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The rule states that, "You immediately move your initiative position to directly before the creature or effect that reduced you to 0 HP."

Since the actor doing the damage is the Fighter, to me that's a strong case for using "creature" instead of "effect". If anything a creature does is considered an effect, then there's no reason to have "creature" in that sentence. I believe "effect" applies to environmental hazards or traps that have a place in the initiative order.

Since the Fighter is the "creature" that brought the Trolls to 0, the Trolls move to in front of the Fighter.

First off, apologies if this has already been posted. I did a couple quick searches but didn't find it.

Second, this does use a variant rule (at GM discretion, enemies can follow the PC rules for changing initiative order upon reaching 0 HP, CRB page 459) and is extremely contrived. However, I think it's fun nonetheless.

The relevant actors are Troll A, Troll B, and Fighter.

The Trolls have AC 20, Regeneration 20, and 115 HP.

The Fighter has Barbarian Dedication (for Rage), Boundless Reprisals (Reaction at the start of each opponent's turn, only usable that turn), a Belt of Giant Strength (base Strength of 22) and a +3 Major Striking Holy Frost Shock Thundering Orichalcum Mace.

The Fighter's attack bonus is +38: 28 (Proficiency) + 7 (Str Mod) + 3 (+3 Major Striking Orichalcum Mace)

The Fighter's minimum damage while Raging is 21 (42 on a crit): 7 (Str mod) + 4 (Weapon Specialization) + 4 (+3 Major Striking Orichalcum Mace) + 4 (Holy, Frost, Shock, Thundering) + 2 (Rage).

The Fighter's maximum damage is 53 (106 on a crit): 7 (Str mod) + 4 (Weapon Specialization) + 16 (+3 Major Striking Orichalcum Mace) + 24 (Holy, Frost, Shock, Thundering) + 2 (Rage).

Therefore, the Fighter is guaranteed to hit a Troll on an attack for at least 21 damage (a roll of 1 would normally be a Critical Success so it is downgraded to a success). The Fighter is also incapable of one-shotting a Troll, even on a max damage crit (though this isn't terribly relevant).

Suppose the Initiative order is Troll A > Troll B > Fighter, the Fighter is Raging, each Troll is at 1 HP, and each Troll is adjacent to the Fighter.

Troll A's 1st turn: Troll A regains 20 HP from Regeneration and goes to 21 HP. The Fighter gains a Reaction. Troll A Strides 5 ft (staying adjacent to the Fighter), provoking an Attack of Opportunity. The Fighter does a minimum of 21 damage, bringing Troll A to 0 HP. Troll A moves in the Initiative order to directly ahead of the Fighter. Initiative order is now Troll B > Troll A > Fighter.

Troll B's 1st turn: The same thing happens as with Troll A. Initiative order is now Troll A > Troll B > Fighter.

Troll A's 2nd turn: Troll A regains 20 HP from Regeneration and goes to 20 HP. Troll A stands up, provoking an Attack of Opportunity. The Fighter does a minimum of 21 damage, bringing Troll A to 0 and shifting the Initiative order.

Troll B's 2nd turn: The same as with Troll A.

Repeat ad nauseam. By constantly taking attacks of opportunity, the Fighter has prevented themself from taking another turn. Because of Regeneration, the Trolls will never die until their Regeneration is turned off, which the Fighter's weapon cannot do.

tqomins wrote:

CRB p.278, Critical Hits. This section misstates the rule for critical hits, saying that any nat20 attack roll is a critical hit.

I'm certain you're incorrect and that the text is correct. A Natural 20 is a critical success.

I had trouble wrapping my head around the whole "degrees of success" thing, too, especially with the "by 10 or more."

A natural 20 is only a Critical Success if you would succeed on the task with a roll of 20.

On the scale of Critical Failure/Failure/Success/Critical Success, natural 20s move you one step closer to Critical Success. If you're attacking something that has AC 30 and you only have a +6 to hit, your 20 gives you a 26. This isn't enough to hit the AC, but it is high enough to avoid a Critical Failure. Therefore, your Failure becomes a Success. If the AC is less than or equal to 26, you would have a Critical Success. If the AC is greater than or equal to 36, then your 26 would be a Critical Failure and your natural 20 would only bring you to a Failure.

The same applies for natural 1s, but they move you towards Critical Failure.

54
Name: TBD
ABC: Elf/Gambler/Rogue (Cleric Dedication)
Weapon: Whip/Hand Crossbow if proficient, otherwise the highest damage finesse weapons

Relic hunter that specializes in locating and retrieving artifacts/items of significance for their faith.