Rules

Enchanted Realms Rulebook

 
 The Fantasy World 
  
 

Critical Damage

As discussed in Raw Dice, the math of the game could allow some unfairness on the extremes. Powerful charaters would never miss and high ACs could never be hit. Thus, there is a statistical equalizer used when a “natural 20” is rolled, that it always stricts the target despite the math of the combat rules. Conversely, a “natural 1” will always miss, even if the math would have struck the AC.

In many fantasy RPGs, people play that a “natural 20” not only hits but indicates a strike to a vital area and inflicts more than normal damage. This is commonly called a “critical hit” or crit.

Enchanted Realms does have a crit system, but these do not occur just based on the raw score of the die. All the natural 20” means is that die effectively struck the target. The specifics of how a crit happens may be in the description of the skill, spell or effect, but most often a crit happens when one of the skills of bludgeoning, cleaving, polearms or slashing, and a “natural 20” is rolled.

That may sound like a conflict: a raw score is not a crit, but in this case it is. If we think back to how combat skills work, the more skills used, the more dice rolled. So, think of it this way. It requires at least two d20s in the primary pool before a “natural 20” becomes a crit. So while those novice combatants may get lucky enough to hit something they normally wouldn’t, their lack of skill simply does not permit a critical strike to happen. Once a fighter is trained and better skilled, that is when those lucky hits turn into vital strikes.

Regardless of how it comes about, the result of a critical hit is always the same: the wielder gains an immediate d20 added to the attack. This additional roll is not from skills but rather an award; therefore, it can exceed the 5d20 limit. If multiple crits occur from the original attack roll, only one d20 is granted. That said, the new dice could create an exploding chain of crits. That new d20, should it result as another “natural 20,” then another d20 is granted and rolled in the chain. This perpetual explosion of crits is unlimited.

To gain additional damage, that awarded d20 (or several d20s) would have to score a hit against the target’s AC. However, if it does hit, instead of just one point of damage, that crit die will add d3 points of damage. This is true if there are multiple crit dice as well.To clarify, each crit that strikes successfully will add d3 to the total damage of the strike. This additional damage is added to the total attack. The damage modifiers from the weapon and Strength modifiers are added only to the total attack and not a part of the crit -- no double modifiers for a crit.

As a straight rule, this is simple to follow; however, there is a hierarchy that needs to be established for the edge-cases that can come from a critical hit. First, it is important to remember, that a reaction occurs after an attack, unless the reaction description specifies differently, such as impalement. That said, all damage from an attack and all its potential crits are determined before a dodge, rebuff, vengeance axiom, etc. This a victim might be killed without the option to react.

Of course, dodge and similar skills reduce damage. This begs the question: what happens if a “natural 20” is rolled? The simple answer is that “natural 20s” always hit. Thus, dodge and similar skills cannot be used against a “natural 20.” Simple and straight forward. That includes all the damage produced as part of and beyond if that strike were a crit.

The only way there could be an exception to this is if the description of a hypothetical magic item explicitly declares that a number becomes a “natural 20”. Similarly, although rare, there could be a magical item, such as a girdle of wound-closure, which has the magical property to protect against critical damage. The magic of such an item is specifically designed to negate a critical hit; therefore, the point from the original hit would still occur, but the critical points from the extra roll(s) could be dodged in theory; although it is unlikely to every come up.

Lastly, there are rules for managing a seeming conflict involving crits. first, by default, ranged weapons do not produce crits. Thus, to have a crit with a ranged weapon, there would need to be a special skill, magic or mystic device that overrides the default rule. Finally, if someone is attacking at disadvantage, no matter of the number of skills or dice, none of the hits can become a crit unless there is specific rule that overrides this general die-rolling guideline.