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Zhorn
2019-07-04, 09:38 AM
Making a new critical hit table to swap out my previous one

So for the past 6 months I've been playing with a modified critical hit/massive damage table (previously shared in homebrew)
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?576343-Lingering-Injuries-Massive-Damage-in-place-of-Crit-Tables
and I'm looking at dropping the damage threshold idea I've been running with. Mostly since it's only been favouring the rogue and no one else in the group is getting any meaningful rolls on it.
Plus having played with it for a long enough time, I'm seeing the the damage threshold as one of those ideas that works best automated (it's a video game idea, not a table top one).

New direction I'm look at is on a crit, there's just going to be a d100 roll.

Looking for suggestions on things people like to see on their crit tables (if they have them), or would like to see.

There is no fumble table
This will be the same table for both players and enemies
My basic design philosophy is "no additional saving throws". The crit has happened, here's the effect. Simplicity.
No instant kill mechanics. At most I'm thinking a roll of 100 will be a "knock unconscious if above ~50 damage. Stunned for a round otherwise".
edit:

Current Table


d100
Effect


1 - 20
Lucky
Other than the critical damage, the creature takes no additional effect


21 - 30
Off guard
Until the start of the creature's next time, they are surprised.


31 - 40
Winded
One of the creature's available hit die becomes inactive.


41 - 45
Grounded
The creature is knocked prone


46 - 50
Exposed
The attack has left an opening in the creature's defenses, leaving them open to opportunity attacks from all enemies within melee range.


51 - 55
Falter
The creature is stunned (see Stunned condition) until the start of its next turn.


56 - 60
Staggering Wound
The cumulative damage is taking a toll on the creature's ability to function. The creature gains one level of exhaustion (see Exhaustion condition). If the attack dealt 30 points of damage or more, then the creature is elevated by two levels of exhaustion instead.


61 - 65
Scarring Wound
The attack has left a disfiguring wound that will not heal properly naturally. The creature's maximum hit points are reduced by the amount of damage taken.


66 - 70
Left Eye Wound
A wound to the left eye has rendered it nearly unusable. They have disadvantage on ranged attack rolls and ability checks that rely on eyesight. If they have no eyes left, then they are blinded (see Blinded condition).This condition remains until the creature is restored to their hit point maximum or finishes a long rest.
If the creature's left eye was already damaged, or the attack dealt 30 points of damage or more, then the eye is lost completely instead.


71 - 75
Right Eye Wound
A wound to the right eye has rendered it nearly unusable. They have disadvantage on ranged attack rolls and ability checks that rely on eyesight. If they have no eyes left, then they are blinded (see Blinded condition).This condition remains until the creature is restored to their hit point maximum or finishes a long rest.
If the creature's right eye was already damaged, or the attack dealt 30 points of damage or more, then the eye is lost completely instead.


76 - 77
Pulled Muscle
A physical injury has broken something inside the creature. They suffer a -1 penalty to their Strength score.


78 - 79
Nerve Damage
A physical injury has broken something inside the creature. They suffer a -1 penalty to their Dexterity score.


80 - 81
Weakened
A physical injury has broken something inside the creature. They suffer a -1 penalty to their Constitution score.


82 - 83
Minor Concussion
A strike to the head has left a lasting mental injury. They suffer a -1 penalty to their Intelligence score.


84 - 85
Minor Aneurysm
A strike to the head has left a lasting mental injury. They suffer a -1 penalty to their Wisdom score.


86 - 87
Disturbed
The memory of the injury as left a mental impairment. They suffer a -1 penalty to their Charisma score.


88 - 88
Torn Muscle
A serious physical injury has broken something inside the creature. They suffer a -2 penalty to their Strength score.


89
Deadened Nerve
A serious physical injury has broken something inside the creature. They suffer a -2 penalty to their Dexterity score.


90
Debilitated
A serious physical injury has broken something inside the creature. They suffer a -2 penalty to their Constitution score.


91
Major Concussion
A severe strike to the head has left a lasting mental injury. They suffer a -2 penalty to their Intelligence score.


92
Major Aneurysm
A severe strike to the head has left a lasting mental injury. They suffer a -2 penalty to their Wisdom score.


93
Traumatized
The memory of the injury as left a severe mental impairment. They suffer a -2 penalty to their Charisma score.


94
Ruptured Eardrum
A severe strike to the head has left lasting damage to the creature's ability to hear, leaving them Deafened. This effect persists until the creature is restored to their hit point maximum or finishes a long rest.
If the creature's hearing was already impaired, or the attack dealt 30 points of damage or more, then their hearing is lost completely instead.


95
Maimed Limb (Left Arm)
The creature's left arm has been injured to the point of being mostly unusable. The arm cannot be used to make attacks, support weight or hold anything, including holding anything in both hands.
This condition remains until the creature is restored to their normal hit point maximum or finishes a long rest.
If the creature's limb was already maimed, or the attack dealt 30 points of damage or more, then the limb is lost completely instead.


96
Maimed Limb (Right Arm)
The creature's right arm has been injured to the point of being mostly unusable. The arm cannot be used to make attacks, support weight or hold anything, including holding anything in both hands.
This condition remains until the creature is restored to their normal hit point maximum or finishes a long rest.
If the creature's limb was already maimed, or the attack dealt 30 points of damage or more, then the limb is lost completely instead.


97
Maimed Limb (Left Leg)
The creature's left leg has been injured to the point of being mostly unusable. The leg cannot be used to make attacks or support weight. If the creature was bipedal, they cannot walk without the help of another creature, a crutch or a peg leg, and their speed is halved.
This condition remains until the creature is restored to their normal hit point maximum or finishes a long rest.
If the creature's limb was already maimed, or the attack dealt 30 points of damage or more, then the limb is lost completely instead.


98
Maimed Limb (Right Leg)
The creature's left leg has been injured to the point of being mostly unusable. The leg cannot be used to make attacks or support weight. If the creature was bipedal, they cannot walk without the help of another creature, a crutch or a peg leg, and their speed is halved.
This condition remains until the creature is restored to their normal hit point maximum or finishes a long rest.
If the creature's limb was already maimed, or the attack dealt 30 points of damage or more, then the limb is lost completely instead.


99
System Shock
The creature has gone into system shock from the massive damage.
The creature becomes Stunned for one full round (see Stunned condition). If the attack dealt 50 points of damage or more, then the creature falls unconscious (see Unconscious condition). Unless the creature is subjected to any further damage, regains any hit points, or another creature spends an action to shake or slap the sleeper awake, they will remain unconscious for 1d8 hours.


100
Perfect Strike
All dice rolled for the attack are treated as being their maximum value, and an additional roll is made on this table (ignoring this outcome on the subsequent roll).

Naanomi
2019-07-04, 11:15 AM
Would this be in addition to or replacing existing critical hit rules?

MoiMagnus
2019-07-04, 11:19 AM
Some suggestions:
+ Target cannot do Aop until its next turn
+ Target movement halved during its next turn
+ Attacker can move an additional 5ft this turn
+ Target lose 1d6 initiative points immediately
+ Attacker gain 1d4 initiative points immediately
+ Next attack against target has a 1d4 bonus to hit (expire in one round)
+ Next attack from the attacker has 1d4 bonus to hit (expire in one round)
+ Target suffer 1d4 psychic damages
+ Attacker gain 1d4 temporary hit points

Feel free to change the values put (or duplicate some suggestions with different values)

Bjarkmundur
2019-07-04, 01:28 PM
I like the idea of seperate weapon and spell crit tables ^^
I also like the top results having a narrower range. 1-20 on the d100 could all be one bullet, but 98-99 and 100 should be seperate effects.

I have a bunch of stuff you could draw inspiration from in my houserule document (See signature)

Zhorn
2019-07-04, 04:12 PM
Would this be in addition to or replacing existing critical hit rules?

Still using the basic "double the dice", this is intended as lingering injuries and critical wounds.

It's one of those system where the intent is to give low level creatures some extra staying power at higher levels.
a few goblins shouldn't cause the PC's much of an issue once you're in the mid tiers, but if one of then score a crit, having them sever a tendon or slash across an eye can still put a damper on the rest of your day.

Things like losing a limb or an eye would be weighted to be at the extreme end, needing both that natural 20 then a 80-90+ on the d100, but they give combat this sense of danger at any level of opponent.

Bjarkmundur
2019-07-04, 05:10 PM
It's one of those system where the intent is to give low level creatures some extra staying power at higher levels.
Things like losing a limb or an eye would be weighted to be at the extreme end, needing both that natural 20 then a 80-90+ on the d100, but they give combat this sense of danger at any level of opponent.

Huh, kinda cool that we had the same design goal and two very different results. I opted for reducing hit points past level 4-6, and making lingering injuries an alternative to death. Someone pointed it out to me that having an arm cut off your character might just cause some players to retire said character (f.eks. barbarians and archers). But if a player CHOOSES to take an injury as the better of two evils, it'll be better received by the players as a whole. In a sense, I also added danger to later levels, and made low-level monsters still-effective, but in a completely different way. I love how everyone takes 5e and makes it their game.

Naanomi
2019-07-04, 06:25 PM
It makes PCs who can dish out a lot of crits fairly dangerous... I played a Warlock/Fighter/Sorcerer/Assassin who could reliably throw 12 crits in an opening round at someone; that would really devastate a strong opponent

Zhorn
2019-07-05, 08:39 AM
It makes PCs who can dish out a lot of crits fairly dangerous... I played a Warlock/Fighter/Sorcerer/Assassin who could reliably throw 12 crits in an opening round at someone; that would really devastate a strong opponent

It makes combat dangerous as a whole, for both sides.
High HP and AC can make players practically invincible when pitted against low CR creatures like goblins.
Sure, bounded accuracy keeps them in range of taking a hit, but unless you're running a lot of encounters, that 1d6+mod (or 2d6+mod on a cit) is still pitiful when compared to the max HP characters start to rock from tier 2 onward.

Now imagine facing a goblin where a crit has a chance to chop off a limb or cut out an eye?
How about 5 goblin? 10 goblins?
Even with a low chance of it happening, that chance is what gives the desired threat. Trivial fights carry a dramatic tension and sense of danger that no amount of ac, hp and levelling will remove.

Yes, some build's will always make better use of crit tables than others. Weightings will need to be accounted for as Bjarkmundur said, the more devastating an outcomes, the narrower a range it would need to exist in.

Zhorn
2019-07-13, 11:28 AM
Added current version of the table I've been working on into the opening post.
Still a work in progress. Might drop the names from each of the results as coming up with good ones is giving me some trouble (suggestions are welcome).
Weightings are set up so ~50% of the time the outcome should be minimal, with the extreme results each occupying a narrow range.
Tried to avoid adding more dice (damage or healing) or altering the turn order (initiative).

Thoughts so far?

Zhorn
2019-07-13, 09:40 PM
Further wording adjustments and cleanups.

Pretty much all of the more serious consequences are reversible via Greater Restoration and Regeneration spells.