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<blockquote data-quote="Infiniti2000" data-source="post: 2766541" data-attributes="member: 31734">If you're playing 3.0, of course you'll allow it.&nbsp; Otherwise, you'd be playing 3.5.&nbsp; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue&nbsp; &nbsp; :p"&nbsp; data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> Seriously, though, there have been huge arguments for/against it.&nbsp; There are two main considerations for this and a third, lesser consideration.&nbsp; The third is simple, so I'll mention that first.&nbsp; If you have a any weapon abilities or PrC abilities that use crit threats to activate, then stacking improved critical (IC) and keen is a HUGE deal.&nbsp; The de facto case in point illustrating why this is a bad idea is the 3.0 vorpal ability.&nbsp; However, the 3.5 vorpal ability changes things drastically.&nbsp; The two other considerations are as follows:<ol>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Average Damage Output (ADO): It's a provably fact to some degree that keen and IC need to stack in order to maintain the ADO across weapons.&nbsp; For a much longer treatise on this, I refer you to <a href="http://www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/rants/keenimprovedcritstacking.html" target="_blank">Sean K. Reynold's rant on the subject</a>.</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Randomness: When a crit happens, it's usually a big deal.&nbsp; Sometimes it's not, but most times it is.&nbsp; Consider a raging barbarian with a greataxe as the extreme example.&nbsp; He'll do A LOT of damage on a critical and increasing the chances of that may not significantly increase the ADO, but it does change the flow of the campaign.&nbsp; When you plan for BBEG to handle &quot;one more attack&quot; a timely crit threat could change things.&nbsp; IMO, it's much worse for the heroes when a single crit by the bad guy could put a wizard from full health to dead in a single hit.</li>
</ol>The fact is that the number of situations in which #2 comes up are rare, so it's not a bad idea to let them stack.Edit: I take a short break mid-post to answer a work-related question and 50 people preempt me, even giving the same link!&nbsp; Sheesh!&nbsp; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue&nbsp; &nbsp; :p"&nbsp; data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /></blockquote>

[QUOTE="Infiniti2000, post: 2766541, member: 31734"] If you're playing 3.0, of course you'll allow it. Otherwise, you'd be playing 3.5. :p Seriously, though, there have been huge arguments for/against it. There are two main considerations for this and a third, lesser consideration. The third is simple, so I'll mention that first. If you have a any weapon abilities or PrC abilities that use crit threats to activate, then stacking improved critical (IC) and keen is a HUGE deal. The de facto case in point illustrating why this is a bad idea is the 3.0 vorpal ability. However, the 3.5 vorpal ability changes things drastically. The two other considerations are as follows: [list=1]Average Damage Output (ADO): It's a provably fact to some degree that keen and IC need to stack in order to maintain the ADO across weapons. For a much longer treatise on this, I refer you to [URL=http://www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/rants/keenimprovedcritstacking.html]Sean K. Reynold's rant on the subject[/URL]. [*]Randomness: When a crit happens, it's usually a big deal. Sometimes it's not, but most times it is. Consider a raging barbarian with a greataxe as the extreme example. He'll do A LOT of damage on a critical and increasing the chances of that may not significantly increase the ADO, but it does change the flow of the campaign. When you plan for BBEG to handle "one more attack" a timely crit threat could change things. IMO, it's much worse for the heroes when a single crit by the bad guy could put a wizard from full health to dead in a single hit. [/list] The fact is that the number of situations in which #2 comes up are rare, so it's not a bad idea to let them stack. Edit: I take a short break mid-post to answer a work-related question and 50 people preempt me, even giving the same link! Sheesh! :p [/QUOTE]

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