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<blockquote data-quote="jessemock" data-source="post: 1299931" data-attributes="member: 15694">No; critical hits do not represent a special form of damage to vital organs alone; they also represent damage to points of weakness, of which both plants and rocks have some, if not an abundance.The confusion results in part from the abstraction of the combat:&nbsp; I have no idea why something I've killed has died.In fact, I have no idea why my critical hit has occured; I simply know that it has and that this is because the thing I hit had vital organs or points of weakness which I happened to hit.Furthermore, it seems that the critical hit system relies on the qualities of the attacked, rather than the attacker, when determining whether or not a critical hit is possible.&nbsp; Critical hits occur due to luck, not knowledge of anatomy.Mindless creatures have just as much of a chance to hit critically as thinking creatures, and the improved critical feat gives a bonus for a certain weapon--the exact opposite of an anatomy-based effect.Now, it is in fact the case that a tree's trunk is more vital to its functioning than yours is to yours:&nbsp; forgive me the grotesque image, but you can survive being cut off at the waist, while a tree never can.Analogously, fault lines run through stone that, once struck cause irreperable damage to the stone.Plants actually split rocks by pressing their roots into precisely these faults.Why can't I do that?&nbsp; Keep in mind, too, that the critical hit system takes absolutely no account of the effect of critical hits on any particualr vital organs or points of weakness:&nbsp; a character may have his vital organs stabbed a dozen times and show it absolutely not at all.&nbsp; Why, then, can't a DM say, &quot;you confirm the crit: you take a super-sized chunk out of the tree's trunk&quot; or &quot;you hear a loud crack deep in the body of the golem,&quot; just as readily as &quot;um...I don't know...you hit the goblin in the spleen?&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="jessemock, post: 1299931, member: 15694"] No; critical hits do not represent a special form of damage to vital organs alone; they also represent damage to points of weakness, of which both plants and rocks have some, if not an abundance. The confusion results in part from the abstraction of the combat: I have no idea why something I've killed has died. In fact, I have no idea why my critical hit has occured; I simply know that it has and that this is because the thing I hit had vital organs or points of weakness which I happened to hit. Furthermore, it seems that the critical hit system relies on the qualities of the attacked, rather than the attacker, when determining whether or not a critical hit is possible. Critical hits occur due to luck, not knowledge of anatomy. Mindless creatures have just as much of a chance to hit critically as thinking creatures, and the improved critical feat gives a bonus for a certain weapon--the exact opposite of an anatomy-based effect. Now, it is in fact the case that a tree's trunk is more vital to its functioning than yours is to yours: forgive me the grotesque image, but you can survive being cut off at the waist, while a tree never can. Analogously, fault lines run through stone that, once struck cause irreperable damage to the stone. Plants actually split rocks by pressing their roots into precisely these faults. Why can't I do that? Keep in mind, too, that the critical hit system takes absolutely no account of the effect of critical hits on any particualr vital organs or points of weakness: a character may have his vital organs stabbed a dozen times and show it absolutely not at all. Why, then, can't a DM say, "you confirm the crit: you take a super-sized chunk out of the tree's trunk" or "you hear a loud crack deep in the body of the golem," just as readily as "um...I don't know...you hit the goblin in the spleen?" [/QUOTE]

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