Good Hits & Bad Misses Accounting for critical hits and fumbles by Carl Parlagreco from Dragon #39, July 1980 Critical hits and fumbles are probably two of the most controversial subject areas in D&D and AD&D gaming. The most common procedure for using them is for a roll of 20 to represent a "perfect hit" and 1 a "perfect miss," or a critical hit and a fumble, respectively. This is an overly simplistic system. The problem is less severe with 20's--a character's strencth and dexterity bonuses, along with any magical help coming from swords and the like, often combine to modify the die roll ro or above the magic score of 20. Stronger characters have a relatively better chance at reaching this score, as do higher-level characters (but only because higher-level characters presumably have more powerful magic swords). Unfortunately, the problem is that a character who can only hit his opponent on a roll of a 20 will get critical hits as often as one who only needs a 10 or better. When applied to fumbles, the simple system really falls apart. A roll of 1 is a fumble--period. An 18/00 strength, an 18 dexterity, and a sword +5 are of no help. If these _did_ help, then what's the point of having the rule? All that one needs is a dagger +1 to boost any rolls of 1 up to 2, and your worries are over. And, if a 1 _is_ always a fumble, a character will fumble 5% of the time, whether he or she is 1st, 5th, or 15th level. The following variant system allows weapon bonuses and dexterity to increase chances for a critical hit, and reduce chances for a fumble without eliminating them entirely. Basically, any swing that hits can be a critical hit, and any swing that misses can be a fumble. The higher the die roll, the "better" the swing, and the more likely it will be critical. The system works as follows: The character rolls a 20-sided die normally, to determine if he has hit. If the roll is a hit, then the minimum score necessary to hit that target is subtracted from the roll, and the result is the percentage chance of the hit being a critical hit. If the swing is a miss, the result is subtracted from the niminum score needed to hit, and that is the chance of the swing being a fumble. Example 1: Ferdinand Orc-Punter, with an 18/01 strength, and a sword +2, needs a 10 or better to hit Sorghum Orc. He swings, rolling a 14, +3 (for strength), +2 (for the sword), with the final result of 19. A hit! The chance of it being critical is 19 (the final result) minus 10 (the minimum score needed), which is 9% (the percentage chance of the hit being critical). Example 2: Sampson Numbfingers has a 17 strength and a dagger +1. He needs an 11 or better to hit a bugbear. He rolls 4, which is modified up to 6 by his bonuses. The chance he will fumble is the difference between 6 and 11, which is 5 (or 5%). This system is nicely symmetrical and works well. If the percentages seem too high, they can always be halved. The tables below are for various kinds of critical hits. The first table is primarily for swords, but is also used for poleaxes, oxtongues, and the other large cutting weapons that pop up occasionally. The second table is for maces and blunt weapons; other fun things, such as falling rocks, may be rolled for here, if desired. The table for critical hits against animals is used for all weapons. The missile-fire critical hits table is also for thrusting weapons such as spears and daggers. The fumble table is also for all weapons. Most of the results are minor such as losing ones balance, or dropping a weapon, but even the nastier ones, such as "hit self" aren't unreasonable. If you've ever seen a Society for Creative Anachronism tournament, you can probably understand how it can happen. In using the charts, some referee input is necessary. When someone is fighting an elephant with a dagger, it's not too likely that one of the elephant's legs will be lopped off by a critical hit. Also, a character who is missing an arm or two won't be in very good condition, and is likely to bleed to death. Still, there are instances in which the character insists on fighting to the end. In these cases, have the character roll a system shock check. If the check is made, then he or she can continue on fighting (provided he or she has the limbs necessary), although 1-4 hp damage are taken each round until something is done to bandage up the wound. If the system shock check is failed, the character falls unconscious due to pain for 1-12 rounds. [In cases where an organ is named and the side of the body is not made specific, note that a right-handed figher will strike at his opponent's left side on a roll of 1-4 on a d6. The reverse is true of a left-handed fighter. Bites are evenly distributed. Cases of delayed death may be cured by healing all wounds completely before death occurs. --- Editor] Critical hit effects table--Edged Weapons d % Result 01-31 Double Damage 32-62 Triple Damage 63 Shield destroyed (no effect if no shield) 64 Shield destroyed (roll again if no shield) 65 Helm removed (lose ear; stunned 1-6 rounds if no helm) 66 Helm removed (lose ear; stunned 1-6 rounds) 67 Voice box punctured, no talking (no effect if helmed) 68-69 Ear removed (no effect if helmed) 70 Ear removed (helm removed if helmed) 71-72 Eye removed (no effect if helmed) 73 Eye removed 74 Knee split; movement halved 75 Knee split; no movement 76 Fingers removed; dexterity reduced 1-3 points 77 Leg removed at ankle 78 Leg removed at knee 79 Leg removed at hip 80 Shield arm removed at wrist (no effect if shield) 81 Shield arm removed at elbow (no effect if shield) 82 Shield arm removed at shoulder (no effect if shield) 83 Shield arm removed at wrist 84 Shield arm removed at elbow 85 Shield arm removed at shoulder 86 Weapon arm removed at wrist 87 Weapon arm removed at elbow 88 Weapon arm removed at shoulder 89 Abdominal injuries; carrying capacity halved 90 Chest injuries; carrying capacity halved 91 Abdominal injuries; death in 1-6 days 92 Chest injuries; death in 1-4 days 93 Abdominal injuries; death in 2-12 turns 94 Chest injuries; death in 2-8 turns 95 Abdominal injuries; immediate death 96 Chest injuries; immediate death 97 Throat cut; immediate death (no effect if helmed) 98 Throat cut; immediate death 99 Decapitated; immediate death (no effect if helmed) 00 Decapitated; immediate death Critical hit effects table--Blunt Weapons d % Result 01-31 Double Damage 32-64 Triple Damage 65-66 Shield broken (no effect if no shield) 67-68 Shield broken (roll again if no shield) 69-70 Shield arm struck (no shield defense for 1-6 rounds) 71-72 Shiled arm broken; lose shield 73-74 Weapon arm struck; hit probability -2 75-76 Weapon arm struck; hit probability -4 77-78 Weapon arm struck; no attacks 79-80 Hand struck; dexterity down 1-3 points until healed 81-82 Hand struck; dexterity down 1-3 points 83-84 Chest struck; stunned 1-6 rounds 85-86 Chest struck; ribs broken, lungs punctured; no movement 87-88 Chest struck; ribs broken, heart punctured; death 89-90 Leg struck; fall to ground 91-92 Leg struck; movement halved 93-94 Leg broken; no movement 95 Head struck; lose 1-3 points intelligence (no effect if helmed) 96 Head struck; lose 1-3 points intelligence 97 Head struck; lose 2-8 points intelligence (no effect if helmed; maximium drop to 3 intelligence) 98 Head struck; lose 2-8 points intelligence (maximum drop to 1 int.) 99 Skull crushed; dead (no effect if helmed) 00 Skull crushed; dead Critical hit effects table--Missile and thrusting weapons d % Result 01-34 Double Damage 35-70 Triple Damage 71-72 Shield arm struck (no effect if shield present) 73-74 Shield arm struck 75-76 Weapon arm struck; hit probability -2 for 1-4 rounds 77-78 Weapon arm struck; hit probability -4 for 1-4 hours 79-80 Weapon arm struck; no attacks until healed 81-82 Struck in abdomen; death in 1-6 days 83-84 Struck in chest; death in 1-4 days 85-86 Struck in abdomen; death in 2-12 turns 87-88 Struck in chest; death in 2-8 turns 89-90 Struck in abdomen; immediate death 91-92 Struck in chest; immediate death 93 Blinded in eye (no effect if helmed) 94 Blinded in eye 95 Larynx punctured (no effect if helmed) 96 Larynx punctured 97 Struck in head; lose 1-3 points intelligence (no effect if helmed) 98 Struck in head; lose 1-4 points intelligence 99 Struck in head; immediate death (no effect if helmed) 00 Struck in head; immediate death Critical hit effects table, versus animals d % Result 01-29 Double Damage 30-58 Triple Damage 59-60 Limb removed at body; speed halved 61-62 Limb removed at midpoint; speed halved 63-64 Limb removed at midpoint; hit probability -2 65-66 Limb removed at body; hit probability -4 67-68 Limb removed at midpoint; speed halved, hit probability -2 69-70 Limb removed at body; speed halved, hit probability -4 71-72 Throat cut; immediate death 73-74 Decapitated 75-76 Abdominal injuries; immediate death 77-78 Abdominal injuries; death in 2-12 turns 79-80 Abdominal injuries; death in 1-6 days 81-82 Chest injuries; immediate death 83-84 Chest injuries; death in 2-8 turns 85-86 Chest injuries; death in 1-4 days 87-90 Snout struck; immediate retreat 91-94 Snout struck; hit probability -2 for 1-4 rounds 95-98 Snout struck; hit probability -4 for 1-4 rounds 99 Head struck; stunned for 1-6 rounds 00 Head struck; immediate death Fumble effects table--All weapons d % Result 01-19 Slip; save vs. dex or fall and be stunned for 1-4 rounds 20-33 Stumble; save vs. dex or fall and be stunned for 1-6 rounds 34-39 Trip and fall; stunned for 1-6 rounds 40-44 Off balance; save vs. dex or no action next round 45-49 Lose grip on weapon; save vs. dex or no attack next round 50-54 Lose grip on weapon; save vs. dex or drop weapon 55-59 Lose grip; drop weapon 60-61 Shield becomes entangled with opponent (no effect if no shield) 62-63 Shield tangled with opponent; neither character attacks next round 64-65 Weapon tangled with opponent; no attack next round 66-69 Weapon knocked away; roll d8 for direction, d10 for distance in feet 70-74 Weapon breaks (base 100% chance, -20% for each 'plus' or ability of weapon 75-77 Hit self; half damage 78-79 Hit self; normal damage 80 Hit self; double damage 81-83 Hit friend; half damage 84-85 Hit friend; normal damage 86 Hit friend; double damage 87-88 Critical hit, self 89-90 Critical hit, friend 91-92 Twist ankle; half speed for 1 turn, save vs. dex or fall 93-95 Helm slips; save vs. dex to fix, hit probability -4 until fixed 96-97 Helm slips; save vs. dex to fix, no attack until fixed 98 Distracted; opponent's next attack at +3 'to hit' 99 Roll twice, ignoring rolls of 99 or 00 00 Roll three times, ignoring rolls of 99 or 00