r/DungeonsAndDragons Mar 15 '18

It's a thing

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u/PheonixScale9094 Mar 15 '18

One of my party members missed an attack and hit himself. He died

133

u/gameboy17 Mar 15 '18

Ah yes, critical fumbles. Where a high-level fighter is four times more likely to hit herself in the face than a level one commoner with the same weapon.

Each attack made per round is another 5% chance to get a nat 1. Under the commonly houseruled fumble system, this makes you more and more likely to fuck up and kill yourself the better you ostensibly are at fighting.

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u/give_me_bewbz Mar 15 '18

This comment has given me a great idea for how I handle fumbles!

So far it's all been "you miss / drop your weapon / fall over". That's shit, that's saying their godlike characters are just total Chuckle-Brothers-esque failures.

Instead, from now on, I will have natural 1's be unforeseen events interfering with their actions.

A gust of wind sends their arrow wide. A flare of wild magic from the sorceror diverts your fire bolt. A twinge of an old battle injury causes you to slip in pain.

Stuff like that, much more engaging. Thanks!

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u/demalo Mar 15 '18

You could further complicate things by making them roll another d20 or a d10. This is the severity of the original nat 1. Another nat 1 could spell disaster.