Critical Hit: Difference between revisions

**** For a game where [[PCs]] are supposed to be superhuman at relatively low levels, it seems ridiculous to need a once in a lifetime roll to kill the lowest creature in one hit...

* ''[[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 40,000]]'' has a few units with similar rules. Rending most notably, and certain [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|Acts of Faith]] used by the [[Amazon Brigade|Sisters of Battle]]. Meanwhile the Gets Hot! rule represents [[Critical Failure]] on a weapon.

** In one of the previous Chaos [[Space Marine]] codexes, the [[BFS|Axe of Khorne]] granted the wielder an extra attack for each roll of 6 that came up to hit. And if any of those came up as 6. With no upper limit on the number of extra attacks. This could lead to entire squads of [[Mighty Glacier|Terminators]] being chopped down by one really pissed-off guy with an axe.

** Leadership tests in ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' (one of the few rolls where rolling less is better) automatically succeed when a double one is rolled, in spite of any penalties or debuffs that would require to roll 1 or less. [[Psychic Powers]] use leadership tests where double ones and double sixes cause miscasts: The rules explicitly state that when rolling a double one, a psyker manages to cast the spell even if it kills him.

* 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.