So my friend and I were discussing critical hits and a question came up. I know that on a critical hit you multiply the weapon damage as well as strength; however, with something like the Flameblade spell, it does 1d8 +1 /2 caster lvls, do you multiply the extra damage from your caster level.
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So my friend and I were discussing critical hits and a question came up. I know that on a critical hit you multiply the weapon damage as well as strength; however, with something like the Flameblade spell, it does 1d8 +1 /2 caster lvls, do you multiply the extra damage from your caster level.
You multiple the weapon dice (1d8 in this case). You multiple static bonus (strength, caster level, etc). You don't multiple extra dice (sneak attack, flaming property, etc.) Yes, you would multiple the damage from your caster level.
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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So my friend and I were discussing critical hits and a question came up. I know that on a critical hit you multiply the weapon damage as well as strength; however, with something like the Flameblade spell, it does 1d8 +1 /2 caster lvls, do you multiply the extra damage from your caster level.
Have a look:
Multiplying Damage: Sometimes you multiply damage by some factor, such as on a critical hit. Roll the damage (with all modifiers) multiple times and total the results.
So you multiply not *specifically* the STR mod, but ALL modifiers - it seems clear that this would include magical enhancements on weapons and "per level" damage mods on spells. The only thing that doesn't get multiplied is extra dice that are not part of the attack, such as a Rogue's Sneak Attack damage.
EDIT: Ninja'd. By a goat. Goat'd?
So my friend and I were discussing critical hits and a question came up. I know that on a critical hit you multiply the weapon damage as well as strength; however, with something like the Flameblade spell, it does 1d8 +1 /2 caster lvls, do you multiply the extra damage from your caster level.
Yes. The entire emaount, including the scaling value, is the spells damage. As such it all gets multiplied on a crit.
Does this include things such as Weapon Spec, and Weapon Training for a Fighter? How about the Power Attack feat. If so, then an 8th level fighter with a 20 in his strength who is using a Scythe would get an automatic +80 to his damage on a critical hit. That doesn't seem balanced to me...
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Does this include things such as Weapon Spec, and Weapon Training for a Fighter? How about the Power Attack feat. If so, then an 8th level fighter with a 20 in his strength who is using a Scythe would get an automatic +80 to his damage on a critical hit. That doesn't seem balanced to me...
And yet, that's the way it works
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Does this include things such as Weapon Spec, and Weapon Training for a Fighter? How about the Power Attack feat. If so, then an 8th level fighter with a 20 in his strength who is using a Scythe would get an automatic +80 to his damage on a critical hit. That doesn't seem balanced to me...
So a fighter with very eggs-in-one-basket stats, halfway to the core level cap, having spent multiple feats to increase damage, and using a two-handed weapon whose sole purpose is high crit damage, shouldn't get a ridiculous damage mod on said crits? Seems alright to me.
I guess so, it just doesn't seem right that an 8th level fighter can almost 1 hit a CR 9 creature...
I guess so, it just doesn't seem right that an 8th level fighter can almost 1 hit a CR 9 creature...
A crit with this weapon will happen no more than 10% of the time, worst case. That's if the weapon is keen and you always get lucky enough to confirm the crit. A crit in more normal circumstances probably happens less than 4% of the time for weapons with larger crit bonuses. If it occasionally takes down a baddie, it makes the players feel good, but doesn't happen so much that it requires a nerf.
Half the time the crit won't even be needed to kill the monster either....more than half the time probably. He can only one shot it with his crit if he is the first to hit the monster in the first round of combat. If the monster has 90 hp, and the fighter goes third, the monster is probably already down around 50 or 40 hp. So really, with huge crit weapons like a scythe, most of the time the numbers are big on crits, but also overkill. Great....the fighter did 105 damage on a crit in the second round of the fight...but the monster only had 28 hp left.
The odds are no greater or lower that a weapon will crit a creature at full hit points and lower hit points. While a lot of damage may be wasted on a crit, the odds are just as good that a lower crit weapon would not have dropped a target.
The largest variable on crits is number of attacks and threat range.
I don't believe that's true, but there is really no way of proving it aside from anecdotal experience. I think that the majority of swings taken at monsters are when the monsters already have some damage on them. If you have a weapon that one shots on a crit, that means that some of the crit will be wasted the majority of the time. Does that mean a lower crit weapon is better? I dunno. Alls I'm saying is that the "useful" damage from a x4 crit weapon is often going to be less than the big numbers seem to say.
If you need less damage to drop a creature, you're probably better off with a higher crit range, but lower crit multiplier. You'll end up with less "wasted" damage in the long run. Though there are certainly a few times here and there where it would have been a killing crit with a scythe but is only a fairly injurious crit with a falchion. There's a reason the DPR kings builds are built with Falchions and not Scythes after all.