Going to be switching back to D20 after several years of GMing L5R Roll and Keep system to GM. In my upcoming game I am going to have a couple sneak attack players and at least one crit build.
So with that in mind how do you describe the difference between a sneak attack and a critical attack? In theory they are both hitting a vital spot to do more damage.
Any suggestions or examples are appreciated.
I don't. There's no reason to.
how do you describe the difference between a sneak attack and a critical attack?
One is deliberate, the other is accidental. Mechanically they're not identical, but in terms of descriptive dialog they might as well be.
I don't. There's no reason to.
Well I would like to use a different descriptions for the two. I just feel that it would add more to the storytellying besides "and you score a crit. the enemy is dead. next?"
I don't. There's no reason to.Well I would like to use a different descriptions for the two. I just feel that it would add more to the storytellying besides "and you score a crit. the enemy is dead. next?"
At the last moment, just as your axe is about to bite into the <target>'s head, he/she/it turned to face you, causing the blade to bite deeply into the vulnerable eye socket. Lucky you!
You time your attack just so, reading your <target>'s movements, and just as he/she/it turns to face you, you twitch your axe so its blade bites deeply into the vulnerable eye socket. Nicely done.
This is me, reiterating that they're the same thing when it comes time to describe them. They're both extra-special damage because of an unusually effective application of violence. One is lucky, one is planned. The only thing to change is the intention portion of your monologue.
Crit: Extra hard, extra good, extra strong.
Sneak Attack: All about precision, precision, precision.
EX: "You swing your axe extra hard into his unprotected neck, severing his head" vs "You carefully aim, puncturing your opponent's lung. He splutters and chokes to death on his own blood."
Anguish: That is interesting take that I have never heard before.
Anguish and Ryjin:
The issue I have with it being accidental or extra hard is rapier/scimitar crit builds. This is a character that is using a more precise weapon in order to inflict more damage (especially with a lucky roller a 15-20 range gets a lot of crits). Based on your examples how would you distinguish such a build from a sneak attack?
Thank you in advance for any suggestions!
Anguish: That is interesting take that I have never heard before.
Anguish and Ryjin:
The issue I have with it being accidental or extra hard is rapier/scimitar crit builds. This is a character that is using a more precise weapon in order to inflict more damage (especially with a lucky roller a 15-20 range gets a lot of crits). Based on your examples how would you distinguish such a build from a sneak attack?
Thank you in advance for any suggestions!
They aren't precise, they're just sharp, obviously.
Something I've been experimenting with is that hit point damage doesn't have to reference an actual wound. Hit point damage could just as likely represent the physical exertion of turning serious blows into less serious ones.
In this sense a critical hit could represent a blow that creates an actual wound, whether that be a bloody laceration or deep hemorrhagic trauma.
Weapons with expanded critical ranges make it harder to shrug off the damage. Either they are designed to create deeper wounds (kukri) or they punch harder (crossbow).
Precision damage then is about targeting weakspots and sensitive areas. A punch to the groin could be an example.
Since AC quite often represent physical armour, I assume crits being all about finding defects (by luck if we're talking about a 20/x3 greataxe, by skill if we're talking 15-20/x2 rapier) in the armour.
"Your blade finds the joint between his shoulderguard and breastplate, and sinks deep into his unprotected body".
That's the difference between a crit-based weapon/build and one just scoring the occasinal 20. A crit-based rapier-build is using a weapon designed to find and exploit the joints and necessary weaknesses, and has trained himself to do so. A natural 20 just happens to find such a joint by sheer luck, as when an archer just happens to hit Harold Godwinsons eye in the battle of Hastings, 1066.
Sneaks are about aiming for vulnerable spots by design. In these cases, these vulnerabilities are not design flaws in the armour, but physical soft spots, such as eyes, kidney punches, knees ect.
I'd say that while a warrior is always aiming at his opponents weak spots, his opponents is also always aiming to protect those very same spots. IMO, a critical hit is a clean hit that managed to go through the opponents defenses and hit it squarely into a soft spot with all the weight and power of your weapon.
A Sneak attack is similar, but now the character is using the opponents distraction to attack at more difficult to hit spots, but not necessarily with great strength. It doesn't hit as hard as critical hit because the attacker didn't find the opportunity to make a great hit, he just managed to attack a less protected area.
e.g.:
Critical Hit: Opponent is blocking and parrying with his shield. The hero spins around and pushes the opponent's shield aside, this gives him the chance to strike straight through the opponents chest. That's a critical hit. It's not "accidental", but it's not an opportunity that arises too often in combat.
Sneak Attack: The hero didn't find a chance to make a clean hit against the enemy's chest, since that part of the body is being protected by the opponent's shield. However, by using the opponents momentary distraction, the hero manages to strike a different vital area, an exposed artery or open wound. He didn't hit harder, but where it hurts.
I've always thought of a Critical Hit as just an extremely powerful attack, ie instead of hitting your opponent's body with a lance, you impale him in the heart, or take his head clean off.
While Sneak Attacks were more just an attack that hits somewhere more important, ie instead of cutting your opponent's arm, you're able to aim for his major artery.
In my groups, Sneak Attacks aren't really special, just extra damage die. Whenever someone gets Crit - DM asks "How'd you kill him?" and the player makes up something "The tick bites his head off, the lance impales his heart, the greatsword cleaves him in half" that sort of thing, although more detailed. Crits are just more memorable.