something less detrimental to multi-target builds. I'd rather have the player grant combat advantage until start of their next turn as a result of a fumble in combat.

Natural 1 on skills are often done in a way to hinder the party when possible and are typically the most fun to play with.

 

[jimmifett]

Attacks: 20 = crit, 1 = miss.
Skills: 20 + your skill, no crits for skills; 1...well you might still make it if bonus is high enough

 

[On Puget Sound]

The only house rule I use is that minions do double damage on a natural 20. On skill checks and attacks I'll add extra fluff to a description on a natural 1 or 20, and sometimes exaggerate the effect a bit. For example, our bard rolled a 20 on a Dominate attack roll vs. the BBEG's pet wyvern, who was already bloodied. Said bard was level 12 and still riding a level 6 riding lizard mount. So now he has a wyvern - it was level appropriate, and I skipped over him on the next treasure distribution to balance it, and he got to feel awesome for pulling it off.

 

[jhilahd]

Not to beat the horse....

If it strikes with the critical 20, I describe a horrific blow to the person.
Same is true with the miss 1, the attacker is off balanced, misses striking a wall/floor/an ally, whatever to demonstrate the nature of the miss.

Why house rule it?

 

[Smoke Jaguar]

My group likes a little something extra on a natural one. I think it is because one kid rolls at least 2 a night. It is like really screwing something up.

 

[Klaus]

Not to beat the horse....

If it strikes with the critical 20, I describe a horrific blow to the person.
Same is true with the miss 1, the attacker is off balanced, misses striking a wall/floor/an ally, whatever to demonstrate the nature of the miss.

Why house rule it?

I only describe a horrific blow when the target loses a significant portion of its hit points. If a critical hit deals 30 damage on a creature with 340 hit points, it's barely a scratch.

Of course, whoever strikes the killing blow can describe it however he wants, wether he dealt 2 damage or 80 damage.

 

[TarionzCousin]

If someone rolls three natural ones in a row in combat we all point and laugh.

Poor Roller

Us

Yes, it has happened.