I don't like auto-stun from a narrative point of view because it leads to silly results when fighting large monsters that wouldn't be fazed by a crit to their leg for 1/10 of their HP, and treats all monsters the same regardless of CON.
I did say that it was a Con save to avoid, right?
The massive damage rule in the DMG handles this better. If the target loses 50% of its HP from one source of damage, it makes a DC 15 CON save. On a failure, there's a 30% chance it drops to 0 HP, 20% chance it's stunned, 20% chance it can't take reactions and has disadvantage on attacks/ability checks, and 30% chance it just can't take reactions. Crits naturally have a higher chance of triggering massive damage, and this still works with non-attack spells.
The problem with that is that we're talking about unarmed strike crits, which we've established don't do any extra damage.
The DMG also has rules for inflicting lingering injuries (lose an eye, gain a limp) if a target is reduced to 0, takes a crit or fails a death saving throw by 5 or more.
I think it's smarter to take advantage of rules that are already there, have already been tested and players might already be familiar with.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
I agree with people to make the benefit from an untrained unarmed strike to be cinematic.
I'm also not worried about how it might effect a monster because think about the situation the character is IN.
The character isn't a monster or it would use a slam, claw, bite etc...
The character is a normal (monstrous?) humanoid who has been disarmed of all weapons. That character is lashing out with almost zero chance of success and rolls a crit?
Sure you could make 1 + Str mod damage do 2 + Str mod, but that's going to feel super weak. Yes, it's the Adventure League senario, but...
That said I disagree what unarmed attacks should all be treated as untrained to begin with, I think it's a dumb precedent, but a different issue.
The idea that a Fighter has trained with every simple and martial weapon in existence BUT still hasn't learned how to throw a decent punch?!
I agree with people to make the benefit from an untrained unarmed strike to be cinematic.
I'm also not worried about how it might effect a monster because think about the situation the character is IN.
The character isn't a monster or it would use a slam, claw, bite etc...
The character is a normal (monstrous?) humanoid who has been disarmed of all weapons. That character is lashing out with almost zero chance of success and rolls a crit?
Sure you could make 1 + Str mod damage do 2 + Str mod, but that's going to feel super weak. Yes, it's the Adventure League senario, but...
That said I disagree what unarmed attacks should all be treated as untrained to begin with, I think it's a dumb precedent, but a different issue.
The idea that a Fighter has trained with every simple and martial weapon in existence BUT still hasn't learned how to throw a decent punch?!
Instead of using a weapon to make a melee weapon attack, you can use an unarmed strike: a punch, kick, head-butt, or similar forceful blow (none of which count as weapons). On a hit, an unarmed strike deals bludgeoning damage equal to 1 + your Strength modifier. You are proficient with your unarmed strikes.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
The problem with that is that we're talking about unarmed strike crits, which we've established don't do any extra damage.
I was speaking more from a general perspective. If we're still talking about untrained unarmed strikes, that's also fine by me. If you're not good at punching, you're not going to stun anyone but commoners through massive damage.
The lingering injury rule still gets the job done here; there's a 30% chance of internal injury or broken ribs, which causes them to lose their action and be unable to take reactions, without all the other stuff that being stunned implies (like automatically losing concentration, being unable to move, failing STR/DEX saves). In practice it's higher because some of the other outcomes (e.g. losing a limb) flat out don't make sense for unarmed strikes. Alternatively you can replace those with other narrative flourishes like breaking fingers or their nose.
Admin on MeWe's Conservative D&D Players group, but I believe that no matter what our differences are, our love of D&D is something that should bring us together. So, if you don't start something I won't either. Fair enough?
Method Actor, Storyteller, Tactician type who plays peacemaker at the table. This fall will be my 39th year playing D&D, Gamma World, Car Wars, Talisman, Serenity and Traveller.
I think the most straightforward way would be to just increase it to 2+Str. It feels a bit weak, but then again unarmed strikes are weak in general, so that isn't surprising.
However, an option to allow the character to continue it into a Shove or a Grapple without using up another attack/bonus action would be a nice idea, too. In fact, the more I think of it, them more I feel this would be a pretty awesome option to add: Do the 1+Str damage, but then try to shove immediately as part of the same attack, rolling your contested check there and then, knocking them to the floor (prone), throwing them across the room, or grappling them if you succeed.
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I did say that it was a Con save to avoid, right?
The problem with that is that we're talking about unarmed strike crits, which we've established don't do any extra damage.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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I agree with people to make the benefit from an untrained unarmed strike to be cinematic.
I'm also not worried about how it might effect a monster because think about the situation the character is IN.
The character isn't a monster or it would use a slam, claw, bite etc...
The character is a normal (monstrous?) humanoid who has been disarmed of all weapons. That character is lashing out with almost zero chance of success and rolls a crit?
Sure you could make 1 + Str mod damage do 2 + Str mod, but that's going to feel super weak. Yes, it's the Adventure League senario, but...
That said I disagree what unarmed attacks should all be treated as untrained to begin with, I think it's a dumb precedent, but a different issue.
The idea that a Fighter has trained with every simple and martial weapon in existence BUT still hasn't learned how to throw a decent punch?!
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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Sorry, I missed that part.
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A DM could also reward an unarmed critical hit by allowing the player to start a grapple.
Admin on MeWe's Conservative D&D Players group, but I believe that no matter what our differences are, our love of D&D is something that should bring us together. So, if you don't start something I won't either. Fair enough?
Method Actor, Storyteller, Tactician type who plays peacemaker at the table. This fall will be my 39th year playing D&D, Gamma World, Car Wars, Talisman, Serenity and Traveller.
if it does crit then what happens is you hit them in the nuts
I think the most straightforward way would be to just increase it to 2+Str. It feels a bit weak, but then again unarmed strikes are weak in general, so that isn't surprising.
However, an option to allow the character to continue it into a Shove or a Grapple without using up another attack/bonus action would be a nice idea, too. In fact, the more I think of it, them more I feel this would be a pretty awesome option to add: Do the 1+Str damage, but then try to shove immediately as part of the same attack, rolling your contested check there and then, knocking them to the floor (prone), throwing them across the room, or grappling them if you succeed.