I don't like/play D&D or any d20 products, but on another forum someone said that D&D had no critical his system, and others refuted it. One guy claimed he had to blow the dust off part of his rulebook to find the critical hits for D&D, but they were there.

So, JOOC, does D&D have a critical hit system, is it used much and is it any good?

All weapons have a crit threat range and a multiplier. Usually this is a natural 20, and the multiplier is double damage.

If you roll a crit threat, you roll again to 'confirm' the crit. This second roll just has to be a normal to hit roll. If it hits at all, the crit is confirmed.

This means that fighters and seasoned combatants are able to take advantage of critical hits more often than less-capable combatants who just happen to roll a 20.

Even spells that are targetted can crit: so if you roll a natural 20 when using a Scorching Ray for example, that's a crit threat.

Certain weapons have an increased crit range: so a crossbow can crit on a 19 OR a 20. A Rapier can crit on an 18-20. Using this weapon you can cause critical hits more often.

Certain weapons have an increased multiplier: so while a dagger or crossbow might crit for x2 damage, something like a bow will crit for x3. The most dangerous weapons to be critted with have a x4 multiplier:  the scythe and the pick. I have been in two sessions where a scythe wielding monster critted and automatically killed a PC after the damage was totalled up.

One magical weapon quality called "Keen" basically doubles the threat range of a weapon. For a normal weapon (only crits on a 20) this means it crits on a 19 or a 20. So if applied to a rapier or scimitar (18-20 crit range) it doubles the range down to 15-20.

Certain feats can also boost your crit range.

You can read the actual rules here:

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/actionsInCombat.htm#criticalHits

The important bit: all of this is gameable stuff.

A smart player who chooses to can use feats and gear to optimize critical hits as a tactic.

As an example: right now I'm playing a halfling paladin in a friend's campaign.  This character has a build based entirely around optimized critical hits. She wields weapons with the largest possible crit threat range (kukri and rapier). Although I just hit 2nd level, I'm already planning out what I need. With a scabbard of keen edges, the 'keen edge' spell (cast by a companion) or just getting keen weapons, eventually this character crits everytime she rolls a 15 or higher.  So I'll even offer to buy the party sorcerer a couple scrolls of 'Keen Edge' as soon as he can cast them.

Then it becomes a matter of boosting BAB up as high as possible and getting multiple attacks until I'm eligible for Improved Critical (feat) at 8th level.

The guy was talking crap, others have posted how it works but yes, it does have a critical hit system and it can make a big difference in play and in character design.

Abyssal's post incidentally illustrates why I don't enjoy current D&D, the idea of planning my character levels in advance fills me with abject ennui.  Others find it adds to the fun, YMMV and all that.

Well! Often plans change. I also have a vague planof having this character go dragonborn, and either multiclassing into either rogue or favored soul.

Plus, even when you make plans you aren't locked in. The only options I've taken are a feat (weapon finesse, by the way, which is useful regardless because this character is a high-dex halfling, not a brawny muscle fighter).

The weapons I could switch out. I could drop my rapier and kukri and pick up the first halfling sized greatsword I see, or suddenly become a guy that uses bows.

There's also option for something called 'feat re-spec', which is when you go back and change out feats. This is in PHB 2 and Unearthed Arcana. Another option is the rebuild quest. (I have an actual play report about two of those rebuild quests and how we incorporated them into the storyline up here at therpgsite AP forum).

Plans can change, and over a long term campaign they will change. You can count on it. My favorite character was a tiefling bard I played in a mid-2004 campaign. He started out as an idea for a summoner (I had Spell Focus: Conjuration and Enhanced Summoning at 4th level). But eventually the character changed and I started to become more and more of a Shadow Dancer in concept (it's perfect for a tiefling bard, sonething I didn't realized when I made the initial build). So I moved towards that build by boosting my performance and stealth skills. Campaign events happened that dropped a flute-version of the Rod of Wonder into my character's hands while I was doing this and I couldn't resist using the Item Familiar feat to make that magical flute into an intelligent NPC.

Eventually I got everything I wanted. In the meantime, the story of how all these things happend was the focus of the game for me. It was very cool to have this half-demonic character with an intelligent abyssal flute (and virtuouso level performance skills) who could also summon and bind fiendish creatures. He was the archetypal charming scoundrel, demon-lover, and interplanar vagabond.

Quote from: BalbinusAbyssal's post incidentally illustrates why I don't enjoy current D&D, the idea of planning my character levels in advance fills me with abject ennui.  Others find it adds to the fun, YMMV and all that.

Not trying to convince ya, just layin' out why I like the ability to plan out characters.

Few reasons...

1) I'm working on starting my own small side business, and I'm doing the research to make a plan of how I want it to progress down the road. I don't see why an adventurer in a DnD world wouldn't want to do the same. Makes sense to me.

2) It gives my DM lots of side-quests and RP opportunities as I seek out teachers, or suppliers for things that are "off-the-beaten-path".

3) I can. What this means is that I have the ability to personalise, or customise, my character. Not all paladins are going to be carbon-copies of each other. I love that.

More on topic, I'm wondering if what the guy Nox mentioned was talking about was not so much critical hit rules, as critical hit tables. DnD has rules for crits, but they only do extra damage. There aren't crit hit locations with specific effects like in some other games. It's more abstracted. Suits me fine, but others might prefer the character maiming type of crit rules.

Or I could sum this up better. I'll put this on another thread:

Anytime you have a level-based game in a long-term campaign format, you are telling a story of progression. It makes sense to plan.

UPDATE: I agree with Sigmund. It seems this guy may have been talking about a critical hit chart type thingy.

Unless the person was talking about older editions of xD&D.

AFAIK, "Basic" D&D had no critical rules.

AD&D1 had no critical rules.  (I've often wondered where the 'double damage on natural 20 rule' came from.)

AD&D2 had an optional rule for criticals where a natural 20 would hit and allow the character to make another attack.

Quote from: BalbinusAbyssal's post incidentally illustrates why I don't enjoy current D&D, the idea of planning my character levels in advance fills me with abject ennui.  Others find it adds to the fun, YMMV and all that.

I don't like making elaborate 20 level plans either, so I don't.  I've been very satisfied with my current PC and I only think about what nifty toy I'm taking next level, and maybe the level after that.