Basically, how do you guys calculate damage when your damage is doubled? One way is has more variance, but the other way is more consistent.
Now that I think about it, are you supposed to do it one way or the other?
Ah, that makes sense.
What about using a lance while mounted and charging? Or an empowered spell?
"A critical hit means that you roll your damage more than once, with all your usual bonuses, and add the rolls together."
TIL...
Ah, that makes sense.
What about using a lance while mounted and charging? Or an empowered spell?
Same
It's a general rule. Take a look at the Multiplying Damage paragraph in the Combat Section:
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.Note: When you multiply damage more than once, each multiplier works off the original, unmultiplied damage. So if you are asked to double the damage twice, the end result is three times the normal damage.
Exception: Extra damage dice over and above a weapon's normal damage are never multiplied.
Metamagic such as Empower Spell is slightly different. You take what you rolled, and increase by 50% (multiply by 1.5). It interacts with Maximize Spell in a specific fashion: treat the base damage of the spell as maximum, then roll dice for what it would have been, had it been variable, and add 50% of that value to the maximized total. Example: an Empowered, Maximized Fireball by a 10th level caster is 10d6, maximized to 60, plus 50% of 10d6 (rolled) - so the total is 70-90, with an average of 60 + 17, or 77.
On a mounted charge, a lance gets double damage. If you crit with a Lance, it's multiplier is x3. So a mounted charge with a lance where you crit is x2 + x3, which become x4 based on the multiply damage rule. Which means you'd roll 4d8 for that lance crit.
Soooooo...a Critical hit from a Longsword under Litany of Righteousness would be 19-20x2 twice or 19-20x3?
I think the only time I've seen the multipliers go weird is when someone is told to take double/half damage, rather than inflict it. The last time I saw a reference to someone taking double damage, that character would just double the rolled number. I don't know if that would happen though.
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Although if it's going to speed your game up it means little to double the roll over rolling twice and adding. The rule is to roll but it could just be quicker to do the math and move on.
It means a different random distribution of results. 1d8x2 may have the same basic range as 2d8, but the distribution of results is substantially different.
you roll more dice.
Our group just multiplies the result, but that is a (commonly used) house rule.