CRITICAL HITS IDEA (No Extra Dice) just Max Damage plus Character Level and the next attack against the same creature has advantage.
Critical Hits. If a player character rolls a 20 for an attack roll with a Spell, Cantrip, Weapon or an Unarmed Strike, the attack is also a Critical Hit, which means it deals maximum damage + your character level to the target and the next attack roll against that target has Advantage.
Instead of rolling damage, you calculate the maximum amount of damage for the hit and add your character level.
Example 1: A 3rd Level character with a Strength of 16 scores a critical hit with a Longsword. A Longsword deals Slashing Damage equal to 1d8 + your Strength modifier. If you score a Critical Hit with the Longsword, it instead deals 8 (Max Longsword damage) + 3 (Strength modifier) + 3 (your character level) for 14 Slashing damage.
Example 2: A 3 Level character scores a critical hit with a Firebolt cantrip. A Firebolt cantrip deals Fire Damage equal to 1d10. If you score a Critical Hit with a Firebolt, it instead deals 10 (Max Firebolt damage) + 3 (your character level) for 13 Fire damage.
Example 3: A 5th Level character with a Strength of 16 scores a critical hit with a Longsword. A Longsword deals Slashing Damage equal to 1d8 + your Strength modifier. If you score a Critical Hit with the Longsword, it instead deals 8 (Max Longsword damage) + 3 (Strength modifier) + 5 (your character level) for 16 Slashing damage.
Example 4: A 5th Level character scores a critical hit with a Firebolt cantrip. A Firebolt cantrip deals Fire Damage equal to 2d10 at 5th level. If you score a Critical Hit with a Firebolt, it instead deals 20 (Max Firebolt damage) + 5 (your character level) for 25 Fire damage.
That's still a big gap (which will continue to grow) between martial characters and Spell Casters. Level 17 Firebolt would do 40 (Max Firebolt damage) + 17 (your character level) for 57 Fire damage A level 17 Martial (Fighter) deals 8 (Max Longsword damage) + 5 (Strength modifier) + 17 (your character level) for 30 Slashing damage.
To get a martial character to compete against a spell caster they use extra attack and action surge (fighter) but since those have their own independent hit dice rolls any critical rule can't match spell casters if they have the same critical rule.
If you want spell casters to be able to crit, simply do this: 1dx more damage. Solved. Only works on Cantrips. Still not perfect since a firebolt would do max of 20 damage and Ice Knife (1st level) would do 18 max damage, So any crit rule that only applies to cantrips would disincentivize players from using spell slots more (already avoiding it since it uses a slot) since cantrips would be able to do more damage than many spells. Since cantrips scale they will often surpass higher level spell damage if it is straight doubled. Although if only 1dx is added that may offset it, but at lower levels it would still be more worthwhile to use cantrips than spell slots due to critical.
I think it is also important not to ignore the flexibility a spell caster has. While pure martial classes have they don't have the kind of flexibility that spell casters have. I feel like arguing that a wizard should be able to keep up the same amount of damage with a basic attack as a fighter is like arguing a cleric should be able to melee like a barbarian. They have more options they can do which allows them have a wider range of function than a pure martial class.
One idea, although still far from perfect is, If a cantrip rolls a critical, it can be treated as a free action (thus allowing for another action to be taken). I'm not sure if it would be wise to extend this to spells in general but its possible. The down side would be this dissuades spell casters from using non-damage (hit die type) spells since there is always that chance of getting a free spell action.
Personally I feel the new rule for critical hits is good since it creates a more level experience between martial and caster.
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CRITICAL HITS IDEA (No Extra Dice) just Max Damage plus Character Level and the next attack against the same creature has advantage.
Critical Hits. If a player character rolls a 20 for an attack roll with a Spell, Cantrip, Weapon or an Unarmed Strike, the attack is also a Critical Hit, which means it deals maximum damage + your character level to the target and the next attack roll against that target has Advantage.
Instead of rolling damage, you calculate the maximum amount of damage for the hit and add your character level.
Example 1: A 3rd Level character with a Strength of 16 scores a critical hit with a Longsword. A Longsword deals Slashing Damage equal to 1d8 + your Strength modifier. If you score a Critical Hit with the Longsword, it instead deals 8 (Max Longsword damage) + 3 (Strength modifier) + 3 (your character level) for 14 Slashing damage.
Example 2: A 3 Level character scores a critical hit with a Firebolt cantrip. A Firebolt cantrip deals Fire Damage equal to 1d10. If you score a Critical Hit with a Firebolt, it instead deals 10 (Max Firebolt damage) + 3 (your character level) for 13 Fire damage.
Example 3: A 5th Level character with a Strength of 16 scores a critical hit with a Longsword. A Longsword deals Slashing Damage equal to 1d8 + your Strength modifier. If you score a Critical Hit with the Longsword, it instead deals 8 (Max Longsword damage) + 3 (Strength modifier) + 5 (your character level) for 16 Slashing damage.
Example 4: A 5th Level character scores a critical hit with a Firebolt cantrip. A Firebolt cantrip deals Fire Damage equal to 2d10 at 5th level. If you score a Critical Hit with a Firebolt, it instead deals 20 (Max Firebolt damage) + 5 (your character level) for 25 Fire damage.
Thoughts??
That's still a big gap (which will continue to grow) between martial characters and Spell Casters.
Level 17 Firebolt would do 40 (Max Firebolt damage) + 17 (your character level) for 57 Fire damage
A level 17 Martial (Fighter) deals 8 (Max Longsword damage) + 5 (Strength modifier) + 17 (your character level) for 30 Slashing damage.
To get a martial character to compete against a spell caster they use extra attack and action surge (fighter) but since those have their own independent hit dice rolls any critical rule can't match spell casters if they have the same critical rule.
If you want spell casters to be able to crit, simply do this: 1dx more damage. Solved. Only works on Cantrips. Still not perfect since a firebolt would do max of 20 damage and Ice Knife (1st level) would do 18 max damage, So any crit rule that only applies to cantrips would disincentivize players from using spell slots more (already avoiding it since it uses a slot) since cantrips would be able to do more damage than many spells. Since cantrips scale they will often surpass higher level spell damage if it is straight doubled. Although if only 1dx is added that may offset it, but at lower levels it would still be more worthwhile to use cantrips than spell slots due to critical.
I think it is also important not to ignore the flexibility a spell caster has. While pure martial classes have they don't have the kind of flexibility that spell casters have. I feel like arguing that a wizard should be able to keep up the same amount of damage with a basic attack as a fighter is like arguing a cleric should be able to melee like a barbarian. They have more options they can do which allows them have a wider range of function than a pure martial class.
One idea, although still far from perfect is, If a cantrip rolls a critical, it can be treated as a free action (thus allowing for another action to be taken). I'm not sure if it would be wise to extend this to spells in general but its possible. The down side would be this dissuades spell casters from using non-damage (hit die type) spells since there is always that chance of getting a free spell action.
Personally I feel the new rule for critical hits is good since it creates a more level experience between martial and caster.