Does anyone allow a character or monster to avoid all damage on natural 20 on a saving throw verses an AOE spell, i.e. fireball? If so, what do you do if same character/monster rolls a critical fail?
The Homebrew forum, or possible the Dungeon Master forum, is best for discussion on Homebrew rules used in games.
In the actual rules there is no such thing as a critical success or failure on a saving throw (with exception of death saving throws). The rolls of 1 to 20 on the d20 are treated only as the number rolled - no autosuccess or failure and no changes to effect of succeeding or failing beyond that the saving throw trigger says.
This is for normal saving throws. In Death Saving Throws criticals are still possible with a critical fail (natural 1) being 2 failed death saves and a critical success (nat 20) gaining you 1 hp.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Does anyone allow a character or monster to avoid all damage on natural 20 on a saving throw verses an AOE spell, i.e. fireball? If so, what do you do if same character/monster rolls a critical fail?
Note that there are no critical successes for saving throws (i.e. a 20 might even fail), nor critical fails at all. That said: I sometimes provide a narrative embellishment for a natural 20 (which might even include adding cover or somesuch). I sometimes also provide narrative embellishments for natural 1's too, but these rarely have a mechanical effect... possibly causing the prone condition or a dropped weapon (assuming it's unlikely to affect the combat). This is just for fun though, and my players have no expectation that these are the rules.
I usually do not allow it and stick to RAW. However I'm willing to entertain the idea if it makes sense thematically or dramatically and there is no monk or rogue in the party who naturally have Evasion, so I'm not stepping on their class feature toes. Or instead of taking no damage, maybe I'll let them do something extra cool. If they want maybe they got some extra movement and are in a slightly better position their next turn.
In short, it's a bad idea because it makes combat way more swingy. 5% of the time you roll a save, it has the potential to make the spell entirely meaningless. Part of the balancing of many damaging spells based on saving throws (not including cantrips) is that they still do half damage on a successful save. (And also allowing nat. 1s on saves to do double damage, as proposed in my linked question, would only make it more swingy, not less.)
In addition, there are class features like Evasion for the monk and rogue that specifically grant the ability to take half damage on a failed save and no damage on a success. Such a house-rule would essentially give part of that feature away to everyone (though I think the exact statistical effect of your house-rule on Evasion depends on the target number).
I'd just run it as written. I don't really see the benefit of such a house-rule, especially as compared to the negatives.
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Does anyone allow a character or monster to avoid all damage on natural 20 on a saving throw verses an AOE spell, i.e. fireball? If so, what do you do if same character/monster rolls a critical fail?
The Homebrew forum, or possible the Dungeon Master forum, is best for discussion on Homebrew rules used in games.
In the actual rules there is no such thing as a critical success or failure on a saving throw (with exception of death saving throws). The rolls of 1 to 20 on the d20 are treated only as the number rolled - no autosuccess or failure and no changes to effect of succeeding or failing beyond that the saving throw trigger says.
This is for normal saving throws. In Death Saving Throws criticals are still possible with a critical fail (natural 1) being 2 failed death saves and a critical success (nat 20) gaining you 1 hp.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Note that there are no critical successes for saving throws (i.e. a 20 might even fail), nor critical fails at all. That said: I sometimes provide a narrative embellishment for a natural 20 (which might even include adding cover or somesuch). I sometimes also provide narrative embellishments for natural 1's too, but these rarely have a mechanical effect... possibly causing the prone condition or a dropped weapon (assuming it's unlikely to affect the combat). This is just for fun though, and my players have no expectation that these are the rules.
I just stick with RAW. 1s and 20s don't have special meaning outside of attack rolls, all that matters is the modified result.
And death saving throws
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And death saving throws. Thanks.
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InsiderI usually do not allow it and stick to RAW. However I'm willing to entertain the idea if it makes sense thematically or dramatically and there is no monk or rogue in the party who naturally have Evasion, so I'm not stepping on their class feature toes. Or instead of taking no damage, maybe I'll let them do something extra cool. If they want maybe they got some extra movement and are in a slightly better position their next turn.
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ModeratorRelated: Should rolling a 1 on a spell saving throw double that spell's damage?
In short, it's a bad idea because it makes combat way more swingy. 5% of the time you roll a save, it has the potential to make the spell entirely meaningless. Part of the balancing of many damaging spells based on saving throws (not including cantrips) is that they still do half damage on a successful save. (And also allowing nat. 1s on saves to do double damage, as proposed in my linked question, would only make it more swingy, not less.)
In addition, there are class features like Evasion for the monk and rogue that specifically grant the ability to take half damage on a failed save and no damage on a success. Such a house-rule would essentially give part of that feature away to everyone (though I think the exact statistical effect of your house-rule on Evasion depends on the target number).
I'd just run it as written. I don't really see the benefit of such a house-rule, especially as compared to the negatives.