2019 RPGaDay 9: Critical

Everyone is talking about Critical Hits, and that's a no-brainer. I mean, the idea of a Critical Hit has been around since at least 1e AD&D, if not earlier. So, let's talk about that.

Note: This post refers mainly to D&D in all its editions. But the idea can be, and is used in many other games as well.

What is the purpose of a Critical Hit? Well, aside from doing double (or more) damage with standard hit that just happened to be well-placed, it's also a way to add a bit of extra lethality to an otherwise pretty lethal game.

The standard D&D Critical Hit is "A natural '20' on your to-hit roll does double damage." There are variations, such as the threshold for what constitutes a "natural" 20, the multiplier of the damage, whether other bonuses are also multiplied, etc. But that core mechanic forms the basis. In short, a "critical" hit could just be considered a "lucky" hit. You have a 1 in 20 chance of getting it.

However, in some schools of thought, a Critical Hit should be the result of a combination of luck and skill. This is kind of reflected in the idea of the "Improved Critical" which expands the threshold from just a 20 to 19-20, 18-20, or even more. In my mind, the Critical Hit should be a bit broader in scope, though.

Now, another idea that is often similar to the idea of the Critical Hit is the Hit Location. Meaning that, after you determine you hit, you will often roll again to determine where you hit the target, and this will usually effect the damage.

So, what if we combined those two ideas? What if your final To Hit total determined if and where you hit your target, and if you hit, how much damage is done? That way, the higher your total, the more lethal the hit.

Below is the result of my efforts to do this. This was written for 3rd edition, so there may be some tweaking to make it compatible for other editions or games. But, I think it would wrok well (I never got the chance to use it in a game).