This is a story about the first character I played seriously.
The rest of the party (unfortunately only two characters, one lv 1 and the other lv 2) was hiking up through terrain which had many large cracks in the ground to what was essentially a geocache of treasure. They suddenly were surrounded by five giant badgers which crawled out of the crevices in the ground, growling angrily! It seemed like they were doomed to become victims of the Action Economy, but then arrived my character: A level 1 Satyr Ranger which I had spent the past week obsessing over. He boasted a mighty +4 dexterity, as well as a tragic backstory to match. I described how he noticed the characters in danger and rushed to help them. I rolled to attack with my elm longbow.
Natural 1.
The bowstring snapped, and I had no choice but to drop the bow and draw the shortswords on my back. A round later, it was my turn again. I ran up to the nearest badger and took a swipe with a curved bronze sword.
Natural 1.
I swung with too much force, and not only missed the badger, but also lost my grip of the sword as it tumbled onto the ground. I picked it back up and moved to intercept a second badger, hitting it with my second attack. A round later, it was my turn once more. I took two attacks, one of which missed, the other downed a badger. I moved to block another badger's route to an unconscious party member. During that badger's turn, I was knocked out cold. A few rounds after, I had two death saves down: 1 failed, 1 successful. I took a deep breath and rolled my third.
Natural 1.
The DM described how my character stopped breathing. All of the party members were unconscious, and only the level 2 character's natural 20 on a death save, right before the badgers' turn, saved us, as the DM described how he rose in a swirl of divine flames and radiance, and the remaining badgers were scared off. I set out to build a character for the next session.
And that's why many GMs do not impose any more penalties for rolling a nat 1 besides and automatic failure of the action.
The bowstring sucked, the dropped sword didn't have any effect in practice, and a nat 1 counting as 2 failures is RAW. I mean, it's altogether unfortunate but I wouldn't call it a real argument against riders on critical failures.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Halfling's and Rogues would like to have a word with your DM.
As previously stated, there are no crit fails, except on death saves. If I had a high level Rogue with Reliable Talent roll a 1 and the DM said my Perception or Stealth failed, he would have a PHB shoved in his face.
Yet another reason why house rules in the hands of an inexperienced DM are a dangerous thing. But yeah, your char died not because of this particular house rule, but because of really bad luck.
Halfling's and Rogues would like to have a word with your DM.
As previously stated, there are no crit fails, except on death saves. If I had a high level Rogue with Reliable Talent roll a 1 and the DM said my Perception or Stealth failed, he would have a PHB shoved in his face.
Yet another reason why house rules in the hands of an inexperienced DM are a dangerous thing. But yeah, your char died not because of this particular house rule, but because of really bad luck.
Any reason to assume this DM houseruled Reliable Talent and/or critical fails on skill rolls, since it's not mentioned at all in this thread?
Halfling's and Rogues would like to have a word with your DM.
As previously stated, there are no crit fails, except on death saves. If I had a high level Rogue with Reliable Talent roll a 1 and the DM said my Perception or Stealth failed, he would have a PHB shoved in his face.
Yet another reason why house rules in the hands of an inexperienced DM are a dangerous thing. But yeah, your char died not because of this particular house rule, but because of really bad luck.
I let it happen because i thought it was funny. Also i don't have reliable talent and I would have missed with the weapon attacks anyway.
This is a story about the first character I played seriously.
The rest of the party (unfortunately only two characters, one lv 1 and the other lv 2) was hiking up through terrain which had many large cracks in the ground to what was essentially a geocache of treasure. They suddenly were surrounded by five giant badgers which crawled out of the crevices in the ground, growling angrily! It seemed like they were doomed to become victims of the Action Economy, but then arrived my character: A level 1 Satyr Ranger which I had spent the past week obsessing over. He boasted a mighty +4 dexterity, as well as a tragic backstory to match. I described how he noticed the characters in danger and rushed to help them. I rolled to attack with my elm longbow.
Natural 1.
The bowstring snapped, and I had no choice but to drop the bow and draw the shortswords on my back. A round later, it was my turn again. I ran up to the nearest badger and took a swipe with a curved bronze sword.
Natural 1.
I swung with too much force, and not only missed the badger, but also lost my grip of the sword as it tumbled onto the ground. I picked it back up and moved to intercept a second badger, hitting it with my second attack. A round later, it was my turn once more. I took two attacks, one of which missed, the other downed a badger. I moved to block another badger's route to an unconscious party member. During that badger's turn, I was knocked out cold. A few rounds after, I had two death saves down: 1 failed, 1 successful. I took a deep breath and rolled my third.
Natural 1.
The DM described how my character stopped breathing. All of the party members were unconscious, and only the level 2 character's natural 20 on a death save, right before the badgers' turn, saved us, as the DM described how he rose in a swirl of divine flames and radiance, and the remaining badgers were scared off. I set out to build a character for the next session.
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXVIII?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
And that's why many GMs do not impose any more penalties for rolling a nat 1 besides and automatic failure of the action.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
The bowstring sucked, the dropped sword didn't have any effect in practice, and a nat 1 counting as 2 failures is RAW. I mean, it's altogether unfortunate but I wouldn't call it a real argument against riders on critical failures.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Halfling's and Rogues would like to have a word with your DM.
As previously stated, there are no crit fails, except on death saves. If I had a high level Rogue with Reliable Talent roll a 1 and the DM said my Perception or Stealth failed, he would have a PHB shoved in his face.
Yet another reason why house rules in the hands of an inexperienced DM are a dangerous thing. But yeah, your char died not because of this particular house rule, but because of really bad luck.
Any reason to assume this DM houseruled Reliable Talent and/or critical fails on skill rolls, since it's not mentioned at all in this thread?
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
I let it happen because i thought it was funny. Also i don't have reliable talent and I would have missed with the weapon attacks anyway.
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXVIII?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature