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Hello again!
As I gear up to start my Pathfinder campaign, I wanted to introduce a few house-rules that I thought would enhance the game and speed up combat. One of them is a critical strike whenever you roll a natural 20 (no modifiers to the dice), which I like much better than rolling a 20 then confirming it with another roll within the threat range. Now one of my players wants to know which feats he should or shouldn't take since I'm nixing the comfirm-critical roll. My question is this: by taking out the confirmation roll am I seriously borking up combat, or has anyone else done this in their games? Thanks in advance for responding.
DK
One thing to take into consideration is the feat Critical Focus is now obsolete but it is still a pre-req for many other feats.
I like having a critical hit chart for confirmed criticals+damage but only +damage on unconfirmed.
Makes the feats relevant and takes the sting out of unconfirmed.
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I think it's a bad idea.
One result is that, when your 15th level combat god is attacked by random goblin number 26 armed with a small knife for peeling fruit, then every single time the goblin hits it will be a crit, because he needs a 20 to hit. This makes no sense.
Another thing: the confirmation roll doesn't need to fall into the weapon's crit range in order to confirm, it justs needs to hit to confirm.
What about weapons that crit on more then a 20?
What about x3 or even x4 criticals?
My immediate thought is that it would make mooks much more of a threat, and make melee a little more dangerous in general.
If your goal is to speed up combat, I think there are probably better options. The rolling to confirm a critical is usually an exciting moment where everyone at the table is eagerly anticipating the result... why would you want to get rid of that?
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I fail to see how eliminating 5% - 25% of the dice rolls speeds up the game. Teaching the players to have their bonuses added up speeds up combat, giving them a time limit to make decisions speeds up combat, but two seconds of dice clatter doesn't really make an impact, especially when it mucks with so many combat builds...
I like this idea a lot; which chart do you use and where can I get it?I like having a critical hit chart for confirmed criticals+damage but only +damage on unconfirmed.
Makes the feats relevant and takes the sting out of unconfirmed.
We have a custom chart that's unfortunately offline and in a binder in the DM's basement. I suggest you just make your own or scour google for a good one.
Just wanted to pop in here and provide an alternative that my tables use for critical hits.
When a PC rolls a critical threat (whatever that number may be for their particular weapon of choice - including critical feats) but fails the confirmation roll, that attack does maximum damage, but is not multiplied. For example, if a PC has a longsword, a STR score of 15, and the player rolls a 19, (and that 19 beats the target's AC) but then rolls a 3 for confirmation. They would do 10 (8+2) damage on that attack. We also do two twenties (just twenties, not a critical threat followed by another "critical" roll) in a row equals max damage multiplied. So in that same scenario, if the player rolled a twenty and followed it with another twenty they would do 20 ((8+2)*2) damage. This way that critical roll always ends up producing "more" than just a normal hit, so there isn't that let down feeling.
I recall seeing one system where action points were combined with critical hits and fumbles. In Pathfinder, you could probably do the same with hero points. It would work as follows:
When a player rolls a natural 1, the player can elect to turn a simple miss by him into a fumble. The DM then decides on what unfortunate event happens to him. Why would he do that? Because after that event, he receives a hero point.
Similarly, when a player rolls a natural 20 (or whatever number qualifies as a critical threat, if applicable), he can spend a hero point to turn the hit into a critical hit. You might actually want to enhance what critical hits do with this option.
The DM would have the same option when a foe rolls a natural 20 -- he can convert that hit into a critical hit, but the target of that attack receives a hero point. The limit of 3 hero points for any single player character would not apply in this case.
Feats like Critical Focus that provide bonuses to the confirmation roll might do something like let you confirm one critical hit per day without spending a hero point.