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  Critical Hits
Posted by: Carl on 6/21/2010 6:33:18 PM

I haven't posted my system yet, because there isn't much of one, but here goes. This is not entirely my system. I learned it from a guy named Bob that I gamed with 20-some years ago. He was a good DM and ran a good group and shaped a lot of my DM and player personality. Anyway, this is my interpretation of his recipe.

I use critical hits because rolling a 20 is fun and it brings a level of what I think of as Casino Excitement to the game. If you can hit something with a 20, and you roll a 20, you get a critical hit. This allows you to make an immediate, additional attack. If you keep rolling 20s, you can keep swinging. You can even switch targets, and you may "adjust" your position once to get at more enemies if it comes to that.

AD&D is an abstract system. It's not supposed to detail every swing and step. It says this repeatedly and even rails against critical hit systems. It also says that the rules are guidelines. I realize that renders everything in the books to a discussion point, but so be it. This is supposed to be an adventure for everyone, right?

This critical hit system reflects a series of well-placed, expert swings on your target over the course of 1 minute of fighting. Since the system is an abstract, we can easily include missiles, but you must make sure that you don't run out of ammo before you run out of 20s.

Questions?



 
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Posted by: Nick on 6/21/2010 11:45:26 PM
                It's so simple and straightforward. While this is not as flashy as other critical hit systems, the point about the abstract combat system is well taken. Hit points are such a common idea in games these days that one can easily forget that.
                



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