House rule to consider

M

Murte

Mongoose
After seing a very ineffective fella critical hit twice and do no damage due to armour (1 hp if you play with that house rule), I have thought about the following house rule, would like thoughts and comments:

Any time a critical threat is confirmed, the base AP is multiplied by the critical multiplier.

This doesn't hurt them bardiche wielding fools, since tehy surprass the DR most the time anyway, but it does give them sword wielders a better chance with a critical hit to penetrate armour, thus making the critical hit a lil more effective. Nothing worse for a player or GM than scoring a critical hit and then only doing 0-1 points of damage after DR is taken into account just because of a lil poor rolling. :wink:
 
Not a bad idea Murte. Rolling a critical hit and then seeing it flop due to DR/bad rolls does kind of stink and this house rule would increase the chances for AP.

Thinking along those lines: Would just ruling "a confirmed crit causes automatic AP" help speed this up or carry this too far?
 
Shonuff, methinks it speeds it up. I mean, roll bad enough against someone in Brigandine and mail huberk with a steel cap even it at half, that is still a DR of 5. Have to get lucky with some of the simple weapons to still do damage. I like that idea, alot. One less thing to have to try figuring out. Thanks. :D
 
In an old swedish fantasy rpg, you receive no armor at all if someone scores a critical hit and the weapon does maximum damage (no double). The damage in d20 is usually x2 or x3 so no need to do maximum damage, but you could try the 'ignore the armor'-part, since a critical hit has most likely hit in a very good spot :)

Hope it gives you any ideas.
 
Sounds good Murte. And that will always happen when you've been getting your butt handed to ya and needed a critical hit.

I think I wll bring this up to my group. I bet they would be willing to give it a shot.
 
How did he Crit, multiply the damage, and still not do any past DR?

I think you did it wrong.

If a STR 10 character weilds a AP0 sword against a Armor DR10 enemy, he's bound for failure unless he deals 11+ points of damage somehow. The only way to do this is sneak attack and then at higher levels.

I think multiplying the AP is crazy. You've got weapons in there that are AP with a 2x crit (Greatsword) which would calculate out to an AP10! That's unnecessary.

What it ammounts to is that if you have a character that is not strong enough to power-house and beat his way through DR, then he should have a high DEX and use Finesse weapons or a high INT and be a socerer.

What was the actual stat and roll situation that caused you to come up with this potential house rule? I don't think you're doing things correctly.
 
Sutek said:
What was the actual stat and roll situation that caused you to come up with this potential house rule? I don't think you're doing things correctly.
Click to expand...

I will take a guess at a likely example. Someone with an Broadsword with say a +2 Str mod for a total AP 5 and Dam 1d10+2. Lets say against of AP 9.

On rolling a critical, you will do 1 HP if you roll a 1, 2 or 3 for damage (x2 would be 6, 8 or 10 HP). Maximum damage possible would be 15HP.

Using the house rule suggested would mean that the DR would be reduced to 4. This would effectively increase the damage by 5 and do 2 or more HP damage no matter he rolled. Maximum damage would be 20HP.

I personally think the AP/Critical House Rule seems OK. The greatest benefit it will ever give is a +6 HP damage but it may create more MD saves that you should be wary of.

However, it may be worth noting before using it that Fate Points can be used to do maximum damage. When combined with a Critical it can be lethal. If your players are hoarding FPs and complaining about not getting big enough Criticals then pointing out the more judicious use of FPs may help out.
 
Well, you just missed it Hal. He said initially that his house rule would multiply the AP of the weapon by the crit multiple. This would happen:
  • Normal:
    Sword AP=3, STR+2: Total AP=5
    Damage 1d10+2
    Enemy DR9
    Damage potential = 0 to 4 (3 to 13 reduced by DR9)
  • Crit:
    Sword AP=6, STR+2: Total AP=8
    Damage 2d10+4
    Enemy DR9
    Damage potential = 0 to 13 (6 to 24 reduced by DR9)
I think the issue may be that you're throwing such high DR encounters at characters that can't handle it, finding that they don't do well and then want to alter the rules. That's the wrong approach, IMNSHO.
:wink:
 
Sutek said:
Well, you just missed it Hal. He said initially that his house rule would multiply the AP of the weapon by the crit multiple.
Click to expand...

The example of how you can critical and still get a 1 HP under the current rules is valid. That was in answer to your question.

However, you do make a good point regarding the implementation of Murte's house rule as I did think it referred to total AP.

In that case, using your example Sutek, the end result of the house rule is even less unbalancing than what I had anticipated. So, the house rule seems to be an even better idea to me as a small extra reward for crits.
 
Okay, put it another way...

This house rule is no good because it only helps STR fighters and not Finesse fighters. If I roll well with Finesse...I get no "extra reward" if that good roll is a Crit.

The bonuses, people, are that 20s always hit regardless of DV (at least you hit them when you couldnt' possibly otherwise) and the that the damage is doubled.

What this does is reward the character using brute force, whereas the character using Finesse has the same method, no bonuses, of defeating armor. It ruins the balance between the two options in the game as writtten.

I't not a good rule, but if you like it your game....rock rock on...
 
Sutek said:
It ruins the balance between the two options in the game as writtten.
Click to expand...

I agree with this statement.

However, I don't think an absolute statement regarding the quality of the House Rule as being good or bad can be made except from a personal view on whether the balance in the game as written is a good one.

So, my advice is that if you do have an issue with Crits the House Rule could be a good one. I do agree with Sutek's caution in looking at the other effects of it before implementing it.
 
Note: I hit upon this idea without looking at the weapons chart. So I am assuming all finessable weapons can crit on a 19.

One way to keep it even for both types of attackers is by having a crit bypass all DR. This way melee, finesse, and ranged fighters can benefit from this rule.
 
But finesse weapons can manage it anyway with a good enough atack roll and low enough opponent armor DR. Making Crits ignore DR "weakens" the existance of Finesse weapons in the game.
 
In the End. House rules are just stupid. If you don't like the game as it is, why don't someone create their own.

Notice I say Rules in the plural form....
 
Now, now...nothing's more Trollish thatn calling someone a Troll in open forum. :wink:

Odo, try to lay off posting in every thread with one-line negative comments and thread bashing. It's porr internet etiquette and besides that...it drives people up the wall! :lol:
 
Everything I write is quite positive. Nothing I say is negative. If you think it is negative, then it is YOUR opinion. Hence, what I wrote is MY opinion.

Also, I did not post one line. It looks like 3 lines to me, though, one of those lines was a blank line. But, a line in itself.

Please define Troll for me. I haven't heard that word posted in a BBS for at least 5 years. Oh, wait, not BBS but message board. Is it some form of archaic praise? Or is it a Pict word for: You are my God.
 
A Troll is someone who says things like:

"Everything I write is quite positive. Nothing I say is negative. If you think it is negative, then it is YOUR opinion. Hence, what I wrote is MY opinion.

"Also, I did not post one line. It looks like 3 lines to me, though, one of those lines was a blank line. But, a line in itself.

"Please define Troll for me. I haven't heard that word posted in a BBS for at least 5 years. Oh, wait, not BBS but message board. Is it some form of archaic praise? Or is it a Pict word for: You are my God."

:roll:
 
So, um. Being a troll is supposed to be offensive? Is it supposed to get me to run to my mother's skirts? This is quite childish. Why do I even bother posting anything constructive here?

Alas, I leave it alone. No more posting on this thread for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Imperium capital ships of the 5FW - some thoughts
3 4 5
Replies
90
Views
6K
tytalan
T
G
SKIRMISH AT REFUELLING POINT NUMBER 3:
Replies
0
Views
466
George Kelln
G
M
Combat in Traveller: some tactical principles
2 3
Replies
46
Views
9K
Vormaerin
V
P
House rule for starship combat
Replies
4
Views
1K
Linwood
L
Geir
Dogfights: Fighters vs. Bigger ships
2
Replies
25
Views
8K
Condottiere
C
Back
Top