Rolling a character using sharpshooter, and I wondered how to crits work - if they work at all - with sharpshooter. So let's say I tell the DM "this is with sharpshooter" and I roll a nat 20. That'll actually be a 15 to hit, but the roll was a crit, so which prevails?
Alternatively, let's say I do the same thing, and get 25 before subtracting. That works out to a dirty 20, which I assume wouldn't be a crit BUT not sure if the sharpshooter feat changes how to look at it.
The -5 is a modifier, it doesn't affect the dice rol itself. If you roll a natural 20 it is a cricical hit, even if you fail to get the total up to the targets A. For example say to have +2 Dex and +2 proficiency and you are attacking something with an AC of 20. If you roll a natural 20, you get a total of 20+2+2-5 =19 so while it would normally miss a natural 20 is always a critical hit.
The score after modifiers doesn't affect crit. If you 25 before substrating was a natural 20 (with a +5 to hit) it would be a critical whether or not you used sharpshooter, if it was anything else (say a natural 19 with a +6 to hit) it would not be a critical hit.
Short answer if the dice shows 20 it is a critcal hit regardless of modifiers (proficiency, ability modifier, weapon bonus sharpshooter or anything else), if the dice shows a 1 it is a miss, if it shows anything else you add all the modifiers to the dice roll and compare it to the targets AC.
Just to add to this. A natural 20 rolled on an attack roll is an automatic hit AND is considered a critical hit.
"If the d20 roll for an attack is a 20, the attack hits regardless of any modifiers or the target's AC. This is called a critical hit, which is explained later in this chapter."
"CRITICAL H ITS When you score a critical hit, you get to roll extra dice for the attack's damage against the target. Roll all of the attack's damage dice twice and add them together. Then add any relevant modifiers as normal. To speed up play, you can roll all the damage dice at once."
When you score a critical hit, you double the dice rolled to resolve damage. Static values like the +stat and +10 from sharpshooter are not doubled.
The so-called "dirty 20" is meaningless (final to hit roll that after modification is 20). If a final 20 to hit is equal to or higher than the target AC it hits, otherwise it misses. ONLY a natural 20 rolled on the die is considered an automatic hit no matter what the target AC or modifiers.
Finally, there are some abilities that increase the critical hit range - champion fighter can achieve a crit on a 19 or 20 for example. Or hexblade's curse can have a similar effect. These attacks will double the damage die if they hit, however, a naturally rolled 19 does NOT automatically hit the way a 20 does. A critical hit doubles damage, it does not automatically hit.
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Rolling a character using sharpshooter, and I wondered how to crits work - if they work at all - with sharpshooter. So let's say I tell the DM "this is with sharpshooter" and I roll a nat 20. That'll actually be a 15 to hit, but the roll was a crit, so which prevails?
Alternatively, let's say I do the same thing, and get 25 before subtracting. That works out to a dirty 20, which I assume wouldn't be a crit BUT not sure if the sharpshooter feat changes how to look at it.
The -5 is a modifier, it doesn't affect the dice rol itself. If you roll a natural 20 it is a cricical hit, even if you fail to get the total up to the targets A. For example say to have +2 Dex and +2 proficiency and you are attacking something with an AC of 20. If you roll a natural 20, you get a total of 20+2+2-5 =19 so while it would normally miss a natural 20 is always a critical hit.
The score after modifiers doesn't affect crit. If you 25 before substrating was a natural 20 (with a +5 to hit) it would be a critical whether or not you used sharpshooter, if it was anything else (say a natural 19 with a +6 to hit) it would not be a critical hit.
Short answer if the dice shows 20 it is a critcal hit regardless of modifiers (proficiency, ability modifier, weapon bonus sharpshooter or anything else), if the dice shows a 1 it is a miss, if it shows anything else you add all the modifiers to the dice roll and compare it to the targets AC.
Just to add to this. A natural 20 rolled on an attack roll is an automatic hit AND is considered a critical hit.
"If the d20 roll for an attack is a 20, the attack hits regardless of any modifiers or the target's AC. This is called a critical hit, which is explained later in this chapter."
"CRITICAL H ITS
When you score a critical hit, you get to roll extra dice for the attack's damage against the target. Roll all of the attack's damage dice twice and add them together. Then add any relevant modifiers as normal. To speed up play, you can roll all the damage dice at once."
When you score a critical hit, you double the dice rolled to resolve damage. Static values like the +stat and +10 from sharpshooter are not doubled.
The so-called "dirty 20" is meaningless (final to hit roll that after modification is 20). If a final 20 to hit is equal to or higher than the target AC it hits, otherwise it misses. ONLY a natural 20 rolled on the die is considered an automatic hit no matter what the target AC or modifiers.
Finally, there are some abilities that increase the critical hit range - champion fighter can achieve a crit on a 19 or 20 for example. Or hexblade's curse can have a similar effect. These attacks will double the damage die if they hit, however, a naturally rolled 19 does NOT automatically hit the way a 20 does. A critical hit doubles damage, it does not automatically hit.