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NowhereMan583
2010-08-15, 10:41 PM
So, I've heard of the existence of tables/charts that determine what actually happens on a critical hit/miss/success/failure/whatever in addition to a simple numerical change or "you just do better". I'm thinking of trying to use them in my next campaign.

What is your opinion on them? In what ways do they improve gameplay? In what ways do they detract from it?

Also, I would really appreciate it if you could point me towards some specific tables I could use - I'm not sure where to find a decent one.

Thanks.

Gan The Grey
2010-08-15, 11:07 PM
I used to use them, but they are far too scary for players in the long run. Now I use a custom system where every successful critical hit has a 5% chance of causing a specific wound, and the further a character fails into the negatives, the higher the chance of suffering a wound.

This still allows for interesting wounds (albeit at a much lower rate of occurance) and gives players a reason to immediately rush to the aid of a fallen comrade.

NowhereMan583
2010-08-16, 05:58 PM
Now I use a custom system where every successful critical hit has a 5% chance of causing a specific wound, and the further a character fails into the negatives, the higher the chance of suffering a wound.

Could you perhaps elaborate on this? It sounds like something I could use.

Abaddon87
2010-08-17, 09:05 AM
My group has a special deck of cards. One deck is for Crits and the other is for Crit Failures. When you crit, you draw a card and depending on the damage type it will give you a special effect in addition to the damage. If you have a x3 multiplier, you draw two cards and choose the one you want to use. Or you could even save the card to negate the next crit failure you rolled. Same basic principal for rolling a failure except no multiple cards on a x3 or x4 weapon and the DM picks the negative effect.

It throws a nice bit of realism and visible effects from your critical rolls instead of just extra damage. Most of the cards give some kind of stat damage or hamper movement/actions you can take. The critical effects for spells are pretty scary though (think scorching ray crit that opens a portal to the abyss and sucks in your poor target) :smalleek: