Z's Critical Hits (5e Variant Rule)
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Z's Critical Hits
Basic crit rules can lead to mediocre critical hits - A paladin rolls a natural 20 and smites their foe, only to roll lower damage than they did on their ordinary attack last turn. That's an extreme example, but we've all seen it.
This is a commonplace variant rule for critical hits, and I'm in no way taking credit for it (Save for taking credit for writing it out on this page); I'm just placing it here for easy reference.
The Existing Rules
When you roll a natural 20 on an attack roll, you double the attack's damage dice - Either by rolling each die twice, or by doubling the amount of damage after rolling it.
The Variant
With this variant rule, when you land a critical hit, the attack deals additional damage equal to the attack's maximum damage, rather than simply doubling the damage dice.
When an ability (Such as a Barbarian's Brutal Critical feature, or a Half-Orc's Savage Attacks trait) adds additional damage to a critical hit, this damage is rolled and applies separately.
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