Optional rule: The DEATHBLOW!

[Rachel]

REVISED:

(Applies to PC/NPCs/Monsters levels 1-10)

[DEATHBLOW]

When an attacker rolls a natural 20, they have made a Critical hit as per those rules. However, after doing so the attacker may make a follow-up d20 roll. If the results on this second d20 roll are also a natural 20 then the attacker has not only made a Critical hit, but has executed a Deathblow! The defending creature loses all remaining hit points down to 0 and is now Dying. If that creature has any available Healing Surges, they may use one as an immediate reaction to the Deathblow.

A Minion cannot cause a Deathblow.
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[Dredly]

I actually do something very similar to this.

When anyone (DM or Player) rules a 1 or 20 they then re-roll again and I compare it to the list of the possible outcomes. My personal favorite is on a roll of a 1 (fumble) if you follow up with a roll of a 20 its an automatic hit "Your arrow bounces off 2 walls, skims of the top of the shield and sticks (player) in the shoulder).

Likewise if you roll a 20 (crit) and then roll a 1 its a miss. "You have a wide open shot, and just before the blow lands you slipped on a pool of blood and the shot goes wide, missing completely" There are a bunch of different effects for whatever you roll for both

my players and I use this, it ensures that everything is very fair for all players and they have the exact same chances as I do to something huge.

When a player asked about "what if its a huge monster" I pointed out that there are hundreds of instances throughout fantasy land where a single sword thrust or arrow, spell... etc killed the mightiest of foes

Additionally it takes the "fairness" issue out of fumbles where it is up to the DM to "decide" what happens or just play it as a miss which is boring.

As expected they LOVE this method when I (DM) fumble and when THEY (players) crit, but hate it when its reversed

 

[Dredly]

Also, the point about defenders was *dead-on*. I mean, wow, I am ashamed to admit I didn't consider that. Of course the defender is trying to soak up as many hits as possible. Getting hit more = more chances to succumb to a Deathblow.

Mmmm, how can I rectify this and keep the spirit of the rule? (double crit damage to me is a bit of a cop-out and I dont care for that idea) Anyone?

Also, I still dont like having "roles" in D&D...if I wanted to play WoW I would go play WoW).

Keep in mind that players aren't "dead" when they die. They have to fail 3 roles after getting to 0 in order to actually "die". Also you can always role play it based on the situation, ie: thanks to your heavy armor the sword blow that would have cut your skull in half instead only dented your helmet, but you fall to the ground unconscious.. etc

 

[Saeviomagy]

The rule will affect the game in the following uneven ways:

Low damage attacks increase in power compared with high damage attacks.

Multiple attack roll powers (twin strike, AOEs) become more powerful compared with single attack roll powers.

Monsters with few hitpoints become more powerful compared to monsters with high hitpoints.

The PCs become more powerful compared with NPCs (because technically NPCs do not transition to the dying state: they die immediately).

So, overall: rangers, controllers and minions become more powerful. Solo elites become less powerful. Combat becomes more swingy and slightly easier.

 

[Dredly]

The rule will affect the game in the following uneven ways:

Low damage attacks increase in power compared with high damage attacks.

Multiple attack roll powers (twin strike, AOEs) become more powerful compared with single attack roll powers.

Monsters with few hitpoints become more powerful compared to monsters with high hitpoints.

The PCs become more powerful compared with NPCs (because technically NPCs do not transition to the dying state: they die immediately).

So, overall: rangers, controllers and minions become more powerful. Solo elites become less powerful. Combat becomes more swingy and slightly easier.

Its also a fun rule. I agree with what you are saying but the current "critical" in 4e is really horrible, getting a crit hit and dealing 6 damage instead of the 4 you would have done just sucks

 

[Rachel]

Low damage attacks increase in power compared with high damage attacks.

I see what your saying, but there is a certain amount of fortune involved here. IRL analogy: A single-shot from a .22 calibre pistol (low damage) can kill a man. A single-shot from a 12gauge shotgun (high damage) can, also.
Either one can also fail to kill someone. If you see what I mean. In other words, the damage of a given attack is actually not important vis-a-vie te intent of the Deathblow option.

Multiple attack roll powers (twin strike, AOEs) become more powerful compared with single attack roll powers.

Good point. Perhaps a Deathblow can only occur on the first of the 2 strikes?

Monsters with few hitpoints become more powerful compared to monsters with high hitpoints.

There are both historical and fantastical examples in abundance of creatures with a likely large amount of hp that were felled by a single shot. Again, see my first quoted response (amount low/high damage).
Again, hp level not important to the "spirit" of the Deathblow concept.

The PCs become more powerful compared with NPCs (because technically NPCs do not transition to the dying state: they die immediately).

Ah, sorry there's no way you could have known, but NPCs in games I'm involved in tend to be treated like PCs in regards to dying, and aren't nescessarily immediately dead.

So, overall: rangers, controllers and minions become more powerful. Solo elites become less powerful. Combat becomes more swingy and slightly easier.

Swingy and slightly easier is your opinion. Try to see the Deathblow as a "spice-up", a sort of interesting potential twist that can inject a little crazy, unexpected fun into a battle. You won't see back-to-back 20 rolls very often at all, but when you do you will be like "wow!".

 

[Rachel]

its also a fun rule. I agree with what you are saying but the current "critical" in 4e is really horrible, getting a crit hit and dealing 6 damage instead of the 4 you would have done just sucks

 

[Flipguarder]

just fyi, if you make the healing surge triggered use by a deathblow landing a immediate reaction, you still screw over defenders as they are typically the only role that use immediate actions regularly.

Free action gets the job done just as well.

 

[Starfox]

The PCs become more powerful compared with NPCs (because technically NPCs do not transition to the dying state: they die immediately).

I liked the rest of the list, but this part is debatable. Actually, it is true - but needs to be completed with this:

• The PCs become mre vulnerable since, over the span of a session, the number of the atatcks the PCs receive are likely to be much higher that the ones they deal out because monsters tend to be less powerful and more numerous than PCs. Since the chance to deathblow is constant for each attack, PCs suffer.

 

[Dredly]

I liked the rest of the list, but this part is debatable. Actually, it is true - but needs to be completed with this:

• The PCs become mre vulnerable since, over the span of a session, the number of the atatcks the PCs receive are likely to be much higher that the ones they deal out because monsters tend to be less powerful and more numerous than PCs. Since the chance to deathblow is constant for each attack, PCs suffer.

Very true... The key to making this work is having the same "crit/fumble effect table" used for PCs and Mobs, otherwise its just unfair