I've been trying to write a post about critical hits and fumbles for a while. Actually quite a long time. About a month and a half. I had the general idea of discussing the different ways people deal with attack rolls of 1 and 20, but couldn't quite figure out what to say about it.
I didn't think about that until I started playingmy friend Gusti Abnormal underground environmentGame in which I am a thief named Nire the Dead. Gustie has a really cool way of dealing with critical hits that allows the attacker to deal double damage.vonmake "something cool" It's a mechanic that doesn't make it easyallowHe encourages players to be creative and try crazy things, but encourages them to do so. A player can always say they want to try something cool, but often the chances of success clearly make a simple attack the better choice. By foreshadowing that something cool is going to work, the mechanic has an incredibly freeing effect on the player's imagination.
However, I'm not sure I'll implement Gustie's system in Pathfinder. Combat maneuvers already provide a working structure for "cool stuff," and it's an extremely effective structure that rewards player ingenuity. I have a feeling that the two systems might not go well together. Although I didn't want to use Gustie's system, I didAgainI wanted to try something more colorful than the default double damage and critical hit system used by Pathfinder.
The last weeks,Brendans Vaults of PahvelornThe game used a couple of tables it got from oneSupplement to the Administration of the Flame Princess. I don't own LotFP so I can't go into the full contents of the table. But every time a 1 or 20 is rolled, Brendan asks us to roll a 30-sided die, and something great or terrible comes out of it. I was fascinated to see how this table influenced the group. We're all excited to find out what role the D30 will play - and there were a few fools. Like when one of us hit a 20, which resulted in a miss, but he "learned from it" and got a point for his wisdom value. Or when one of the party's priests was given a new floor on the spot.
We had a lot of fun with the LotFP tables. But for my Pathfinder games I wanted something more down to earth. Then I discovered ita post on Delta's D&D hotspotwith some fantastic charts from an old kite magazine. You should definitely take some time to look at these tables. They are near perfect. All I've done below is parse them from four charts to two. And from d% to d30.
Note that using these tables requires some creativity and judgment from the GM. What does it mean in terms of gameplay if an orc loses an eye? (Maybe they are easier to smoke or flank)? What exactly happens to a card loop when it's damaged? (Maybe the character can't bend it that far without breaking it and halving the bow's range)? I have attempted to predict circumstances that would invalidate any outcome and anticipate contingencies. However, if you decide to use these tables, you will surely discover a few that I missed that need to be re-rolled or re-evaluated.
Critical Hits (Roll 1d30)
Any attack roll of 20 is a critical hit. Any other attack rolls within the critical range must be confirmed according to Pathfinder rules.
1-10)Default critical damage depending on weapon type.
11-15)Critical multiplier increased by 1. (If a weapon deals double damage on a critical hit, it would deal triple damage. If the weapon deals triple damage, it would deal quadruple damage, and so on).
16)Normal damage and weapons knocked out of opponent's hands. (If the enemy uses natural weapons, such as a bow attack, those weapons will be damaged and rendered useless.)
17)Physical damage and knocks the opponent's shield out of their hands. (If no shield is present, weapons are knocked off instead, as described at 16)
18)Physical damage, plus damage opponent's armor (or natural armor), reducing AC bonus by 1. Armor can be repaired for half the base cost. (If the armor is magic, roll again.)
19)Physical damage, also hits the enemy's ear and destroys it. (If the target is carrying an oar, the attack deals physical damage and destroys the oar.)
20)Physical damage, also hits and destroys the enemy's eye. (If the target is carrying an oar, the attack deals physical damage and destroys the oar.)
21)Normal damage, also hits the opponent's knee. Your movement speed is reduced to half.
22)Critical damage, also destroys the opponent's right arm (chopped off or damaged inoperable).
23)Critical damage, also destroys the opponent's left arm (chopped off or damaged incapacitated).
24)Critical damage, also destroys the opponent's right leg (chopped off or damaged inoperable).
25)Critical damage, also destroys the opponent's left leg (chopped off or damaged inoperable).
26)Critical damage, plus heavy belly damage. (Profuse bleeding, either from a wound or internally). The target will continue to lose 10 hp each turn (10 minutes) until the bleeding stops.
27)Critical damage plus heavy damage to one of the target's lungs. The target remains on the ground panting until action is taken. Suffers a permanent loss of 4 Constitution (which also results in a loss of 2 hp/level). This loss of performance is due to the destruction of one lung and cannot be restored with less than oneRegenerateOf
28)The attack hits the chest and severely damages the heart. The target is immediately reduced to -1 hp.
29)The attack hits the head. The target immediately drops to -1 HP and suffers 4 Wisdom permanently. This loss of performance is due to brain damage and can only be compensated for by one personRegenerategames. (If the target is wearing a helmet, this attack deals critical damage and knocks the helmet off the target's head.)
30)Roll twice.
Critical Fumble (Result 1d30)
Any attack roll of 1 is a critical fumble.
1-10)Total failure.
11-12)The movements of the fumblers throw them off balance. They suffer a -1 penalty to their Armor Class for the next turn.
13)Fumbler's movements seriously unbalanced her. You lose Dexterity, Shield, and Dodge bonuses to AC for the next turn. If the loss of these bonuses does not reduce the fumble player's AC, he still suffers a -1 penalty.
14-15)Fumbles, trips and falls.
16)Fumblers trip, fall forward and hit their heads. Stunned for 1d4 turns. (When wearing helmets, Fumbles are not stunned, but their helmets are removed).
17-18)Weapons are damaged and lose some of their effectiveness, but are still usable. Details are with the GM. Weapons can be repaired for half the weapon's base cost. (Magic weapons are unaffected and just missing).
19)Weapons are damaged and lose some of their effectiveness, but are still usable. Details are with the GM. Weapons can be repaired for half the base cost. This includes magic weapons.
20-21)weapon is destroyed. Can be reassembled for 3/4 the weapon's base price. (Magic weapons are unaffected and just missing).
22)weapon is destroyed. Can be reassembled for 3/4 the weapon's base price. This includes magic weapons.
23)weapon is lost.
24)Weapons are shipped on the fly.
25)The shield is lost. (If the shield is not held, the weapon will be dropped).
26)Fumblers twist ankle and slow down to half speed until they have a rest day.
27)If the clumsy player is wearing a helmet, it will twist and he can no longer see. (If no helmet is worn, it's just a miss).
28)A nearby ally takes 1/2 damage. (If there is no ally nearby, it's just a failure).
29)A nearby ally is hit for physical damage. (If there is no ally nearby, it's just a failure).
30)Roll twice.