[Any D&D] Rolled a 1... Yay! [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Rhiannon87

2009-06-07, 10:08 PM

Normally, the sight of a 1 on a d20 strikes horror into the hearts of players. Something dire is about to happen to a character, and everyone waits in dread for the DM's ruling.

But. Sometimes-- some glorious, glorious times-- the DM rolls a 1. Sometimes the DM rolls a 1 when it really counts. This is about those times.

I have three instances where this happened, all with the same DM (don't feel too bad for him, though, he's run a tough campaign for us). The first instance was fighting the BBEG from Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. The vampire lord drops in, and our fighter swings an artifact that functions like a disrupting mace at his head. The fort DC on the mace is only 14; there's no way the guy can fail it. And then? DM rolls a 1. Vampire turns into dust.

The second instance, the party was camped out, and a rakasha assassin had been following us. The DM has him line up a shot at one of the rogues with a hand crossbow and poisoned bolt. He rolls a 1; confirms the critical fumble; determines that the assassin shot himself in the arm. The assassin rolls a fort save; fails it. He rolls for damage (3d6 CON; the assassin had a CON of 12), and rolls 5, 5, 6. Assassin tumbles off the cliff, dead.

And finally, just today, we were fighting a mature adult black dragon on an airship. Our fighter criticals with a lawful flaming shock spear, and does 87 points of damage. Massive damage means a fort save, DC 15. It's a mature dragon, there's no way it can fail-- DM rolls a 1. Dragon dies. We ruled that the fighter stabbed it in the brain. She is now carrying around its head as a trophy, and plans to mount it above her fireplace someday.

So, what stories do you have of times when you saw a critical fail and rejoiced?

shadzar

2009-06-07, 10:12 PM

Mostly I DM so don't really rejoice when any 1 is rolled by myself or the players.

When I play, I rejoice every time I roll a 1, because it means something happens. Rolling a 2 is boring because you weren't going to do anything, and were so close to a 1 where something interesting would happen it just ticks me off! :smallfurious:

While the thing that happens may not always be good for your character on a 1, it sure is good for the game rather than a 2 for excitement value.

quick_comment

2009-06-07, 10:13 PM

I usually like using the 1/20 is open ended low/high variant.

Why?

Because it never made sense to me that a level 100 archer will miss his target 5% of the time.

Llama231

2009-06-07, 10:16 PM

If you stab it in the brain, isn't that a bit of a problem for having an ornamental head? Wouldn't it have a hole in it's head or something?

Flickerdart

2009-06-07, 10:17 PM

If you stab it in the brain, isn't that a bit of a problem for having an ornamental head? Wouldn't it have a hole in it's head or something?
Could have struck through the eye or ear hole, or up from below.

The_JJ

2009-06-07, 10:19 PM

Or just be like, 'Yeah, that's where I stabbed it. Uhuh. Oh yeah. Look at my awesomeness.'

Random NPC

2009-06-07, 10:33 PM

She is now carrying around its head as a trophy, and plans to mount it above her fireplace someday.

We are playing Red Hand of Doom and we recently killed a green dragon. The Swordsage did all the damage so he called dibs on the head. When everything finishes we plan on taking the vraath keep and making it our base of operations. Maybe then the swordsage will have a room for his dragon head.

Rhiannon87

2009-06-07, 10:38 PM

Could have struck through the eye or ear hole, or up from below.

The DM said that it opened it's mouth to bite her and she stabbed it through the soft upper-mouth-part and into the brainmeats.

Although, had she stabbed it through the top of the head or somewhere visible, she'd probably still have kept it and bragged about the injury.

Glimbur

2009-06-07, 10:50 PM

Saph was trying to brutally murder my last character in a PbP arena thing and had some terrible luck... http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113518&page=3

sonofzeal

2009-06-07, 10:55 PM

I usually like using the 1/20 is open ended low/high variant.

Why?

Because it never made sense to me that a level 100 archer will miss his target 5% of the time.
Granted... if you're going for realism, and aren't feeling all that creative. Maybe that nat1 means you just missed, or maybe your weapon itself malfunctions in some way (check out how often pro guitar players break strings), or maybe someone elbows you in the ribs, or maybe you get cockyand lazy, or your footing was poor, or the enemy moved unexpectedly at the last moment, or there's a random minor magic surge, or the victim had something in that pocket (even a small book works for this), or OMG RANDOM SEAGULL (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe2GtSphkNo). All sorts of things could happen to explain those random failures, and while I'll completely grant that they happen more often than they realistically should, I would argue that it makes the game more entertaining if the exceptional happens with alarming regularity. And I'm all for entertaining games.

quick_comment

2009-06-07, 11:01 PM

Granted... if you're going for realism, and aren't feeling all that creative. Maybe that nat1 means you just missed, or maybe your weapon itself malfunctions in some way (check out how often pro guitar players break strings), or maybe someone elbows you in the ribs, or maybe you get cockyand lazy, or your footing was poor, or the enemy moved unexpectedly at the last moment, or there's a random minor magic surge, or the victim had something in that pocket (even a small book works for this), or OMG RANDOM SEAGULL (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe2GtSphkNo). All sorts of things could happen to explain those random failures, and while I'll completely grant that they happen more often than they realistically should, I would argue that it makes the game more entertaining if the exceptional happens with alarming regularity. And I'm all for entertaining games.

Check the olympics. A level 10 ranger ought to be at least that good.

For what its worth, for most normal cases (say a fighter swinging at a target of appropriate CR), he is probably going to miss on an open ended low anyway. (Nat 20s still always hit though)

DragoonWraith

2009-06-07, 11:07 PM

OMG RANDOM SEAGULL (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe2GtSphkNo)
Randy Johnson's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtlLX3DUrik) was better.

penbed400

2009-06-07, 11:21 PM

quick_comment

2009-06-07, 11:24 PM

Me: I'm going to try and stop this before it gets too far. Diplomacy for...38This is just a misunderstanding, this can all be resolved in a non-violent way and we can just move along.

DM: He ignores you and tries to intimidate you into shutting up and being quiet. Make will saves.

Me: Isn't intimidate a skill just roll to see if you can intimidate us first.

DM: I'm sure he makes it.

Me: He might get a 1.

DM:Fine......*sigh*1

Me: D*** STRAIGHT!Listen buster, this is how its going down...

It didn't end well for us but it was hilarious

Skills and ability checks dont autofail/autopass on a 1 or 20.

Eldariel

2009-06-07, 11:28 PM

Level 20 campaign, our group accidentally stumbled into a summoning and instead of disrupting it we thought we'd watch it happen. Turns out that they were able to bring Vecna to the material plane. We go in and I try to strike up a diplomacy with him. Kind of went like this:

Real Life
Role played

Me: I'm going to try and stop this before it gets too far. Diplomacy for...38This is just a misunderstanding, this can all be resolved in a non-violent way and we can just move along.

DM: He ignores you and tries to intimidate you into shutting up and being quiet. Make will saves.

Me: Isn't intimidate a skill just roll to see if you can intimidate us first.

DM: I'm sure he makes it.

Me: He might get a 1.

DM:Fine......*sigh*1

Me: D*** STRAIGHT!Listen buster, this is how its going down...

It didn't end well for us but it was hilarious

While what you told of this scene alone breaks maybe a dozen rules (no 1s on skill checks, greater deities are automatically treated as receiving 20 on every skill check, intimidate doesn't ask for will-save but an opposed roll of HD+Wisdom+1d20, social diplomacy & intimidate checks both take 1 minute of interaction without taking penalties to speed it up, etc.), it's still hilarious :smallbiggrin: Seriously, saying "Listen buster..." to Vecna is just the end of awesome!

penbed400

2009-06-07, 11:33 PM

I know, the DM isn't that great and I don't actively read the books so the entire group is pretty sketchy on rules. I usually only play level 1-5 campaigns and this level 20 one is fairly new so I didn't know about deities rules and stuff. But yea it was pretty funny you have to admit that. I'll be sure to keep those rules in mind next time though. It didn't change the outcome much anyways though. We were being railroaded. Besides the only thing it changed was that instead of being quiet I got to say, "Listen Buster..."

raptor1056

2009-06-07, 11:50 PM

While what you told of this scene alone breaks maybe a dozen rules (no 1s on skill checks, greater deities are automatically treated as receiving 20 on every skill check, intimidate doesn't ask for will-save but an opposed roll of HD+Wisdom+1d20, social diplomacy & intimidate checks both take 1 minute of interaction without taking penalties to speed it up, etc.), it's still hilarious :smallbiggrin: Seriously, saying "Listen buster..." to Vecna is just the end of awesome!

And most likely the end of your life.

Djinn_in_Tonic

2009-06-08, 12:15 AM

Ah...time for one of my favorite stories.

The Game:
d20 Modern

The Level:
Level 2

The Enemy
A CR 17 Medusa Assassin

The Setup
This was a DM railroad at its best. My party and I stuck into a warehouse, searching for some supplies that belonged to a rather dangerous gang. Some mundane thugs got in our way, and we put them down quite easily. Just as we got our hands on the target items, however, a truly powerful Medusa descended on us, insisting we hand her the goods. Now, we were working for some very high up government officials, so, although from an opposing criminal organization, she was hesitant to simply kill us.

She had, however, locked us completely down, and we didn't want to sacrifice the mission for a stupid Medusa...

What Happened
While the Medusa was distracted by questioning an ally, I quietly began to dial 9-1-1 on my cell phone. Unfortunately, Medusa Assassins apparently have keen hearing, and she snatched the phone away...but not before I had canceled the call. Slightly worried that the authorities were coming down on her, she checked the recent calls...and, while this was happening, I signaled to my ally. Luckily, he got the message, and proceeded to try grappling the Medusa from behind, holding his hands over her eyes. A level 2, low-strength gunslinger vs. a CR 17 Medusa Assassin. It didn't look good.

And then my ally dropped a 2 on the table, for a total grapple modifier of...well...2. We were toast.

...then the Medusa dropped a natural 1.

So we had it captive...for a single round. So I decided to take a risk, as, if it got away, we were all dead immediately. I fired my Glock at it, with the double-tap feat. Natural 20, critical confirmed. 25 damage straight at the thing. Which triggered a Massive Damage save. Now, the save is DC 15...the Medusa had at least a +14 to her Fortitude save...

And dropped another 1.

In a single round, a level 2 party dropped a CR 17 opponent. Our DM almost cried. :smallbiggrin:

holywhippet

2009-06-08, 12:17 AM

During one 4th edition game we were fighting some undead in a narrow corridor. The spellmage was going to unleash an area attack to hit one of the undead but it could either hit my warlord who was already badly damaged or the paladin who was only lightly damaged. He made his attack roll for the undead and hit - then he rolled his attack roll for the paladin and got a 1.

Eldariel

2009-06-08, 12:20 AM

And most likely the end of your life.

Ah, but what a way to go! No glory in life can compare to the loftiness of being personally smitten by a Greater Deity! Can you imagine? All the attention of an otherworldly being with the power of a thousand Wizard 20s focused on you for an instant, for long enough to end your miserable existence by his own hand! After you fired a threat at him! Truly, you can scour the multiverse your entire life and never find half as worthy way of death ever! A glory only offered to handful few; one you should take on when you can.

Myatar_Panwar

2009-06-08, 12:56 AM

Or just be like, 'Yeah, that's where I stabbed it. Uhuh. Oh yeah. Look at my awesomeness.'

Yeah if I stabbed a dragon in the head I would want it to be noticeable.

"Hey, take look at this dragon's head." :smallcool:
"Cool.... but why's it so messed up?" :smallconfused:
"When I go about slaying unnatural killing machines, I don't **** around." :smallamused::smallcool:

Doresain

2009-06-08, 01:41 AM

...greater deities are automatically treated as receiving 20 on every skill check...

i thought Vecna was a demi-god :smallconfused:

Superglucose

2009-06-08, 01:55 AM

Not D&D but it is D20...

The party member rolled a 1 on a spellcraft check that I knew (but he didn't) would only serve to heal our opponent. That was sweet.

I also rolled a 1 on a save versus some knockback ability, and it ended up saving my life.

Atcote

2009-06-08, 01:57 AM

When I was DMing, I had one player who had a tendancy for rolling particually bad 1s... Mistakes that would occassionally screw up my horrid cruel railroading (which I always do at the very start, when characters are established and the party isn't yet formed).

Basically, we were playing 4th edition, and the character was playing a rogue that was running away from a guard - basically, he was the catalyst who had stolen magic item #2403495 that was going to be important on this quest. As he was running away, I had the lead guard fire a crossbow bolt at him - the idea was he could dodge and miss it, and this would be one of a series of reflex/streetwise/athletics checks he would have to make to get away without any problems - I expected he would stuff up at one, but then there would always be a save. The guard was drunk at this point, so I was kind (and not actually using it as a d# whatever weapon, instead using it as an obstacle), had it have a reflex save of 10... Easy for anyone, he barely had a roll a bloody thing... And he rolls a 1. I didn't think of a save for the crossbow bolt, and thus was the guy's first ever 1, so I didn't want to go easy on him. Thus, I had him get shot in the neck.
Basically, what happened from there, he wound up in jail (healed by a cleric), they lost the magic item, the other characters ended up busting out of jail with him, and I was forced to create a far more interesting campaign, as the magic item was lost too (though I had intended for them to retrieve it from the guard's office).

Taught me against attempting to railroad, that did.

I know this is about 1s hurting your DM, and, well, even if i didn't roll it, it hurt for that little bit.

EDIT: Also, where does the 'yay', come from? Well, the players had more fun with the improv campaign that I had to design from that point.

sonofzeal

2009-06-08, 02:28 AM

Check the olympics. A level 10 ranger ought to be at least that good.

For what its worth, for most normal cases (say a fighter swinging at a target of appropriate CR), he is probably going to miss on an open ended low anyway. (Nat 20s still always hit though)
Olympics are generally performed under "ideal" circumstances - every controllable element has most likely been accounted for, the shooter knows exactly where he's going and how he's shooting at each thing, and has probably rehearsed the whole routine half a dozen times on that course. And if I remember correctly, they're shooting at stationary, highly visible targets, that's not trying to dodge and has no armored portions to deflect shots, that are positioned in plain sight. Also, if I remember correctly, they shoot with rifles from prone (impossible with a bow, and at least awkward with many crossbows). That's a far cry from D&D combat situations on just about every level.

Plus, again, I find it more boring if nobody ever misses. Entertaining misses are often more fun than hits. Give Paranoia a try, you'll see what I mean. :smallamused:

Killer Angel

2009-06-08, 05:01 AM

Normally, the sight of a 1 on a d20 strikes horror into the hearts of players. Something dire is about to happen to a character, and everyone waits in dread for the DM's ruling.

Well, since you're asking about ANY D&D, in 2° ed. (Advanced D&D), when using your skills (AKA non-weapon proficiencies), you had to roll lower than your ability (the higher the ability, the higher your chances of success).
So, a 1 was a critical success... :smalltongue:

Pharaoh's Fist

2009-06-08, 05:19 AM

I usually like using the 1/20 is open ended low/high variant.

Why?

Because it never made sense to me that a level 100 archer will miss his target 5% of the time.

In 2004, Emmons shot someone else's target. In 2008, his gun went off prematurely. (http://www.nbcolympics.com/shooting/news/newsid=224611.html).

quick_comment

2009-06-08, 07:42 AM

In 2004, Emmons shot someone else's target. In 2008, his gun went off prematurely. (http://www.nbcolympics.com/shooting/news/newsid=224611.html).

Thanks for proving my point. Things like that are so rare that they are newsworthy.

Hunter Noventa

2009-06-08, 07:51 AM

My current campaign had this happen in a very awesome manner. Basically, after storming the royal cathedral (by being thrown in by a giant eagle and screaming that I object), rampaging through the mook guards, my character found herself toe-to-toe with a dwarven paladin and his massive greataxe, the rest of the party at least three rounds away.

Well being awesome seems to be her stock in trade, as after he moved in and got a good solid hit on her, she opened up with her dwarven waraxes. And Proceeded to hit with every single one, and I think there was a crit in there too. The total damage was well over 50, so the DM rolled for massive damage.

The awesome dwarven paladin rolled a 1 and keeled over, much to the chagrin of the traitorous prime minister he was protecting. The foe was twice my characters level and she soloed him while the rest of the party was wading through the guards. It was glorious.

Ravens_cry

2009-06-08, 07:59 AM

Thanks for proving my point. Things like that are so rare that they are newsworthy.
But it can happen. Unlike the hypothetical ranger who will hit. Every. Single Time. Missing wouldn't be newsworthy, it would be miraculous. One time out of twenty is a rather high rate for this,I agree, but with the general scale of D&D combat, at least in my experience, it certainly adds just that extra bit of tension.

quick_comment

2009-06-08, 08:03 AM

But it can happen. Unlike the hypothetical ranger who will hit. Every. Single Time. Missing wouldn't be newsworthy, it would be miraculous. One time out of twenty is a rather high rate for this,I agree, but with the general scale of D&D combat, at least in my experience, it certainly adds just that extra bit of tension.

The ranger will not hit everytime. (And anyway, level 100 ought to be a better shot than gods)

Open ended low means if you roll a 1, you then roll again and subtract that number. If you roll another 1, you roll again twice and subtract both. So you can get arbitrarily low attacks.

Imagine a ranger with a +40 attack bonus, which is pretty decent. Open ended low turns the wtf, I missed the target (call it AC 20) from 1 in 20 to 1 in 400 (slightly higher than that actually) which is far more reasonable.

MickJay

2009-06-08, 08:05 AM

Things like that are so rare that they are newsworthy.

...when they happen in perfect conditions designed for the purpose of allowing the shooters to act without any disturbances (which could happen if the person in question was shooting during something like, for example, actual combat). That 5% chance of missing is there to simulate various circumstances that may affect the shot/hit, regardless of fighter's skill.

Ravens_cry

2009-06-08, 08:08 AM

The ranger will not hit everytime. (And anyway, level 100 ought to be a better shot than gods)

Open ended low means if you roll a 1, you then roll again and subtract that number. If you roll another 1, you roll again twice and subtract both. So you can get arbitrarily low attacks.

Imagine a ranger with a +40 attack bonus, which is pretty decent. Open ended low turns the wtf, I missed the target (call it AC 20) from 1 in 20 to 1 in 400 (slightly higher than that actually) which is far more reasonable.
Thanks, didn't know that. I thought it just meant "add a bonuses to one as if it were two,as in not an automatic fail or -10 penalty (same thing against all but the mookiest mooks)

Sinfire Titan

2009-06-08, 08:14 AM