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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 8757049" data-attributes="member: 50987">Yes, that is exactly what I would argue.  Fewer rolls = more predictable, and that can often mean less excitement.  I like rolling max damage when I barely hit the target, outshining the crit-fishing Lucky Rogue if only for a moment.  And I like it when an enemy's nat-20 ends up dealing less damage than his regular attack did.  To my mind, the swingy, unpredictable nature of combat is best modeled by rolling attacks and damage separately.My players dearly love the critical hit rules.  I think they would sooner give up D&D altogether, than give them up.  So I found that the best way to handle the Critical Hit Connundrum[SUP]TM[/SUP] is to add options to it.  When a player rolls a nat-20, they can choose to deal double damage as per the PHB, or they can choose to do a cinematic stunt.Here's an excerpt from my house rules.  Bear in mind that this is a swashbuckling, cinematic-style campaign with pirates and Musketeers and swinging from the chandeliers.[SPOILER=Extra Damage, or Extra Flair?]Critical Hits: Double the Damage, or Double the Fun? When you score a critical hit on an opponent, you can deal extra damage per the rules in the Player’s Handbook.  Or you can choose to do regular damage and perform some kind of stunt or trick instead!  Maybe you want to knock the weapon out of your enemy’s hand, or you want to knock them prone, or you want to snatch their coin pouch from their belt.If you want to do one of these stunts, just describe it to me in-character.  I’ll maybe ask you to roll something, but for the most part, it’s really up to you to decide what happens.  In all cases, these stunts and trick shots are all part of the attack action, so they don’t cost you your reaction or any extra movement.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Blind: instead of dealing extra damage, your critical hit knocks sand or dust into your opponent’s eyes, blinding them until the end of their next turn.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Disarm: instead of dealing extra damage, your critical hit deals damage as normal and also knocks one item out of your opponent’s hand.  The object lands at your opponent’s feet at the end of your turn, occupying the same space as your opponent.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Distract: instead of dealing extra damage, you pull your opponent’s focus toward you and away from its surroundings.  One ally of your choice gains Advantage on their next attack roll against that same opponent.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Escape: instead of dealing extra damage, you Disengage at the end of your turn.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Improved Grab:  instead of dealing extra damage, you grapple your opponent at the end of your turn.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Knockback: instead of dealing extra damage, you knock your opponent back 10 feet at the end of your turn.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Knockdown: instead of dealing extra damage, you knock your opponent off his feet.  Your opponent falls prone in his space at the end of your turn.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Snatch: instead of dealing extra damage, your critical hit causes your opponent to lower their guard, allowing you an opportunity to snatch an unattended, visible item from their person (such as an amulet or pouch).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Trade Places: instead of dealing extra damage on your critical hit, you trade places with your opponent at the end of your turn.  Obviously this applies only to melee.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Something else: get creative!</li> </ul>Again, these are just examples, feel free to come up with your own.  Jump onto its back and konk it on the head?  Handcuff the creature to a fence?  Kick them into the well, This-Is-Sparta style?  Go wild!  Whenever you score a crit, ask yourself:  “Do I want extra damage? Or do I want extra flair?”[/SPOILER]Even so, my players still choose the extra damage 90% of the time.  But the times they have taken the "extra flair" have been memorable: breaking an enemy's grapple on an ally, for example, or knocking the wizard's arcane focus (an orb) out of his hand while they were standing on the stairs...those tiny decisions by the player were WAY more interesting than just dealing extra damage.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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