Thinking about putting this in as a house rule, what do you think?

[KenM]

Ok, we all know that improved critical no longer stacks with other things that gives a better threat range in 3.5. But I was thinking of putting in something like this:

If you have both weapon focus and weapon specialzation with the weapon, and improved critical, and are at least 5th level. Then improved critical stacks with magic or whatever to increase threat range.

My thinking is if you keep using the same weapon all the time, you will learn how to more damage when you hit with it.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

I'm more interested in knowing how a PC could get Improved Critical by 5th-level...

Seriously, though, just house rule it back to 3.0 stacking and be done with it. I never saw a balance issue with it in the first place.

 

[KenM]

Thats right, I just meant for the character to be a certin level. I used 5th as example.

 

[Darkness]

1. Moved to House Rules.

2. KenM, your signature is too long.


Please replace it with the following:
(Note: This will change only one thing - it will put the text that's now below the picture to the right of the picture. Thank you. )

<img src="http://images.quizilla.com/M/Morrolan/1034695647_cturestaz1.png" border="0" ALIGN="left" alt="You're Taz!"><br> You are wild and crazy, and you know it. You<br>know how to have fun, but you may take it to<br>extremes. You know what you are doing though,<br>and are much in control of your own life.<br>People don't always see things your way, but<br>that doesn't mean that you should do away with<br>your beliefs. Try to remember that your wild<br>spirit can lead to hurting yourself and others.
<br><br><a href="http://quizilla.com/users/Morrolan/quizzes/Which%20Looney%20Tune%20are%20you%3F/"> <font size="-1">Which Looney Tune are you?</font></a><BR> <font size="-3">brought to you by <a href="http://quizilla.com">Quizilla</a></font>

 

[DiFier]

How about this for a house rule of crit range in 3.5. The first thing you get (keen improved crit ect.) gives you double crit range any others increase the range by 1. so a rapier would crit on 19-20 a keen repier would threaten on 17-20 and a keen rapier in the hands of a person with improved crit would threaten on 16-20. If there is another thing that by itself would double the crit range it again increases the range by 1, making it 15-20. not as bad as 3.0 not as nerfed as 3.5

just a thought.

 

[Staffan]

That would unfairly penalize high-threat/favor high-multiplier weapons. If you allow 3.0 stacking, the two are pretty much equally favored, with a slight advantage to high-multiplier weapons because the "overkill damage" factor is less than the "wasted threat range" factor. Some concrete numbers:

Rapier without threat increases: x2 damage on 18-20, increase average damage per hit by 15%.
Heavy pick without threat increases: x4 damage on 20, increase average damage per hit by 15%.

Rapier with one threat increase: x2 damage on 15-20, increase average damage per hit by 30%.
Heavy pick with one threat increase: x4 damage on 19-20, increase average damage per hit by 30%.

Rapier with two threat increases, the 3.0 way: x2 damage on 12-20, increase average damage per hit by 45%.
Heavy pick with two threat increases, the 3.0 way: x4 damage on 18-20, increase average damage per hit by 45%.

Rapier with two threat increases, your way: x2 damage on 14-20, increase average damage per hit by 35%.
Heavy pick with two threat increases, your way: x4 damage on 18-20, increase average damage per hit by 45%.

 

[Anubis]

Not this again . . . Only the whiny ones have a problem with the new critical hit system. This is not about balance, it's about the fact that critical hits should be special, and if your threat range is 12-20 IT IS NO LONGER SPECIAL.

Critical hits should never be standard. 3.5 makes it how it always should have been.

If you want the chance of longer threat ranges at higher level, do what I did and make new feats. I have an EPIC feat that triples threat range and a SUPER EPIC feat (needing like Level 50+) that quadruples it. That way you actually have to earn a high threat range.

 

[kreynolds]

"You are wild and crazy, and you know it. You
know how to have fun, but you may take it to
extremes."

Like with sigs.

Anyhow, I kinda dig the idea of additional crit range effects bumping up the crit ranges by only +1.

 

[the Jester]

I have a few things in my game that will stack with crit increases in 3.5, but they're all +1 increases. My mechanism is different- for example, there's a nonmagical weapon quality on a couple of items the party has called 'razor-sharp'- but the idea's similar. Make it possible, but not easy, to have a crit monster.

 

[Technik4]

I have a few things in my game that will stack with crit increases in 3.5, but they're all +1 increases.

Emphasis mine. Doesn't that just encourage low threat range but high critical weapons? The doubling was balanced because an 18-20 /x2 weapon benefited roughly as much as a 20 /x4 weapon. Under your system, the 20 /x4 weapon is still getting a doubling, but the 18-20 /x2 is merely getting +.3.

It seems easier to just keep it 3.0 way, or perhaps make a greater keen enhancement which stacks with imp crit (which many would think is silly, since apparantly even keen was lowly at +1).

Technik