Sometimes, a spell or a special attack strikes with such devastating effect that even the toughest opponent can be crippled or killed by a single blow. Critical strikes reflect this capability; even a lowly magic missile might strike the cyclops in his eye, while a lightning bolt that strikes a warrior dead-on can kill him in an instant.
Critical strikes add flavor and pseudo-realism to the AD&D game by increasing the likelihood that the use of a spell will decide a fight one way or the other. An AD&D combat can be reduced to a simple process of attrition, but the use of magic should create the potential for a battle-ending injury. Even if the evil giant has 90 hit points, and the wizard's fireball won't do more than 42 points of damage at its very best, a critical strike may allow that spell to severely wound or incapacitate the giant. After all, it's not very heroic to throw six volleys of magic missiles into the same evil high priest; it denigrates the value of magic.
Critical strikes can also represent special attack forms common among monsters. Creatures that spit acid, breathe fire, or exhale poison gas are just as likely to kill a hero as a creature that rends him limb from limb with fang and claw. A hell hound may only inflict 4 to 7 points of damage with its fiery breath, but that doesn't mean that a 60-hit point fighter should not be threatened by the monster's attack! Critical strikes help to keep characters honest since any attack could result in severe injury or death.
When Do Critical Strikes Occur?[]
The critical strike system presented here is meant to be an expansion of the critical hit system from Player's Option: Combat & Tactics . However, some of the mechanics that work for attack rolls and Armor Class can't be applied directly to saving throws. For a spell or an attack to have the potential for a critical strike, it must do physical damage. While it's easy to imagine a character who is double-charmed or double-held, it's somewhat hard to extend the effects of such spells past the obvious results. After all, by failing the saving throw, the character already suffered whatever he was going to suffer for being subjected to the spell.
Critical strikes occur when the target rolls a natural 3 or less on his saving throw and misses his saving throw by a margin of 5 points or more. If the spell in question does not allow a saving throw, the target still checks for a critical strike by rolling a saving throw versus the attack; this special saving throw has no other purpose than determining whether or not the character suffers a critical strike.
High-level casters or monsters are more likely to cause critical strikes, as shown on Table 45 : Critical Strike Chance by Caster Level.
| Caster Level |
Critical Strike Occurs on... |
|---|---|
| 1–5 | Natural 3 or less, save missed by 5 or more |
| 6–101 | Natural 4 or less, save missed by 5 or more |
| 11–152 | Natural 5 or less, save missed by 5 or more |
| 16–20 | Natural 5 or less, save missed by 3 or more |
| 21+ | Natural 5 or less |
- 1 Potions, wands and staves fall into this level range for determining critical strikes.
- 2 Rings, rods, and miscellaneous magical items fall into this range for critical strikes.
Note that spells written on scrolls are assumed to be scribed at the 6th level of ability or one level higher than the minimum level required to cast them, whichever is higher; for example, a 5th-level wizard spell requires a 9th-level caster, so it is scribed at the 10th level of ability, but a 1st-level spell (requiring only a 1st-level caster) is written at the 6th level of ability.
Monsters with special attacks that may entail critical strikes use the table above, substituting their Hit Dice for caster level. As one might suspect, ancient red dragons of the 20 Hit Dice or higher variety can inflict devastating criticals with their fiery breath!
Beshira the Sorceress, a 4th-level mage, hurls a magic missile at an unfortunate orog. Normally, a magic missile allows no saving throw, but the orog will still roll a d20 for a saving throw vs. spell just to see if he fails critically or not. The orog is a 3 Hit Die monster, which means that his saving throw vs. spell is a 16. The orog rolls an 8, which can't be a critical strike, since it's not a natural 3 or less— even though he missed his save by 8 points!
A few levels later, Beshira encounters an angry cloud giant and decides that lightning bolt is the best way to deal with him. The cloud giant is a 16 Hit Die monster and only needs a 7 to make its saving throw. However, the giant rolls a 4, missing its save! Since Beshira is now an 8th-level sorceress, this natural 4 may be a critical strike—except the giant still didn't miss by 5 points. (He would have had to roll a 1 or 2 to miss his saving throw by a margin of 5 points.)
Later in the same fight, Beshira exhausts her spells and hauls out a wand of fire to use against the giant. Against rods, staves, and wands, the giant's saving throw is a 6, so he will only suffer a critical strike on a roll of 1.
Critical Strikes the Easy Way[]
If the math of the preceding system seems to be a little too much for your campaign, try this method: the attacker rolls 1d20 when he throws the spell or uses his special ability. If the die comes up an 18 or higher, the victim suffers a critical strike if he fails his saving throw. If the spell or effect doesn't allow a saving throw, the victim may still attempt a saving throw vs. death magic to avoid the critical strike itself, although he still suffers the effects of the spell even if he avoids the critical hit. This system doesn't account for the skill or power of the spellcaster or monster, but it may be a little faster than figuring out how much someone missed their save by.
Types of Critical Strikes[]
Types of Critical Strikes
Obviously, the exact nature of the injuries a character suffers from a critical strike will vary with the form of energy or magic that hits him. Different spells or effects can burn, char, dissolve, electrocute, freeze, impale, maul, scorch, or wound the victim in different ways. Therefore, there are ten different critical strike charts, each representing a different attack form.
Readers familiar with the critical hit system from Player's Option: Combat & Tactics may observe that the target type (humanoid, monster, or animal) is not a consideration in the critical strike charts. Instead, only one body form or target type is included for each attack. Optional hit location tables for monsters and animals are provided in case you wish to incorporate them in your campaign, but you can use the critical strike tables for any kind of opponent as they are written.
The critical strike tables include acid, cold, constriction, crushing, electricity, fire, impact, slashing, vibration, and wounding.
Acid attacks include Melf's acid arrow, acid storm, the breath of a black dragon, the secretions of a black pudding, or the effects of holy water on certain undead.
Cold attacks include chill touch, cone of cold, Otiluke's freezing sphere, white dragon or silver dragon breath, and the deathly touch of a lich.
Constriction attacks are the forte of giant snakes, monsters with tentacles, and spells such as Evard's black tentacles or Bigby's crushing hand. Anything that surrounds and squeezes the victim could fall into this category.
Crushing attacks are mammoth assaults that can smash a person like a bug. Turn pebble to boulder, Bigby's clenched fist, or the blow from a ring of the ram are crushing attacks. Crushing can also represent the effects of a dangerous fall or the force of an explosion that hurls a character through the air. If the character's whole body is affected by a physical force, it's a crushing injury.
Electricity includes various forms of magical lightning, shocking grasp, and the breath of a behir or blue or bronze dragon. There is no distinction between electricity and lightning for critical strikes.
Fire is fairly obvious, but note that explosions (a gas spore explosion or the retributive strike of a broken staff) are more accurately described by crushing injuries.
Impact injuries result from concentrated applications of force or small projectiles. Magic missile, spiritual hammer, or bullets cause impact injuries. In some cases, impact injuries actually penetrate the victim's body.
Slashing attacks include spells such as ice knife, Mordenkainen's sword, and blade barrier. This category also includes the mauling action of some mechanical traps.
Vibration attacks are rare, but dangerous, literally shaking the victim to pieces. A few monsters have special vibration or sonic attacks.
Wounding attacks result from cause light, serious or critical wounds, and can also simulate withering, desiccation, or disease attacks. Wounds appear as gaping sores or destroyed tissue.
Strike Location[]
In the movies, the hero always manages to get shot in the shoulder, the leg, or just grazed in the side. Regrettably, adventurers aren't always that lucky, and even a fairly minor critical strike—say, a magic missile—could be extremely dangerous if it strikes the character in the eye or the throat. The location of a critical strike is determined by rolling a d10 and comparing it to Table 46 : Critical Strike Location.
| d101 | Humanoid | d101 | Monster/Animal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Right leg | 1 | Right foreleg/wing |
| 3–4 | Left leg | 2 | Left foreleg/wing |
| 5 | Abdomen | 3 | Right hind leg |
| 6–7 | Torso | 4 | Left hind leg |
| 8 | Right arm | 5 | Tail2 |
| 9 | Left arm | 6–7 | Abdomen |
| 10 | Head | 8–9 | Torso/chest |
| 10 | Head |
- 1 If the defender is two sizes taller or has a height advantage, roll 1d6 for location; if the attacker is two sizes taller or has a height advantage, roll 1d6+4 for location.
- 2 Rolls of 1–5 are tail hits for creatures with snake-like or fish-like bodies.
For your convenience, the hit locations are numbered on each subtable in the critical strike charts.
Called Shots: If a spell or special attack uses a normal attack roll, the attacker may choose to use a called shot. A called shot forces the attacker to take a –4 penalty on his attack roll, but if it hits and inflicts a critical strike, the strike automatically affects the location the attacker was aiming for. Spells that do not use attack rolls do not permit the caster to attempt a called shot.
Whole-Body Injuries: Unlike most weapons, spells and special attacks create the possibility for whole-body injuries which damage a creature in several places at the same time. This is a function of the spell's size or area of effect.
Huge creatures treat critical strikes as if they were one size smaller, so a frost giant struck by a fireball would suffer 1d3 separate critical strikes, not 1d4. Gargantuan creatures reduce the strike by two size categories. Regardless of the size of the strike, the victim always suffers a critical strike in at least one hit location.
| # of Targets Affected |
Area Affected |
# of Locations Affected by Strike |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Target | 5' sq. or 2' rad. | 1 (M) |
| 2–9 Targets | 30' sq. or 15' rad. | 1d3 (L) |
| 10+ Targets | 40' sq. or 20' rad. | 1d4 (H) |
| 40+ Targets | 100' sq. or 40' rad. | 1d6+1 (G) |
Terthan, a human warrior, is struck by a lightning bolt and blows his save badly enough to qualify for a critical strike. The DM rules that the bolt is a large attack (two to nine targets reasonably approximates a lightning bolt's area of effect) so Terthan will suffer 1d3 strikes. He rolls a 2, or two separate hits, and refers to Table 46. Naturally, Terthan is a humanoid; two 1d10 rolls result in a 5 (abdomen) and an 8 (right arm). Now Terthan will go on to determine the strike's severity and see what kind of injuries he suffers.
Whole-body injuries can be ignored if the DM wishes; one roll on the hit location table should be enough for anybody. Whole-body injuries are a little more "realistic," and they make critical strikes much more deadly, but the game works fine without them.
Severity[]
Naturally, critical strikes cover a great range of severity. There's a world of difference between a burning hands spell cast by a 2nd-level wizard and the awesome blast unleashed by an ancient, fire-breathing dragon. If the whole-body injury rules cover the size of the attack, severity measures its intensity.
The best approximation for the severity of a critical strike is how much damage the attack can inflict on its target. Figure the maximum damage potential of the spell or effect, compare it to the maximum, unwounded hit point total of the victim, and refer to Table 48 : Critical Severity.
| Damage Potential vs. Target Hit Point Total |
Severity Roll |
|---|---|
| Max. damage is less than 1⁄2 target hp | 1d6 |
| Max. damage is less than target hp | 2d4 |
| Max. damage is less than twice target hp | 2d6 |
| Max. damage is twice or more target hp | 2d8 |
Terthan, the warrior from the previous example, has a normal hit point maximum of 35 when unwounded. The lightning bolt was thrown by a 6th-level wizard with a potential of 6d6 points of damage (a maximum of 36 points). Since this is more than Terthan's hit points, without being twice Terthran's total, the severity roll will be 2d6.
Refer to the appropriate critical strike chart and roll the severity dice indicated for the hit location. The result is the specific injury or effect suffered by the victim for the critical strike. Unlike the critical hits of the Player's Option: Combat & Tactics book, critical strikes do not inflict doubled damage, and they do not allow the victim a special saving throw to avoid the specific effects. After all, the target already blew one saving throw, or he wouldn't be rolling on the critical strike table.
Lord Nonnach Redoff the Bold, a 20th-level warrior, rides forth to do battle with an adult red dragon. The dragon naturally opens the fray with its best fiery blast. Nonnach must make a saving throw vs. breath weapon, needing only a 4 to succeed. Unfortunately, Nonnach rolls a 1 and misses. Since the dragon has 17 Hit Dice, its victims suffer critical strikes if they miss their save by at least 3 points and roll less than a 5—which Nonnach just did.
Chortling with glee, the DM rules that the dragon's breath is a huge attack, inflicting critical strikes in 1d4 locations; Nonnach rolls a 3, so he'll get three separate rolls on Table 46 and winds up with critical strikes to the abdomen, right leg, and left arm. Now, on to severity: the dragon's damage potential is 126 points, and Nonnach at his best only has 109 hit points, so each strike will be rolled with a severity of 2d6. In addition to the 79 points of damage Nonnach takes from the dragon's breath, he suffers minor injuries to his arm and abdomen, but his leg is burned off at the knee! (And the DM could require him to make a saving throw vs. death magic to check for death from massive damage, as described in the PHB .) All of a sudden, Nonnach finds himself wishing he were somewhere else entirely.
Specific Injuries and Effects[]
Usually, a critical strike results in a specific injury or penalty for the victim. As noted above, the victim does not gain a saving throw to avoid the special effects of a critical strike since he's already failed one pretty badly. However, many creatures can ignore the effects of certain strikes just by their nature. Most undead monsters are immune to cold-based attacks and therefore don't suffer any ill effects from cold critical strikes. Constructs such as golems don't have a real physiology and can ignore the incapacitating effects of internal injuries. Injuries are divided into six degrees of severity: grazed, struck, injured, broken, shattered and finally severed.
Wounds or injuries are always accompanied by some loss of hit points, and some critical strike results may increase the damage caused by the spell or effect. Many also inflict temporary attack or movement penalties that persist until the character receives medical attention of some kind. The actual damage, or loss of hit points, may be recovered normally, but the injury's effects linger until it is specifically addressed.
After a few months of recovering from his battle with the dragon, Nonnach is riddled by a high-level wizard's magic missile spell and receives a critical strike. Magic missiles strike on the impact chart; the location roll is a 10 and the severity roll comes up as a 6, so Nonnach catches a missile in the eye. The spell inflicts 16 points of damage, but more importantly, Nonnach is temporarily blinded. He'll suffer a –4 penalty to all attack rolls until his injury is treated in some way, although he can recover the loss of hit points through magical or normal healing.
Grazed, Singed, Chilled, Bruised: While the nature of the injury varies with the type of critical strike, all of these minor wounds fall under the category of ‘grazes.' A graze is not very serious, although it may cause minor bleeding. A cure light wounds or any other healing magic capable of restoring 4 hit points will heal a graze. Grazes also heal naturally as if they were a loss of 1d6 hit points; if a graze is the equivalent of a 2-hit point wound, a single day of rest will cure it and eliminate any penalties. If a character receives healing magic, the graze is healed and he gets to recover hit points from the same spell or effect.
Struck, Blistered: Slightly more serious than a graze, a ‘struck' result usually entails some kind of attack or movement penalties, such as a –2 penalty to attack rolls. Injuries of this type can be healed by a cure light wounds spell or other healing magic capable of restoring 5 lost hit points. Struck areas heal naturally as if they were a wound of 2d6 hit points.
Injured, Burned, Frostbitten: Wounds of this level can trouble a character for many weeks; they heal naturally as if they were a loss of 10d6 hit points. A cure serious wounds spell, or any other healing magic capable of restoring 10 hit points or more, can repair the injury.
Injuries almost always entail significant combat penalties for the character and may temporarily reduce a character's maximum number of hit points. Since he's favoring a painful injury, he is more susceptible to attacks. Injured arms, legs, or tails reduce a character to 75% of his normal maximum hit points, while an injury to the torso, abdomen, or head reduces a character to 50% of his normal. (If the damage done by the spell or effect didn't bring the character down to his new maximum, he is reduced to the lower number immediately, but if the damage was severe enough to drop the character beneath his new maximum, he doesn't lose any additional hit points.)
For example, let's take a look at Lord Nonnach again. As noted in the example, Nonnach normally has a maximum of 109 hit points. If he sustained an injury to his torso, he would temporarily be reduced to a maximum of 55 hit points. Even if the torso injury only did 10 or 15 points of damage, Nonnach is still going to lose half his hit points due to the effects of his injury!
Broken: Most minor breaks are assumed to fall into the previous two categories; hairline fractures or chipped bones are painful, but generally minor, injuries. This category is reserved for severe fractures that render the limb in question useless. Broken bones can be mended by a cure serious wounds spell that is used only to knit the bone; unlike the grazed, struck, or injured categories, this healing spell restores no hit points to the character. Broken bones heal naturally as if they were a loss of 20d6 hit points, so a character with a badly broken leg won't be running sprints anytime in the next month or two.
Broken arms reduce a character to 75% of his normal hit points, and broken ribs or legs reduce a character to 50% of his normal hit point maximum. Any other broken bones reduce a character to 25% of his normal hit point maximum. Continuing to adventure with a fractured skull or a few broken vertebrae is never a good idea.
Crushed, Shattered, Frozen, or Destroyed: A critical strike of this magnitude simply destroys the affected tissue or limb, rendering it forever useless. The victim of such a devastating injury never recovers his full health, without magical aid. A limb damaged in this way is completely useless, while other areas so affected will leave the victim incapacitated. One to eight months of bed rest will be required before he regains even a semblance of mobility.
An injury of this kind can only be repaired by a cure critical wounds spell or any other magic capable of restoring at least 20 hit points to the victim. In addition, any bones in the affected area are assumed to be broken and may require additional magic to knit.
Destroyed shoulders, hips, or limbs reduce a character to 50% of his normal hit point maximum. Any other injuries of this severity reduce the character to 25% of his normal hit point maximum. At the DM's option, appropriate ability scores may be reduced by up to 50%; an acrobat with a ruined hip will never perform again.
Severed, Dissolved, or Incinerated: Obviously, a creature that has a limb severed or completely removed from his body can no longer use that limb for movement or combat. A human with a severed leg can't walk or run and is reduced to crawling until he finds a crutch; a character with a severed shield-arm can no longer employ his shield, and so on. The only way to undo damage of this scale is by use of the regeneration spell or similar effects, or a properly worded wish.
The shock of losing a limb will prevent a character from moving independently or attacking for 2d10 full weeks, although a character who "only" loses a hand or a foot may be able to perform limited activities within 1d6 rounds of the injury, if he passes a system shock roll. Note that creatures with more than four limbs (especially insects or octopus-like creatures) are slightly more resistant to this sort of trauma and may be able to continue the fight after one or two rounds of being stunned.
The loss of a limb will reduce a character's hit point maximum by 25% for a partial loss, or 50% for a more catastrophic injury. If the character is able to compensate with a prosthesis such as a wooden leg or a hook, the hit point loss may be reduced by one level.
Bleeding[]
A common effect of many critical strikes is bleeding. Bleeding falls into three categories: minor, major, and severe. In many cases, bleeding may prove more dangerous than the original injury.
Minor bleeding causes the victim to lose 1d2 hit points per full turn until the wound is magically healed or bound. There is a chance that minor bleeding will stop on its own; every time the character suffers damage from the bleeding, he may attempt a saving throw vs. death magic. If he succeeds, the bleeding stops.
Anybody (including the injured character!) can stop minor bleeding by applying a bandage. This requires one round.
Major bleeding is much more dangerous, resulting in a loss of 1d2 hit points per round (not turn) until the injury is healed or bound. In effect, the standard negative 10 rule represents major bleeding; the character loses 1 hit point per round when reduced to negative hit points.
Major bleeding can be stopped by a cure light wounds spell or the healing of 5 points of damage by any other means. In addition, the successful use of the healing proficiency halts major bleeding. If the wound is bound by an untrained character, make an Intelligence check for the would-be medic; if he fails, he is unable to help, but if he succeeds, the bleeding is reduced to minor.
Severe bleeding causes the victim to lose 10% to 60% (1d6 x 10%) of his unwounded hit point total every round. For example, a fighter with 43 hit points would lose 4 (10%) to 24 (60%) of his hit points every round. A cure light wounds or 5 hit points of healing will reduce severe bleeding to major bleeding; a cure serious wounds or 10 hit points of healing reduces it to minor bleeding; and a cure critical wounds or 20 hit points of healing stops it altogether.
An untrained character has no chance to bind a torso, abdomen, or head wound with severe bleeding, but a trained healer can attempt a proficiency check with a –4 penalty to reduce severe bleeding to major bleeding in these areas. A trained healer can reduce severe bleeding from a limb to major bleeding with an unpenalized proficiency check, and an untrained character can do the same with a successful Intelligence check at a –4 penalty. Note that once severe bleeding has been reduced to major bleeding, the character may be able to then reduce the major bleeding to minor bleeding.
Bleeding from several wounds is cumulative; a character with three cases of minor bleeding from three separate injuries suffers 3d2 damage every turn. After a character is reduced to 0 hit points by any level of bleeding, the bleeding stops, and he simply loses 1 hit point a round until he reaches –10 and dies.
Combat Penalties[]
Many critical strikes hamper the victim's ability to fight or move by penalizing his attack rolls or reducing his movement rate. A character with reduced movement may not choose to charge, jog, run, sprint, or force-march in order to compensate. A character reduced to no movement may still drag himself along with an effective movement rating of 1 or ride a mount with difficulty.
A few critical strikes may prevent the victim from attacking at all; if this is the case, the character may not engage in spellcasting or performing any other actions except for using magical items or possibly using psionic powers that affect only his own body.
Knockdowns: Some critical strikes may inflict a knockdown on the victim. This is not an automatic result; the victim may still attempt a saving throw vs. death magic to remain on his feet.
Armor, Shield, and Equipment Damage[]
Acid, fire, lightning, and other lethal energies and substances can quickly destroy a character's armor. Unlike the critical hits introduced in Player's Option: Combat & Tactics , every critical strike endangers the victim's armor and equipment since the character already failed a saving throw. However, there's no need to check everything the character may have on his person—instead, only check items on or in the location struck. For example, if a character is struck in the face with a burning hands spell, his magical boots are in no real danger of being destroyed, but his helm or his reading spectacles might be ruined.
To check for item damage, refer to Table 29 : Item Saving Throws in the DMG. Vibration or sonic attacks can be treated as either a crushing blow or disintegration as the DM prefers, although if you decide to use the disintegration column, a +4 bonus is reasonable to reflect the less destructive nature of vibration attacks. Wounding critical strikes do not damage equipment.
Partially Destroyed Armor: If a character loses his armor in one particular location, the most accurate way to reflect his increased vulnerability is to consult the partial armor rules described on pages 128, 146 and 147 of the Player's Option: Combat & Tactics book. Basically, the character's overall AC will be worsened by the value of the missing piece, and the character will also have an AC 10 location that can be exploited by a called shot.
If you don't have the Combat & Tactics book or don't want to use partial armor rules, simply assign the character a 1-point AC penalty for each piece of missing armor. For example, if a character in chain mail (base AC 5) loses the armor protecting his torso and right arm, his armor is now treated as a base AC of 7. This isn't as realistic, but may be a little easier to use in play.
| |||||||||||||||||||