killshot rules in 3.5

[animewatcha]

Roll a d20. If it's an 18-20, then you go to number 2: Confirming it.
Roll a d20. If it's an 18-20, you have confirmed a crit. And now to the third roll: The killshot.
Roll a d20. ONLY IF IT IS A NATURAL 20 do you instakill.


Someone in a necro'ed thread posted this.

I thought killshot rules were 3 20s. Am I wrong? Where is it found?

[Twilightwyrm]

DMG pg. 28, Instant Kill Variant Rule:


When you [the DM] or the player rolls a natural 20, a critical roll is made to see if a critical hit is scored. If that critical roll is also a 20, that is considered a threat for an instant kill. Now a third roll, an instant kill roll, is made. If that roll scores a hit on the target in question (just like a normal critical roll after a threat), the target is instantly slain. Creatures immune to critical hits are also immune to instant kills.

[JusticeZero]

That rule, by the way, will mostly serve to make your party use a lot more Raise Dead castings, with all the verisimilitude issues therein, or to turn the character generation very roguelike. (The first character has a detailed history and leveling plan. The fifth was made entirely by random tables, even the name, because they're just going to die in a session or two anyways.)

[Waddacku]

I don't think a 1 in 8000 rule like that is worth having.

[JusticeZero]

It's 20, 20, hit. One in 800, not 1 in 8000. If you open the numbers up much, the probability ramps up. This mostly just serves to unpredictably muck up your narrative flow; mooks were going to die anyways, but your tank, also the protagonist of your current plotline, becomes more prone to suddenly keeling over.