[D&D 3.5e] For Massive Damage!: A Critical Hit Handbook

[PhantasyPen]

(WIP!)

To avoid flooding this thread before it's ready, if you wish to contribute any information regarding critical hits please post here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?569020-Any-Crit-Fishing-Handbooks).


Table of Contents!

What's a Critical Hit? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23370471&postcount=2) Explanation of criticals
The Critical Armory (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23370473&postcount=3) Finding the critical weapon for your style
The Critical Threat Range (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23370475&postcount=4) Fishing for your crits
The Critical Threat Multiplier (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23370478&postcount=5) Assembling your critical hit tackle box
Attack its Weak Point! Confirming Critical Hits
What Did You Catch? Other Critical Hit-related abilities and effects

[PhantasyPen]

Now before I start teaching you how to chain together an infinite critical hit combo, you need to understand what a critical hit is, how it's done, and why you want to do it in the first place.

What is a Critical Hit? A critical hit (hereafter referred to as a "crit" for short) is defined by the d20 srd (http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm) as:


When you make an attack roll and get a natural 20 (the d20 shows 20), and you have scored a threat.

That's pretty much all there is to it.

What do Crits do? As stated in the SRD, when you roll a critical hit you:


A critical hit means that you roll your damage more than once, with all your usual bonuses, and add the rolls together.

As you can see, a critical hit means that you can do more damage when you attack, even without spending a full action to attack more than once!

How do you Crit? As the SRD says, a critical hit occurs when you roll a natural 20. That is the absolute minimum requirement for an attack to be considered critical. However, even beyond rolling a natural 20, there are still some steps to follow.


When you make an attack roll and get a natural 20 (the d20 shows 20), you hit regardless of your target’s Armor Class, and you have scored a threat. The hit might be a critical hit (or "crit"). To find out if it’s a critical hit, you immediately make a critical roll—another attack roll with all the same modifiers as the attack roll you just made. If the critical roll also results in a hit against the target’s AC, your original hit is a critical hit. (The critical roll just needs to hit to give you a crit. It doesn’t need to come up 20 again.) If the critical roll is a miss, then your hit is just a regular hit.

Seems sort of complicated, right? So let's break that down into steps:

Roll a Natural 20 on the dice.
Don't roll damage yet!
Roll the dice again with all the exact same bonuses that were applied to the Natural 20 roll.
If the attack roll from Step 3 is a hit, roll your damage twice and add the result of both rolls together.
If the attack roll from Step 3 is a miss, you did not get a crit. However, because you rolled a Natural 20, you still successfully made a normal attack. Roll for damage!
Congratulations!(!)


Why do you Want to Crit? Well, to keep it simple, rolling a critical hit is AWESOME(!!) To be more complicated, it's because at the bare minimum every critical hit will double your damage for that single attack, and if you can crit multiple times in a single round, you're looking to spike your damage numbers massively.

What Makes a Critical Hit? There are two primary elements to rolling a critical, and when you are building your character, you will usually want to focus on one of these two elements over the other, but there are enough tricks and tips here that you should be able to upgrade the other at least a little. The two components to a critical hit are the "Critical Threat Range" and the "Critical Damage Multiplier." The Critical Threat Range (or just "threat range") is the number you need to roll on your d20 in order for your attack to threaten a critical hit. For most weapons the threat range is only on a Natural 20, but for a select few weapons (see "The Critical Armory (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23370473&postcount=3)" below) rolling a 19 on your dice or even an 18 can threaten a critical. If your weapon only threatens a crit on a Natural 20, the critical section of your weapon will only list the Critical Damage Multiplier of your weapon. If your weapon has a higher threat range than just on a Natural 20, it will appear in a "#-20" format, and any die roll within that given range will threaten a critical hit. (NOTE! The Critical Threat Range only applies to the number actually rolled on the d20. Having a non-Natural 20(or 19, or 18), for example by rolling an 10 on the dice but having a +10 or higher Attack Bonus, will not threaten a critical.) The Critical Damage Multiplier (or just "critical multiplier") of your weapon tells you how many time you roll your damage on a critical hit. The default assumption for the critical multiplier is that it only doubles your damage, but having a triple or quadruple multiplier is not uncommon (See "The Critical Armory (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23370473&postcount=3)" below) The Critical Damage Multiplier is always written in a "x#" format.

The Untouchables Given how AWESOME(!!) critical hits are, it's no surprise that WotC and certain unscrupulous DM's might wish to hamper your ability to cut entire enemies in half with one swing. The following types of creatures are immune to critical hits: (Psst! Check out "Crit the Uncrittable!" below for ways around some of these immunities!)

Constructs
Elementals
Oozes
Plants
Swarms
Undead
Any creature under the benefits of the "Fortification" armor enchantment.
Creatures with Concealment are not subject to precision damage either.

[PhantasyPen]

Well! Now that you know what a Critical Hit is you're all set to go right? Wrong! There are many steps to creating a true critical hit build, and the very first step (in fact, it might just be the most important step!) is deciding what weapon you are going to use. Many critical builds will require you to focus on a single weapon to the exclusion of any other option, simply because many of these abilities and options only function if you specify a single weapon type or specific weapon for them to apply to. (As with everything in D&D, there are ways around this, but we'll get to that later.)

There are far more weapons than I care to count in D&D, especially when you include obscure and/or third-party sources like we will for this handbook (because I have far too many splatbooks on my hard drive and I want to see them USED dagnabbit!) so for the purposes of this handbook, we will be cherry-picking the very best options possible as we go, starting with the Player's Handbook.


PHB Weapons
Simple Weapons

Dagger (ordinary): While this weapon only does 1d4 damage, it has a 19-20 threat range and does two different types of damage. Also, unlike most options presented here, this weapon is throwable, and therefor gives you the ability to (somewhat) fight at ranged if need be. The punching dagger despite having a x3 crit multiplier lacks both the slashing damage type and the ability to be thrown, making it much less useful for our purposes.
Longspear/Spear (ordinary): With a respectable 1d8 damage and a x3 critical multiplier, these weapons are your best choices for heavy critical hit damage without access to martial weapons. The Spear is even throwable!
Heavy/Light XBow: These are essentially ranged versions of the Bastard Sword and the Longsword respectively, which means they're reliable enough.

Martial Weapons

Kukri: At first glance, the kukri doesn't seem like a very good weapon: with only 1d4 damage and a x2 critical multiplier, it's not going to win any awards. However what the kukri has going for it is the fact that it is a Light weapon (which means if you dual wield you can use it in your off-hand with only a -2 penalty) and it has a critical threat range of 18-20! Because of this, kukri's are best used in pairs, or wielded in your off-hand with a better weapon in your main hand.
Light/Heavy Pick: Both of these weapons have a mighty x4 critical multiplier! That is literally the highest critical damage multiplier that you can get naturally on a weapon!
Rapier/Scimitar: These two weapons are effectively interchangeable, aside from a couple of quick differences like weight and damage type (the rapier is a Piercing weapon and the scimitar is a Slashing weapon). Why are both of these weapons on this list? Because they both deal 1d6 damage and have a critical threat range of 18-20! Wielding one of these in your main hand and a kukri in your off-hand can make you a surprisingly capable threat.
Warhammer: Ah the warhammer. Notable for its 1d8 bludgeoning damage and its x3 critical damage multiplier.
Falchion: If you want to focus on just your critical threat range and don't want to dual-wield for some reason, the trusty falchion is going to be your best choice, hands down. This monster of a weapon deals 2d4 damage and threatens a critical hit on any roll of 18-20 on the dice! With a x2 base multiplier that's going to be 4d4 damage! Plus triple your Strength modifier because guess what? This is a two-handed weapon!! This sword is a BEAST.
Polearms: For our purposes, these weapons are pretty much all interchangeable. All of them have a x3 critical multiplier, and most of them have reach with a 1d10 or 1d12 damage die. These aren't necessarily something to write home about without applying a lot of little tricks to them, but they're still pretty fun.
Greatsword: Ah, the greatsword, it's a great sword, really. However, it only has a 19-20 critical threat range and a measly x2 critical damage multiplier. Where this weapon really shines is its base 2d6 damage. Something that doubles your threat range and something else that increases your critical multiplier applied to this weapon at the same time though? That's going to be 6d6 and 4.5x your Strength modifier on a roll of 17-20! Damage like that can add up real fast once you start hitting consistently.
Scythe: There is no way to bring up critical hits without mentioning this monster of a weapon! 2d4 damage doesn't seem like a lot at first, but with a x4 critical multiplier, what you're really looking for is that much more beastly 8d4 damage on a critical hit! You probably don't need to worry about increasing your critical multipliers for this one, and can just focus on getting your threat range as high as you can.

Exotic Weapons

Bastard Sword: This weapon is the main reason that the longsword isn't on this list. With a 1d10 damage die, the bastard sword is strictly better than the longsword in 3.5, albeit at the cost of a feat (unless your class somehow gives free proficiency). This weapon is another one that only has a 19-20 critical threat range, but the higher damage die compensates somewhat.
Dwarven Waraxe: With a 1d10 damage die and a x3 critical multiplier, this weapon is functionally identical to most of the weapons in the "polearms" category, save that it lacks reach. I'm only mentioning it here because dwarves get proficiency with it for free, which makes it a much better option for them.




Complete Warrior
Exotic Weapons

Elven thinblade/lightblade: These two weapons are effectively just exotic versions of the rapier, but if you're playing an Elf, see if you can't convince your DM to let you use them as martial weapons. If that is the case, than the thinblade is strictly better than the rapier.
Composite Greatbow: With a 1d10 damage die and a x3 multiplier, this weapon is theoretically capable of dishing out some pretty heavy damage. The reason this guide recommends the composite version is because it allows you to add your strength bonus to damage, which is better for obvious reasons.



AEG's Arms and Equipment Guide
Exotic Weapons

Orc Shotput: This thrown weapon has the standard 19-20 critical threat range that I consider to be the bare minimum if you want to try and focus on that element, but what this weapon really has going for it is the fact that it has a beastly x3 critical damage multiplier! Since thrown weapons automatically add your strength modifer to their damage, that makes this weapon equivalent or maybe even better than the Greatsword if you have a ranged build.



Book of Exalted Deeds

Staff of Rapture: While normally this magical staff functions as a standard +1 quarterstaff like any other stave, when the wielder uses it against a creature with the Evil alignments (which if you're using the Book of Exalted Deeds, will probably be most if not all your enemies) this magical item has a natural threat range of 17-20!!




Third Party Materials

Starbite Javelin (Arms&Armor v3.5, Bastion Press) This weapon is great for all the reasons that the Orc Shotput is great, but it's also a Simple weapon, which means just about every single class in the game is proficient with it!
Dadao Sword (Arms&Armor v3.5, Bastion Press) This Martial weapon has only a 1d6 damage die, but it also has a critical threat range of 19-20 and a x3 critical damage multiplier. That's not bad for a melee weapon!
Schiavona Sword (Arms&Armor v3.5, Bastion Press) This Martial weapon is the love-child of the rapier and a scimitar, getting a much better 1d8 damage die in the process as well as the 18-20 critical threat range of its parents! At this point the fact that you can alternate between dealing piercing or slashing damage with this weapon is pretty much just a bonus.
Weighted Greatsword (Arms&Armor v3.5, Bastion Press) I have no idea how this weapon isn't Exotic, because it is a monster! This is a two-handed martial weapon with a 18-20 critical threat range and 2d8 damage dice! (WARNING: Using this weapon might make your DM throw a rulebook at your head)
Penetrating Arrows (Arms&Armor v3.5, Bastion Press) Technically these aren't really weapons on their own, but if you use these as ammunition in your bow, they will increase your critical threat range to 18-20 at the low cost of a 30 foot penalty to your range increment.
Chainblade (Arms&Armor v3.5, Bastion Press) Out of all the weapons on this list, this weapon in particular is all but guaranteed to make the DM ban whatever character uses it. This Exotic weapon has an unprecedented 17-20 critical threat range! With a threat range like that, the 1d8 damage die almost doesn't matter, since all it takes is a little bit of effort and you'll be rolling almost nothing but critical hits with this weapon (unless your dice really hate you, but if that's the case, why aren't you getting new dice?)

[PhantasyPen]

What does it mean to threaten a critical hit? If you want to successfully crit something, rolling a Natural 20 isn't enough. You also need to do something that's called "confirming" the critical. Confirming a critical hit is a simple enough process. After you roll your Natural 20 on the dice, you simply make a second attack roll, using all the same bonuses and penalties that were applied to the Natural 20. If this second attack roll rolls high enough to hit the target, congratulations, you've confirmed the crit!

The Critical Threat Range Depending on the weapon you use, you might not need to roll a Natural 20 in order to threaten a critical hit. If your weapon's critical hit section has a number range written in the format of "#-20" then if any number on that range shows up on the d20, you threaten a critical hit, even if it isn't a Natural 20.

Doubling your Threat Range The Improved Critical feat, Keen Edge spell, Keen enchantment, and Scabbard of Keen Edges all double* your weapons critical threat range. What is most important to remember about these things is that none of them stack with each other, so if you are planning to use one of them, only pick one as the others will not be able to stack with it. Of each of these methods, my personal favorite is Improved Critical, because even though the other threat range doublers do not stack with it, there are several Prestige Class features that do, which will be mentioned below.
*A critical threat range of 20 is a threat range of 1, so doubling it gives you a 19-20 range (threat range: 2).

The Downside of Critical Threat Range It's important to say this here, where it's most relevant, but having the ability to threaten a critical hit on a 2-20 doesn't really mean much unless you somehow have the ability to still actually hit your target. Unless you roll a natural 20 on the dice, you still don't actually threaten to critical hit the target unless your attack roll would normally hit the creature's AC. (The reason this doesn't matter for a Natural 20 is that a Natural 20 always hits, and thus, always threatens.)


Things that Increase Critical Threat Range

Disciple of Dispater 4, 8 (Book of Vile Darkness) 3.0 MaterialWhen wielding an iron or steel weapon, the natural threat range of the Disciple of Dispater's weapon doubles, then at level 8 it triples instead. This ability stacks with the Improved Critical* feat, but not the Keen property. Requires Evil alignment to take.
"Streetfighter" Barbarian 7 (Cityscape Web Enhancement (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a)) When a Streetfighter Barbarian makes a charge attack or attacks a flat-footed opponent, their threat range increases by 1. This ability stacks with the Improved Critical feat and the keen enchantment only. If you don't want to get murdered by the DM, the polite thing to do is apply this threat range increase after the doubling effect.
Critical Strike spell (Complete Adventurer) As a swift action, you gain 1d6 damage, double your weapon's critical threat range (as Keen Edge) and gain a +4 bonus to confirm critical hits. Not bad for a first level spell, and handy for those who just want to dabble in the fine art of fishing for crits.
Andras, the Grey Knight (Tome of Magic) Andras' Sure Blows power grants you the benefit of the Improved Critical feat with any weapon that you can wield. If you already have the Improved Critical feat with a specific weapon, this ability gives you a +4 bonus to confirm the critical hit.
Divine Monk (Forgotten Realms - Faiths and Pantheons) If you somehow ascend to godhood, this ability grants your Monk character the keen, lawful, and vorpal qualities in addition to a few other abilities.
Divine Weapon Mastery (Forgotten Realms - Faiths and Pantheons) A character with this particular divine ability gains the benefits of Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, and Improved Critical with any simple and martial weapons that they wield.
Impact (Magic Item Compendium) This enchantment functions as the keen weapon enchantment, however it only affects bludgeoning weapons.
Dolorous Blow (Spell Compendium) This 3rd-level spell doubles the threat range of any weapon affected by it and automatically confirms any critical hits rolled by the affected weapon. The increased threat range does not stack with any similar effects, and the automatic confirmation effect does not stack with any other spells that affect critical hits. This spell cannot be used on a natural weapon.
Jagged Tooth (Spell Compendium) This Ranger and Druid spell doubles the threat range of one natural weapon, selected by the caster. This spell does not stack with any other effect that increases critical threat range.
Thayan Gladiator 2 (Forgotten Realms - Champions of Ruin) At the second level of this prestige class, you gain the benefit of the Improved Critical feat with the natural weapon you selected for your Improved Natural Attack at the first level.
Sakkratar's Triple Strike (Forgotten Realms - Lost Empires of Faerun) This fifth level sorcerer/wizard spell grants the designated targets the ability to make two additional attacks on their full attack action for the duration of the spell. However, what we care about is that the weapons of anyone affected by this spell gains the keen and flaming burst properties for the duration of the spell.
Keen Strike feat (Epic Level Handbook) The user's unarmed strikes become slashing keen weapons, with a 19-20 threat range.
Favored Critical feat (Masters of the Wild) 3.0 Material When character with this feat makes an attack roll against a favored enemy, the threat range of their weapon is doubled. This feat explicitly stacks with the keen weapon enchantment, but not the Improved Critical feat.
Power Critical feat (Masters of the Wild) 3.0 Material Once per day, if the user of this feat has the Improved Critical feat, they may automatically declare a single attack to be a critical threat. It must still be confirmed however.
Weapon of Impact spell (Forgotten Realms - Magic of Faerun) This spell functions as keen edge but for Bludgeoning weapons.
Incarnum Weapon spell (Magic of Incarnum) This spell manifests an independent weapon that attacks enemies independent of the caster. This weapon does not gain any benefit from your own feats or class features, however each point of essentia that the user invests in the spell increases the threat range of the weapon by one.
Hero's Blade spell (Eberron Campaign Setting) This spell doubles your weapon's critical threat range as per the Keen Edge spell, and explicitly does not stack with that spell nor the keen enchantment for weapons. However, it is called out as stacking with Improved Critical and provides a whole host of critical hit-related abilities, so expect this spell to show up quite a few times in this handbook!
Shifter Savagery feat (Eberron - Races of Eberron) This feats doubles the threat range of all your natural weapons and increases your damage dice by two size categories. Unfortunately, it only functions if you are a Shifter(Were-Touched) and are Raging as the Barbarian ability.
Bloodlust (Eberron - Forge of War) This shield enchantment can cast keen edge on a single weapon you carry once per day.
Gloves of Deadly Casting (Eberron - Forge of War) These gloves double the threat range of any ray and touch spells that the user casts. Explicitly does not stack with the Improved Critical feat.
Green Hunter 6 (Dragon Magazine 295) At sixth level, this prestige class gives you Improved Critical (Spiked Gauntlet)
Brawler 2 (Dragon Magazine 295) From 2nd level, this PrC is able to select Improved Critical (Improvised Weapons) (among other Weapon Focus-ish feats).
Acolyte of the Fist 7 (Dragon Magazine 296) At 7th level, this PrC gets Improved Critical (Unarmed Strike).
Vengeance Sworn (Dragon Magazine 296) At 10th level, this PrC's critical threat range is doubled when it makes attacks against a creature of the dragon type. Explicitly stacks with Improved Critical and keen.
Orc Blademaster 4 (Dragon Magazine 299) At 4th level in this PrC, the character adds +1 to their critical threat range with a bastard sword. This stacks with any other sources of extended threat range, but this bonus must be added last.
Sniper (Dragon Magazine 310) This special ability of the Targeteer variant of the Fighter allows the user to sacrifice their iterative attacks from their Full Attack routine in order to increase the base threat range of their weapon by 1 for each attack they give up. It is important to note that a character cannot give up all of their attacks to fuel this ability, they still need to make at least one attack roll.
Shark Cultist 8 (Dragon Magazine 315) At 8th level of this hilarious PrC out of Taladas in Dragonlance, a Shark Cultist gets Improved Critical (Sharktooth Gauntlet) and Improved Critical (Bite) where the bite comes from a natural attack or a natural attack accessed via Wild Shape or similar.
Shen 4 (Snake Variant) (Dragon Magazine 319) At 4th level in this monk-ish PrC, a Shen of the Snake school gains Improved Critical (Unarmed Strike).
Bowman Charger (Dragon Magazine 325) At 9th level of this mounted-archery based PrC, the character gains Improved Critical (Composite Shortbow).
Huma's Legacy spell (Dragonlance - Holy Orders of the Stars) Similar to Hero's Blade above, this spell grants the benefits of the keen enchantment in addition to numerous other critical hit-related benefits that stacks with the Improved Critical feat but not the keen ability or the keen edge spell.
Gladiator 10 (Kingdoms of Kalamar - Player's Guide) At 10th level, the gladiator base class receives the Critical Focus ability. While the gladiator is facing only a single opponent, their critical threat range is doubled (does not stack with anything else) and their critical damage multiplier is increased by 1.
Glaive of Azharadian 5 (Dragon Magazine 293) 1/day wielder can apply keen quality to a longsword or battleaxe for class level/rounds, does not stack
Mauling Gauntlets soulmeld(Magic of Incarnum) While bound to the Arms chakra, these soulmeld doubles the threat range of any melee weapon wielded by the user. Does not stack with any other ability that increases critical threat range.
Wintervein Dwarves affiliation (Player's Handbook II) With an affiliation score of 30 or higher, a character automatically gains the Improved Critical feat for the Dwarven Waraxe and Dwarven Urgrosh as bonus feats.
Serrated weapon quality (Mercenaries by Alderac Entertainment Group) Third-Party Content This non-magical weapon quality increases a weapon's critical threat range by 1 for 300 gp. This is separate from the Masterwork quality and it does not stack with any other improvements to the critical threat range.
Psychic Weapon Master 7 (The Mind's Eye Archives (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20020927a)) At seventh level, the Psychic Weapon Master gains the Psionic Critical ability, which gives them the Improved Critical feat with their specified weapon for free. If the Psychic Weapon Master already has the Improved Critical feat, this ability instead increases their critical threat range by 2 (and though it isn't specified, the polite thing to do is apply this bonus after the effect of Improved Critical, lest the dread Rocks Fall occurs.)
Weapon Master 7 (Oriental Adventures) Like the psionic version above, at 7th level, the Kensei weapon master gains Improved Critical as a bonus feat, and again, if they already have the feat, they get a +2 bonus to their threat range (which is specifically stated to be applied last.)


*According to WotC's rules on multipliers, doubling something twice is a triple. So for a weapon with an 18-20 natural threat range, assuming they have the Improved Critical feat and four levels in Disciple of Dispater, they would have a new threat range of 12-20, then at 8 levels in the prestige class they would have a threat range of 9-20.

[PhantasyPen]

What is the Critical Damage Multiplier? When you successfully confirm a critical hit, your damage is multiplied according to the critical damage multiplier of your weapon. This is that number that comes after the "x" in your weapon's Critical section. So for instance, a critical damage multiplier of "x2" means that you double your damage on a critical hit.*
*Rather than rolling once and multiplying the result by your critical multiplier as would be intuitive, your critical damage multiplier is the number of times you need to roll out your damage, and then your total damage is the result of all those rolls added together.

What Can You Multiply? So not everything gets multiplied when you roll a critical hit! Any non-variable static numerical bonuses that are applied to your attack roll (the Collision enchantment, enhancement bonuses, Weapon Specialization, ability score bonuses, etc.) is multiplied on a critical hit. Extra damage dice (Sneak Attack, the flaming, frost, shocking, or psychokinetic enchantments, etc.) do not get applied more than once to your damage roll.



Things That Modify, or are Affected by the Critical Multiplier

[Elemental] Burst (Dungeon's Master Guide&Magic Item Compendium) For all intents and purposes, these abilities are all the same thing, with the only difference being the damage type. Dessicating Burst and Psychokinetic burst have slightly smaller damage dice, but they also have damage types that are much more versatile than the standard flaming, icy, and shocking enchantments.
Collision (Magic Item Compendium) It's a bit odd to say this, but this is probably my favorite enchantment. While at first, a simple +5 damage doesn't seem like a lot, but as a flat bonus, this enchantment is affected by your critical multiplier, which can rack up fast enough when you use this handbook.
Fiercebane (Magic Item Compendium) Remember Sting from Lord of the Rings? It had this enchantment on it. A weapon with this enchantment glows when an enemy of the specified bane type comes within 60 ft of the wielder, even without line of sight, and will deal additional d10's of damage based on your critical damage multiplier.
Maiming (Magic Item Compendium) When you score a critical hit with a maiming weapon, it deals additional d6's of damage based on your critical damage multiplier.
Claws of the Ripper (Draconomicon) These enchanted scythe-like rings can be worn by any Dragon-type creature of Large size or bigger. When worn, this magic ring increases the critical multiplier of the dragon's claws to x4.
Dragondoom feat (Draconomicon) When a character with this feat makes an attack roll against a creature with the Dragon type, their critical multiplier increases as indicated on the relevant chart.
Bow of the Mighty Dragonhunter (Draconomicon) This +2 dragonbane composite longbow gains a x5 multiplier when used against a creature of the Dragon type.
Initiate of the Draconic Mysteries 9 (Draconomicon) The Deadly Strike ability increases the Initiate's critical multiplier with unarmed strikes to x3.
Weapon of Energy spell (Spell Compendium) This spell gives a weapon one of the elemental burst abilities, which stacks with any pre-existing versions of the enchantment what might be already present, assuming that the elements match.
Claws of Energy power (Expanded Psionics Handbook) This Psychic Warrior power adds one of the elemental burst enchantments to the user's claw attacks.
Riding Boots (Dungeon Master's Guide II) If you are mounted and wielding a lance, these magical boots increase your critical multiplier to x4 instead of x3.
Master Thrower 1 (Complete Warrior) The Deadeye Shot ability increases the critical multiplier of any thrown weapon you wield by 1, and does not stack with any similar effect.
Enlightened Fist 6 (Complete Arcane) From 6th-level onwards, the Fist of Energy ability grants you the flaming or shocking burst abilities if you expend a stunning strike attempt.
Flame of Faith spell (Complete Divine) This 3rd level spell adds the flaming burst enchantment to any non-magical weapon that the caster uses it on.
Disciple of Thrym 8 (Frostburn) As a move action, you can grant use the Icy Greataxe ability to give your greataxe the Icy Burst enchantment.
Sacred/Profane Burst (Libris Mortis) These two enchantments are yet again [Elemental] Burst clones, dealing positive and negative energy damage respectively. Of note is that Sacred Burst appears to allow you to critical hit undead without jumping through any other hoops.
Kaorti Resin (Random Encounters) (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031014a) For the low cost of an Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat, this weapon special material increases your critical damage multiplier to x4 if your weapon deals piercing or slashing damage. Obviously this will not stack with any other special materials or material-dependent effects.
Manyfang Dagger (Forgotten Realms - Serpent Kingdoms) This +1 Dagger deals x4 damage on every hit, and on a critical hit, it deals x5 damage instead.
Harrowheart (Book of Vile Darkness) This +2 Rapier deals x3 damage instead of x2 damage when used to crit Good-aligned creatures.
Tiger Fang (Tome of Battle) This magical kukri's critical damage multiplier increases as the wielder gains affinity with it over their career, ending with a x4 multiplier at level 20.
Sakkratar's Triple Strike (Forgotten Realms - Lost Empires of Faerun) This fifth level sorcerer/wizard spell grants the designated targets the ability to make two additional attacks on their full attack action for the duration of the spell. However, what we care about is that the weapons of anyone affected by this spell gains the keen and flaming burst properties for the duration of the spell.
Overwhelming Critical feat (Epic Level Handbook) This feat grants you additional d6's of damage based on your weapon's critical multiplier.
[Elemental] Blast (Epic Level Handbook) These more powerful versions of the elemental burst enchantments deal increases damage on a critical hit.
[Alignment] Power (Epic Level Handbook) These alignment based weapons deal 3d6 damage and one negative level on every normal hit, both of which are multiplied when you roll a crit.
Mark of Avernus feat (Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells) In addition to automatically confirming your critical hits, this feat grants a +4 (untyped!!) bonus to your attack and damage rolls, which will multiply based on your weapon's critical multiplier just like your strength damage and the collision enchantment.
Deepwood Sniper 2, 7 (Masters of the Wild: A Guidebook to Rangers, Druids, and Barbarians) 3.0 Material The archery prestige class increases the critical multiplier of any projectile weapon you wield by 1 at second level, then increases it again at level 7. (So that Greatbow I mentioned up above now has a critical multiplier of x5!)
Forest Master 6 (Forgotten Realms - Faiths and Pantheons) Beginning at sixth level, this prestige class allows you to treat any maul wielded by the Forest Master as a +2 Icy or Shocking Burst weapon, determined by the wielder round by round.
Silverstar 9 (Forgotten Realms - Faiths and Pantheons) Beginning at the 9th level of this prestige class, the Silverstar treats any heavy mace they wield as a +2 Shocking Burst weapon.
Stormlord 8 (Complete Divine) From 8th level in this prestige class onwards, any spear or javelin wielded by the Stormlord counts as a shocking burst weapon.
Dragonhunter (Magic Item Compendium) This enchantment increases the critical multiplier of any projectile weapon affected by it by 1 when targeting a creature of the dragon type. Sadly the strength damage dealt by this weapon doesn't multiply, and if you put the keen enchantment or use the bless weapon spell on a weapon with this enchantment it doesn't work.
Burning Sword spell (Spell Compendium) A weapon that has this spell cast on it becomes a flaming burst weapon for the duration.
Great Bite feat (Eberron Campaign Setting) A Longtooth Shifter with this feat increases the critical multiplier of their natural bite attack to x3 instead of only x2.

[PhantasyPen]

Reserved For tricks to improve or automatically confirm criticals.

[PhantasyPen]

Reserved in case of emergency

[PhantasyPen]

Reserved in case of overflow

[PhantasyPen]

Reserved in case I severely underestimated the amount of info available

[PhantasyPen]

Reserved because I like multiples of 5, and the longer I sit down the more I realize just how much information there is to disseminate.

[Endarire]

Keen weapon enhancement and Improved Critical feat: They don't stack but double the base critical threat range.

Disciple of Dispater (Book of Vile Darkness 60): Iron Power (level 4 ability) doubles critical threat range and explicitly stacks with Improved Critical, but not Keen.

This thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?161065-5-20-crit-range-with-Disciple-of-Dispater-(3-5)) may help with critical resources.

[martixy]

Obscure things that need to be covered, IMO:
1. What is a threat. When do you threaten?
2. The difference in how crits worked in 3.0 and 3.5, since you'll no doubt be covering Disciple of Dispater which is 3.0. The design of crits between the two varies wildly, which is why we get this funky DoD exploit.
3. Mention critical hit decks. Those are extra fun.
4. Math. For the number pedants.

[PhantasyPen]

Obscure things that need to be covered, IMO:
1. What is a threat. When do you threaten?
2. The difference in how crits worked in 3.0 and 3.5, since you'll no doubt be covering Disciple of Dispater which is 3.0. The design of crits between the two varies wildly, which is why we get this funky DoD exploit.
3. Mention critical hit decks. Those are extra fun.
4. Math. For the number pedants.

1. I will probably answer this when I get to the critical threats section.
2. I'm still not sure what the difference is outside of crit stacking (I never played 3.0, just the 3.5 update)
3. NO.
4. Elaborate.

[martixy]

1. I will probably answer this when I get to the critical threats section.
2. I'm still not sure what the difference is outside of crit stacking (I never played 3.0, just the 3.5 update)
3. NO.
4. Elaborate.

1. Cool.
2. Well, in 3.5 they saw where the numbers game was blowing and introduced the hidden design rule of "no threat range multipliers except keen/imp. critical". For example, the Psychic Weapon Master(which is the only 3.5 legal way of extending your threat range that I know of) is a flat +2, rather than what Disciple of Dispater does.
3. You have bad experiences? I meant, just mention them, as a thing that exists(though, since I already did, I suppose that could count too).
4. Hard analysis on how much the different options increase your DPR, probabilities of triggering extra effects, etc. I can help with that.

[ViperMagnum357]

Dropping a reply mostly for a check on the thread, but also to ask a question about my legwork. I am listing any weapon with an x4 multiplier in addition to anything with a good threat range: Since there are a few things like the Weapon Master and Disciple of Dispater PRCs that can significantly improve even a base critical threat range of 20, I think anything with an exceptional modifier is worth noting, especially weapons that would not normally be compatible with Kaorti Resin for an easy x4 multiplier.

When you expand your section on base weapons, I think it would be a good idea to make 3 sections: 1 for anything with a good threat range of 18-20 or better, another with x4 multiplier weapons, and a third for weapons with a potentially unusual mix of both, like the Orc Shotput and the Ward Cestus from AEG. Thoughts?

[WhamBamSam]

Some spells that are probably worth mentioning...

Hunter's Mercy (Ranger 1, SpC) makes your next hit with a bow in the following round automatically crit.

Surge of Fortune (Cleric 5, Complete Champion) can let you take 20 on an attack roll to threaten a crit.

[Allanimal]

The Critical Threat Range Depending on the weapon you use, you might not need to roll a Natural 20 in order to threaten a critical hit. If your weapon's critical hit section has a number range written in the format of "#-20" then if any number on that range shows up on the d20, you threaten a critical hit, even if it isn't a Natural 20.


This is not quite correct. If the natural d20 roll is inside the critical threat range, the total modified to hit number still needs to hit before it can be a crit threat.
Only a natural 20 will auto hit.

This should also be corrected in the earlier post mentioning crit threat range.

EDIT: Quotes for other not quite right statements.



How do you Crit? As the SRD says, a critical hit occurs when you roll a natural 20. That is the absolute minimum requirement for an attack to be considered critical.


This is simply not true. A natural 20 is a critical threat. It’s not a critical hit until it is confirmed.



If your weapon has a higher threat range than just on a Natural 20, ... , any die roll within that given range will threaten a critical hit.


Again, only if the original modified to hit roll is a hit will this be a critical threat.

The Sequence of events for critical hits.
1) Was the attack a hit? If yes, go to step 2.
2) Was the number rolled on the d20 in step 1 inside the critical threat range? If yes, you have a critical threat. Go to step 3. Otherwise it is a normal hit.
3) Roll the d20 again with the same modifiers as step 1. If this roll is also a hit, then you have scored a critical hit. Otherwise it is a normal hit.

Surely it can be worded better, but that's the proper sequence.

[PhantasyPen]

Dropping a reply mostly for a check on the thread, but also to ask a question about my legwork. I am listing any weapon with an x4 multiplier in addition to anything with a good threat range: Since there are a few things like the Weapon Master and Disciple of Dispater PRCs that can significantly improve even a base critical threat range of 20, I think anything with an exceptional modifier is worth noting, especially weapons that would not normally be compatible with Kaorti Resin for an easy x4 multiplier.

When you expand your section on base weapons, I think it would be a good idea to make 3 sections: 1 for anything with a good threat range of 18-20 or better, another with x4 multiplier weapons, and a third for weapons with a potentially unusual mix of both, like the Orc Shotput and the Ward Cestus from AEG. Thoughts?
I'll think about it.


Some spells that are probably worth mentioning...

Hunter's Mercy (Ranger 1, SpC) makes your next hit with a bow in the following round automatically crit.

Surge of Fortune (Cleric 5, Complete Champion) can let you take 20 on an attack roll to threaten a crit.

Thank you very much, but next time please post in the suggestions thread.


This is not quite correct. If the natural d20 roll is inside the critical threat range, the total modified to hit number still needs to hit before it can be a crit threat.
Only a natural 20 will auto hit.

This should also be corrected in the earlier post mentioning crit threat range.

I'll put it in the critical threat range section, because that's where it's most relevant, the "What is a Crit?" post is really aimed more at brand new players, and therefore mostly concerned solely with critical hits on a Natural 20, where this rule doesn't apply because a natural 20 automatically hits. Because "What is a Crit?" is aimed at more inexperienced players specifically, I also wish to avoid talking about this in that section because I'm concerned gretly about informational overload, so I am very much intentionally talking about things in one at a time as they become relevant. It's the same reason I won't be bringing up the extra damage clause until I begin working on the Critical Damage Multiplier section.

[noce]

Mentioning Psychic Weapon Master (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040827d) is a must.
It increases crit multiplier and threat range (stacking with improved critical).

[Allanimal]

I'll put it in the critical threat range section, because that's where it's most relevant, the "What is a Crit?" post is really aimed more at brand new players, and therefore mostly concerned solely with critical hits on a Natural 20, where this rule doesn't apply because a natural 20 automatically hits. Because "What is a Crit?" is aimed at more inexperienced players specifically, I also wish to avoid talking about this in that section because I'm concerned gretly about informational overload, so I am very much intentionally talking about things in one at a time as they become relevant. It's the same reason I won't be bringing up the extra damage clause until I begin working on the Critical Damage Multiplier section.

Ok, but spreading false information to avoid information overload is worse than potential information overload, IMHO. New players should not think they rolled a critical hit because they rolled a natural 20, because they didn’t. Similarly, I have heard plenty of inexperienced players think that because they have Improved Critical (Falchion) and they rolled a 15 to hit, even though that wouldn’t hit, think it’s still a hit and a Crit threat.
How is my 3 step method of determining whether it’s a Crit so far into informational overload territory?

I’m ok with you keeping it simple at the beginning for new players, but please formulate your statements in a way that aren’t false when considering the compete rule set. Don’t say a natural 20 is a Crit. It’s a Crit threat. The auto hit aspect of the natural 20 is separate from the Crit threat aspect.

When you do discuss increased Crit threat ranges, don’t say that rolling a natural number in the range is a Crit or a Crit threat, it isn’t unless it is a hit. Maybe even mention explicitly that an expanded Crit threat range does not change your auto-hit “range” - an auto hit is only on a natural 20. Separate the concepts of auto hit and Crit threat range.

I’m beating this dead horse because I see it so often with players, various places online, and even in this forum.

[Maat Mons]

2. I'm still not sure what the difference is outside of crit stacking (I never played 3.0, just the 3.5 update)

The important thing is for players to understand that the 3.5 ruleset was deliberately and purposefully designed to keep critical threat ranges smaller than they were in 3.0. Moreover, it's important they understand that using unupdated 3.0 material relate to critical threat range (such as Disciple of Dispater) directly undermines one of the major design goals behind the 3.5 revision. I just see far too many people who apparently have no inkling of why disciple of Dispater might be frowned on in a 3.5 game that allows other unupdated 3.0 content.

An interesting aside though, is that vorpal used to trigger on any critical hit, not just a natural 20.

[martixy]

Since we got to weapons: The Talenta Sharrash probably deserves a mention, at least pre-errata version. It had a lot going for it. Almost as much as the spiked chain.


The important thing is for players to understand that the 3.5 ruleset was deliberately and purposefully designed to keep critical threat ranges smaller than they were in 3.0. Moreover, it's important they understand that using unupdated 3.0 material relate to critical threat range (such as Disciple of Dispater) directly undermines one of the major design goals behind the 3.5 revision. I just see far too many people who apparently have no inkling of why disciple of Dispater might be frowned on in a 3.5 game that allows other unupdated 3.0 content.

An interesting aside though, is that vorpal used to trigger on any critical hit, not just a natural 20.

If you are talking about these boards it's probably an artifact of the no-DM, complete vacuum TO people in here like to engage in.

But this is indeed what I was getting at, if not as explicitly.

[Yael]

+1 for un-errata'd Talenta Sharash (ECS). 1d10 dmg, 19-20/x4 trip reach weapon for a feat seems pretty solid to me.

Edit.
Now that I remember, if you're looking for 3rd party sources, World of Warcraft RPG Core Rulebook, page 193, has the Arcanite special weapon material that has a +1 enhancement to attack and damage rolls, and expands the critical threat range of a weapon by +1, and explicitly stacks with effects that increase threat range, such as Improved Critical.

Dragon Magazine #358, page 43, has the Serrated item quality, that deals an extra point (1) of bleeding damage for 1d4 rounds on a successful critical hit. Works only on slashing and piercing weapons.

[ViperMagnum357]

+1 for un-errata'd Talenta Sharash (ECS). 1d10 dmg, 19-20/x4 trip reach weapon for a feat seems pretty solid to me.

Edit.
Now that I remember, if you're looking for 3rd party sources, World of Warcraft RPG Core Rulebook, page 193, has the Arcanite special weapon material that has a +1 enhancement to attack and damage rolls, and expands the critical threat range of a weapon by +1, and explicitly stacks with effects that increase threat range, such as Improved Critical.

Dragon Magazine #358, page 43, has the Serrated item quality, that deals an extra point (1) of bleeding damage for 1d4 rounds on a successful critical hit. Works only on slashing and piercing weapons.

No third party for the moment, but we are going through Dragon Magazine over here in the work thread: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?569020-Any-Crit-Fishing-Handbooks

Any suggestions from books we missed belong there, ftm.

[Scotsequences]

What is the Critical Damage Multiplier? When you successfully confirm a critical hit, your damage is multiplied according to the critical damage multiplier of your weapon. This is that number that comes after the "x" in your weapon's Critical section. So for instance, a critical damage multiplier of "x2" means that you double your damage on a critical hit.*
*Rather than rolling once and multiplying the result by your critical multiplier as would be intuitive, your critical damage multiplier is the number of times you need to roll out your damage, and then your total damage is the result of all those rolls added together.

What about damage penalties, like a -1 Str ability modifier? Do we double the penalty, or does it stay the same?

[Peelee]

The Mod on the Silver Mountain: Thread Necromancy is immune from crits.