Thats the thing. If you are interpreting it that way, that means that if you have an attack modifier that increases it past 20 it is also no longer a crit. That would mean the only way to crit would be to get a 20 total, which in some cases is impossible and thusly defeats the purpose of always having a chance to succeed.
I would let the crit stand. The ability has enough uses that it will cover a reasonable number of nat 20s.
I also like having my players side quest for Adamantine Armor. They love it when they see my 20 and know it's not a crit on them and they worked for it or earned it.
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I know I'm late, but I'm really baffled by the staff who came in all unified around it being RAW that cutting words would not work. By RAW, it does work.
There's nothing explicitly that says this is a modifier. It says you roll an inspiration die and subtract the result from the creature's roll. It also says this can be done before determining if the action succeeds or fails. This implies that the determination that it's a crit and therefore hits has not happened yet. I can understand not wanting to implement it that way for balance or understand if it's that way by RAI, but as for it being RAW that it cannot negate crits I have to disagree.
I know I'm late, but I'm really baffled by the staff who came in all unified around it being RAW that cutting words would not work. By RAW, it does work.
There's nothing explicitly that says this is a modifier. It says you roll an inspiration die and subtract the result from the creature's roll. It also says this can be done before determining if the action succeeds or fails. This implies that the determination that it's a crit and therefore hits has not happened yet. I can understand not wanting to implement it that way for balance or understand if it's that way by RAI, but as for it being RAW that it cannot negate crits I have to disagree.
It is considered a penalty, which is a subtype of a modifier. By contrast, Sentinel at Death's Door specifically states that it cancels the effects of a critical hit. This feature is a great example of why Cutting Words does not cancel critical hits because it does not say that it can cancel critical hits, which is specific text that would be... critical in reaching that conclusion.
Thats the thing. If you are interpreting it that way, that means that if you have an attack modifier that increases it past 20 it is also no longer a crit. That would mean the only way to crit would be to get a 20 total, which in some cases is impossible and thusly defeats the purpose of always having a chance to succeed.
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I would let the crit stand. The ability has enough uses that it will cover a reasonable number of nat 20s.
I also like having my players side quest for Adamantine Armor. They love it when they see my 20 and know it's not a crit on them and they worked for it or earned it.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
I know I'm late, but I'm really baffled by the staff who came in all unified around it being RAW that cutting words would not work. By RAW, it does work.
There's nothing explicitly that says this is a modifier. It says you roll an inspiration die and subtract the result from the creature's roll. It also says this can be done before determining if the action succeeds or fails. This implies that the determination that it's a crit and therefore hits has not happened yet. I can understand not wanting to implement it that way for balance or understand if it's that way by RAI, but as for it being RAW that it cannot negate crits I have to disagree.
It is considered a penalty, which is a subtype of a modifier. By contrast, Sentinel at Death's Door specifically states that it cancels the effects of a critical hit. This feature is a great example of why Cutting Words does not cancel critical hits because it does not say that it can cancel critical hits, which is specific text that would be... critical in reaching that conclusion.
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That's a great point, thanks! And nice pun, lol. I was unaware of sentinel at death's door. Given that example, I withdraw my claim/stance.
No amount of bonus or penalty modifier can change the outcome of an automatic hit or miss (1-20) other than a reroll entirely.