D&D 5E Wasting 20s

[Fauchard1520]

A single d20 only has so many natural 20s in it. You might have a powerful die or a weak one, but any seasoned adventurer will tell you that there’s a limited supply of luck inside each and every icosahedron. According to widely-accepted theory, if you waste those rolls persuading beggars or searching for traps in un-trapped hallways, those big numbers won’t be available for the more important attack rolls or saving throws later in the session.

So here's my question to the community: What is the most inconsequential, anticlimactic, or unimportant nat-20 you've rolled?

(Comic for illustrative purposes.)

 

[iserith]

Any nat-20 on an ability check or a saving throw where it wasn't necessary to hit the DC.

 

[ad_hoc]

This is why I love the way 5e handles ability checks.

While some will be more important than others they should all matter.

 

[billd91]

So here's my question to the community: What is the most inconsequential, anticlimactic, or unimportant nat-20 you've rolled?

It wasn’t my natural 20, it was my player’s. Her halfling barbarian had advantage on her attack and the die roller on Roll20 came up with natural 20 on both dice. Unfortunately, she ended up hitting her opponent’s mirror image.

 

[Deset Gled]

Star Wars WEG (d6) system. I made a completely mundane Sensor check on a random spaceship that I was mildly curious about (IIRC, I think I just wanted to know if it had weapons or not). I got a 6 on the wild die, then another, then another, then another, and so on. It was a long time ago so I don't remember the exact numbers, but lets say I ended up with a result in the 50s when I only needed something like 8 to answer my question. The DM nicely told me everything I could have possibly wanted to know about that ship. It was completely and totally unnecessary, and unrelated to anything else that happened in that adventure.

 

[Dioltach]

Not sure if it's the most inconsequential, but last session one of my players rolled a natural 20, confirmed the hit and did a huge amount of damage to a mook who was already on 1 hp.

 

[Baldurs_Underdark]

Warming up rolls before the session.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

A single d20 only has so many natural 20s in it. You might have a powerful die or a weak one, but any seasoned adventurer will tell you that there’s a limited supply of luck inside each and every icosahedron. According to widely-accepted theory, if you waste those rolls persuading beggars or searching for traps in un-trapped hallways, those big numbers won’t be available for the more important attack rolls or saving throws later in the session.

So here's my question to the community: What is the most inconsequential, anticlimactic, or unimportant nat-20 you've rolled?

(Comic for illustrative purposes.)

I may be breaking my Hackmaster GM's Oath here...but I think I'm in the clear as it's presented in the "All things Dice" section of the Players Handbook (pg 347). If your d20 (or any die) starts to show that it's luck is starting to dwindle significantly, you need to immediately place it in ISOLATION! You do NOT want that die to start to siphon luck from any nearby dice! Entire parties have been lost to a "rogue dice" that have turned and weren't properly isolated from the other dice on the table in time!

Now, as soon as time permits...after the game or during an extended break for lunch or something... take the proper steps to perform a Emergency Purge (pg 349) to "re-level the luck" for all your dice. Yes, I said ALL! You may have thought you caught the Bad Luck from radiating out into the other nearby dice, but in my experience, why take the chance? Best to just do an Emergency Purge and Re-Level the luck.

I highly recommend anyone, Hackmaster players or not, follow the procedures as presented in the Hackmaster Player's Handbook. They may very well save not only your PC's life, but the lives of millions!

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Blackrat]

This was back in the 3e days, but it was a diplomacy check to haggle a loaf of bread for half price. So, it was something like couple of copper pieces worth of a nat 20.

 

[Fauchard1520]

This was back in the 3e days, but it was a diplomacy check to haggle a loaf of bread for half price. So, it was something like couple of copper pieces worth of a nat 20.

Heh. I guess a single copper piece would be the most financially unimportant roll.