Troll Lord Games

A nat 20 hits anything, even if the AC is too high under every other circumstance. If the to hit number after modifiers is less than 20, then a nat 20 is max damage. A nat 1 is a dropped arrow, weapon, or possible slip and fall (loose and creative as a rule.

I used to do 2x damage by rolling an additional die, but on average, no one did anything spectacular, most often rolling very crappy. So max damage has actually ended up being the most cinematic in game so far.

I have looked into using the critical system from the Crusader. From the sound of it, it's pretty cool. Serl makes a solid point here, though. Murphy's law seems to always crit the players, and rarely the monsters. In the madness of Rolemaster this was always the case. Like an addicting drug, we kept going back to play RM thinking we would get a one hit kill on an epic monster, and in the end, we would suffer horrible criticals from the lamest little critters. And of course, the injuries were crippling and long term (arm severed, etc.). Too many bad memories there...*weeps* gotta...go fellas *breaks down sobbing*
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When in doubt as to who is in charge on the battlefield, listen to the man with the bloodiest sword.

yes.

on a natural 20, the player (or monster) has the choice of taking either 1) double damage or 2) a roll on a home-brewed chart with about 10 outcomes. Some of the outcomes are things like "positioning. +1 to next attack", others are really good (double damage plus potential for damage dice to cascade). If I were the players I'd take the simple double damage, but they like to roll dem bones ... they choose the table every time.

on a natural 1, the player or monster must roll on a home-brewed fumble chart with outcomes ranging from temporary decrease in AC to broken weapons to self-inflicted damage.

the players have enjoyed both charts immensely
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The only thing you find in the middle of the road are dead animals and dumb Americans - Anton Newcombe

Mines kinda nebulous, but:

On a 20, you do double damage, unless 20 is the only roll on which you will hit; if you will only hit on a 20, you can roll a 2nd time to see if you critical, anyway, with a 2nd 20 meaning you do. Double damage is calculated by rolling one die. If you like that die roll, you can double it. If you don't, you can roll a second die and total the two.

On a natural 1, you roll again. If your second roll would hit, you just get a bit of descriptive "horrible miss" text. If your second roll would miss, then you get some negative effect... lose your weapon, trip and fall... something that's going to cost you an action or two to overcome. If your second roll is a 1, I'm gonna mess you up a little bit. Examples include people throwing weapons at allies or taking a penalty until the fight's over.

I tend to err on the side of the players when doing criticals. Monsters tend to double low rolls, instead of getting an extra die, and roll a second die if they have a high damage roll. It gives the players a bit of an advantage, yes, but also stops the "random kill because of a lucky roll" factor.

Tis one of few houserules I have. I think we brought from 3E when we converted our chars/group/stats over to C&C.

Nat 20 - double damage for heroes (the good guys)

only 1/2 for monsters

Nat 1 . . lose turn ~ 2 nat 1s = broken weapon.

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Count Rhuveinus - Lejendary Keeper of Castle Franqueforte

"Enjoy a 'world' where the fantastic is fact and magic really works!" ~ Gary Gygax

"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes:" - Macbeth

For my first few games I've used one.

On a 1 its a fumble.

On a 20 you do max damage. (Example: On a d8 weapon your damage is 8) no roll.

Ronin77 wrote:
For my first few games I've used one.

On a 1 its a fumble.

On a 20 you do max damage. (Example: On a d8 weapon your damage is 8) no roll.

Welcome to the Crusade, Ronin77!

Sine my last posts on this topic, I've changed my crits to reflect this method. On a natural 20, they get max weapon damage. On a 1, they lost their next action.

I thought of doing, on crits, max damage + rolling another weapon damage die for extra damage. My players like the chance to have the extra damage that regular double damage affords but, admittedly, they don't like what happened (it seemed) more often than not - damage that's about average (or sometimes below) a normal swing. I've convinced them (or maybe they've convinced themselves) that max damage is better than average-to-below average damage...therefore, no need for that extraneous die I was considering.
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LD's C&C creations - the witch, a half-ogre, skill and 0-level rules

Troll Lord wrote:
Lord D: you understand where I"m coming from.

I allow the players to decide, but I try to encourage running without a critical hit system. If we do use a critical hit system, a natural 20 gives maximum damage (i.e. no need to roll damage). That max damage represents you landing your "best shot."
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http://www.philotomy.com
Lost City Campaign Log

Lord Dynel wrote:
Welcome to the Crusade, Ronin77!

Thank you.

Natural 20: automatically hit and, if a natural "20" wasn't necessary to hit, maximum damage
Natural 1: -2 to AC until your next round of initiative
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http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/dnd3e/cnc.htm

Yes. Fighters (and only fighters) automatically do maximum weapon damage when they roll a natural 20. NPCs do not get this benefit.
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Dan
http://home.comcast.net/~danbuter/candc.html - my Castles and Crusades webpage

danbuter wrote:
NPCs do not get this benefit.

Agreed. I don't usually allow criticals for monsters. Its just an auto hit for them.

Natural 20 = automatic hit, max damage.

Natural 1 = automatic miss; in mele, the target gets a riposte attack.

GameDoc wrote:
Natural 20 = automatic hit, max damage.

Natural 1 = automatic miss; in mele, the target gets a riposte attack.

That's an interesting way to go. I might use something like that as part of a small table.

Roll 1d6

1 - hit self

2 - hit ally

3-4 - drop weapon/lose balance, lose action next turn

5 - drop weapon/lose balance, lose action next turn and -2 penalty to AC till next turn

6 - miss and lose balance, foe gets an immediate opportunistic attack

Something like that.
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LD's C&C creations - the witch, a half-ogre, skill and 0-level rules

Troll Lord wrote:
Lord D: you understand where I"m coming from.