Critical Hit: Difference between revisions

[[File:critical kick 4026.png|frame|[[Persona 4|"Critical hit to the]] [[Groin Attack|nads.]]"]]

 

 

In a game which relies heavily on numerical statistics, particularly an [[RPG]], a character will have a chance of doing [[For Massive Damage|noticeably increased damage]] with an attack if [[Random Number God|the right number comes up]]. The likelihood of this occurring may or may not be affected by the aforementioned stats, and sometimes magic may be given this little perk as well. Sometimes this is accompanied by different damage text or special effects (which may be more than just graphics).

* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''

** The best known is, of course, rolling a "natural 20"<ref>That is, a 20 on the die, before applying modifiers.</ref> in combat did bonus damage—this started out as a common house rule which became an official option in the 2nd edition.

** The 3rd Edition allowed critical successes under other circumstances as well, and had weapons with different odds of critical hits. A "natural 20" no longer resulted in an automatic critical hit, either, but did mean an automatic hit and a chance to "confirm" a critical hit with a second roll.

** Unlike most examples, in D&D, creatures with odd anatomies can be immune to critical hits, including [[Golem]]s, most kinds of undead and [[The Blob]]. This is because D&D justifies critical hits as being regular attacks aimed at an unprotected point or vital organ. Undead and Gelatinous Cubes obviously lack vital organs and therefore can't be hit for critical damage.

** 4th edition [[Dungeons & Dragons]] has all creatures affected by critical hits. All weapons deal max damage on a crit. Magical weapons and some heavy weapons deal extra damage on top of that. However, all weapons deal critical damage on 20s alone again (except when augmented by certain powers or feats).

*** And then there are "High Crit" weapons,such as the scimitar, katar, and greataxe, which (on a crit) deal maximum damage and an extra weapon damage die roll. This can become absolutely ridiculous - a greataxe, if maximum damage is rolled on the extra roll, will deal 24 damage - and don't get me started on a two-blade ranger double critting on a Twin Strike with scimitars and rolling max damage each time (not counting enhancement, it deals 32 damage, enough to kill a level 1 creature.)

* ''[[Role Master]]'' had pages upon pages of critical hit tables. It was famous for them. Overcoming your opponent in a battle in Rolemaster isn't so much about draining their hit points but landing criticals. Each attack consists of an attack roll (adding your skill bonus for the weapon you're using and subtracting the enemy's defensive bonus), and if the weapon's attack table indicates that you get a critical hit you roll for the critical (the severity of which depends on whether your hit resulted in A, B, C, D or E criticals) and see how well you succeed in that critical, the results of which range anywhere from small wounds to smashed skulls, so the criticals play a... erm, ''[[Incredibly Lame Pun|critical]]'' role in resolving a combat.

* ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' has a few of them itself: Irresistable Force, a critical success at casting a spell that means it can't be dispelled (contrast with [[Critical Failure|Miscasts]]); [[Poisoned Weapons]] which will always wound on a critical hit roll; and the Killing Blow skill which auto-kills on a critical wound roll. One magazine article suggested a critical success house rule for psychology tests, as well, to represent the small chance of warriors [[Heroic Resolve|holding out against impossible odds]].

* ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]]'' has the "Ulric's Fury!" (shouting it out loud when you get one optional), caused by rolling a 10 on a damage d10 and succeeding at a weapon skill check that allows you to roll another d10 for damage. And if that one comes up a 10 too, you keep on rolling, stopping only after you roll something other than a 10. The rules also have a 'critical hit', which is a hit that takes place once your opponent is out of HP and actually gets a permanent injury (or death) from an attack.

* ''[[Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay]]'', has the same thing (only it's now called the "Righteous Fury", and in ''[[Black Crusade]]'' "Zealous Hatred", and isn't nearly as fun to shout). There are also actual critical hit tables - [[The Wiki Rule|1d4chan]] keeps scans of them, as an example of [[Bloody Hilarious]] mechanics done right.

* The [[New World of Darkness]] has two versions of this, both of which apply to all sorts of rolls, not just combat. Players roll a "dice pool" and every die that comes up with an 8 or over is a success; if a die rolls a 10, that die is re-rolled, and if it gets another 10, it's re-rolled again, and so on (with certain equipment, spells, and so forth, this rule can extend to 9s and 8s). Furthermore, if more than five successes are scored on any one roll, it's considered an exceptional success, which means that it accomplishes truly neat things.

** [[Critical Failure|The reverse]] (called a "[[Epic Fail|dramatic failure]]", or a "botch" in the old WoD) also exists. If a dice pool is reduced to negative figures by penalties, the player can still roll a "chance die", where only a 10 counts as a success, and a 1 causes a "dramatic failure", which is just as good as it sounds. Some characters also have penalties where they can't use the "10-again" rule on certain rolls, and further ''lose'' successes on rolling a 1, which can result in them having negative successes, and thus get a dramatic failure.

** 4th edition upped the ante by having a natural 3 ''or'' 4 (and, with a high enough skill level, 5 or 6) count as critical successes. (Rolling three six-sided dice and getting a 3 has only a 1/216 chance of occurring, so the improvement to up to a 9% chance was welcome.) Conversely, a natural 18 or 17, or any roll that's 10 or more greater than your skill level, is a critical ''failure''.

** In combat, the most likely result of a critical hit is a blow doing ordinary damage. Editors have noted that this is realistic, since under many circumstances, a person might be lucky to get a hit *at all*, never mind do extra damage with it.

* In ''[[Eclipse Phase]]'', a 00 (rolling two ten-sided dice) is always a critical success. Any successful rolls that are doubles are also critical successes. Conversely, doubles on a failed roll is a critical failure, and 99 is always a critical failure.

* ''[[Unknown Armies]]'' had perhaps the least forgiving critical hits in existence. A roll of doubles on the one-hundred sided die did damage equal to the roll - and could backfire if you missed. A roll of 01 meant the attacker chose to either instantly kill or instantly KO the defender. A roll of 00 let the ''defender'' return the favor.

* ''[[EarthBound]]'' has ''SMAAAASH!!'' attacks, the chances of which are based on your Guts stat. The ''[[Infinity+1 Sword]]'', the [[Improvised Weapon|Gutsy Bat]], lets you get a lot of these.

** The Casey Bat, borrowing from the story of Casey At The Bat, either connects with a ''SMAAAASH!!'' hit, or misses entirely. Also borrowing from that classic tale, it misses ''a lot''.

* The ''[[Fallout]]'' games play this one straight and provide 'Perks' which may affect the chance of it happening or how much damage is done.

** And if you get the "Sniper" perk and have 10 Luck (the maximum), ''every shot you fire'' is a critical hit. (The same is true of "Slayer" and melee or unarmed attacks.) At this point you can take out an entire military base with a BB gun (reload every 100 shots, can get five shots a turn with a few perks).

*** ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' plays with this, giving Marth the Final Smash "Critical Hit" which does a ridiculous amount of damage (60%) and is the most likely attack to KO an opponent in one hit, aside from an attack used by the [[SNK Boss]]. When it hits, they even show a ''Fire Emblem'' health counter going from full to zero.

** An offshoot of this is the Lethality/Silence skill that Assassins have, which is even less likely than a Critical Hit, which just kills the opponent regardless of how much more damage would be needed. The Assassin might only be able to do 1 natural damage per hit, but if they pull this out the enemy even at full health just drops.

*** With Ragnell and Aether, Ike can pretty much solo the rest of the game and the bonus maps, although the final boss is still troublesome.

*** The most lethal of them all is the Black Knight's mastery skill in ''Radiant Dawn'', Eclipse: it does ''quintuple'' damage and negates defense, so if he's wielding Alondite, he does a grand total of ''280'' damage. NO character in the series, player character, final boss, or otherwise, has more than ''120'' HP. Hell, roughly 90% of those characters won't even break ''45 HP'' normally.

 

 

* In ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'', a natural 20 was actually a prophesy, for when Roy was to know to take a shot at a moment when such a roll was needed most.

* Spoofed in ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]'', where Red Mage uses it in a game of [[Rock-Paper-Scissors]].

* In a joke in [http://deathbychibi.comicgenesis.com/index.html this] webcomic, which the author plans to reuse in the reboot, a character rolls a natural 20, but it's for initiative, and is pissed there's no such thing as critical initiative. Made funnier by the fact that some games do have critical initiative (picking when you go instead of going first).

* In ''[[D&DS9|D and DS 9]]'', The Borg's attack on the U.S.S. Saratoga is a critical hit, [[Failed a Spot Check|but the DM fails to notice.]] That is, until Avery (Sisko's player) points it out to him. It doesn't end well.

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Videogame Effects and Spells]]

[[Category:Older Than the NES]]

[[Category:For Massive Damage]]

[[Category:CRPG Tropes]]