After successfully hitting with an attack roll, when rolling for damage, if you roll a 1, is that a negative...











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Our dm is treating our "1" damage rolls as a natural 1. So when you roll a 1d4 and you do 1 dmg (after succeeding hit dice) we get an especially bad outcome. Is this normal procedure?










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  • Welcome to rpg.se! Have you taken the tour? It's a great place to start. This is an excellent first question. Thanks for participating and happy gaming!
    – linksassin
    18 hours ago






  • 4




    This is a related answer about critical fails, and what's wrong with them, by @KRyan that I think is worth the time to read. I'd share it with your DM. Even though it's an answer for 3.5e, the same punishment factor on PCs (who roll dice a lot and who will thus get a lot of 1's) is worth consideration.
    – KorvinStarmast
    8 hours ago








  • 2




    What if there are multiple damage dice rolled? Does a rogue keep getting a higher chance of failure when they add sneak attack dice?
    – Mookuh
    7 hours ago






  • 1




    Does this DM also give you a critical success when you roll a 4 on your d4 damage die?
    – Mark Wells
    3 hours ago















up vote
29
down vote

favorite












Our dm is treating our "1" damage rolls as a natural 1. So when you roll a 1d4 and you do 1 dmg (after succeeding hit dice) we get an especially bad outcome. Is this normal procedure?










share|improve this question









New contributor




LarK is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.




















  • Welcome to rpg.se! Have you taken the tour? It's a great place to start. This is an excellent first question. Thanks for participating and happy gaming!
    – linksassin
    18 hours ago






  • 4




    This is a related answer about critical fails, and what's wrong with them, by @KRyan that I think is worth the time to read. I'd share it with your DM. Even though it's an answer for 3.5e, the same punishment factor on PCs (who roll dice a lot and who will thus get a lot of 1's) is worth consideration.
    – KorvinStarmast
    8 hours ago








  • 2




    What if there are multiple damage dice rolled? Does a rogue keep getting a higher chance of failure when they add sneak attack dice?
    – Mookuh
    7 hours ago






  • 1




    Does this DM also give you a critical success when you roll a 4 on your d4 damage die?
    – Mark Wells
    3 hours ago













up vote
29
down vote

favorite









up vote
29
down vote

favorite











Our dm is treating our "1" damage rolls as a natural 1. So when you roll a 1d4 and you do 1 dmg (after succeeding hit dice) we get an especially bad outcome. Is this normal procedure?










share|improve this question









New contributor




LarK is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











Our dm is treating our "1" damage rolls as a natural 1. So when you roll a 1d4 and you do 1 dmg (after succeeding hit dice) we get an especially bad outcome. Is this normal procedure?







dnd-5e damage






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edited 17 hours ago









V2Blast

18.1k248114




18.1k248114






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asked 18 hours ago









LarK

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LarK is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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Check out our Code of Conduct.












  • Welcome to rpg.se! Have you taken the tour? It's a great place to start. This is an excellent first question. Thanks for participating and happy gaming!
    – linksassin
    18 hours ago






  • 4




    This is a related answer about critical fails, and what's wrong with them, by @KRyan that I think is worth the time to read. I'd share it with your DM. Even though it's an answer for 3.5e, the same punishment factor on PCs (who roll dice a lot and who will thus get a lot of 1's) is worth consideration.
    – KorvinStarmast
    8 hours ago








  • 2




    What if there are multiple damage dice rolled? Does a rogue keep getting a higher chance of failure when they add sneak attack dice?
    – Mookuh
    7 hours ago






  • 1




    Does this DM also give you a critical success when you roll a 4 on your d4 damage die?
    – Mark Wells
    3 hours ago


















  • Welcome to rpg.se! Have you taken the tour? It's a great place to start. This is an excellent first question. Thanks for participating and happy gaming!
    – linksassin
    18 hours ago






  • 4




    This is a related answer about critical fails, and what's wrong with them, by @KRyan that I think is worth the time to read. I'd share it with your DM. Even though it's an answer for 3.5e, the same punishment factor on PCs (who roll dice a lot and who will thus get a lot of 1's) is worth consideration.
    – KorvinStarmast
    8 hours ago








  • 2




    What if there are multiple damage dice rolled? Does a rogue keep getting a higher chance of failure when they add sneak attack dice?
    – Mookuh
    7 hours ago






  • 1




    Does this DM also give you a critical success when you roll a 4 on your d4 damage die?
    – Mark Wells
    3 hours ago
















Welcome to rpg.se! Have you taken the tour? It's a great place to start. This is an excellent first question. Thanks for participating and happy gaming!
– linksassin
18 hours ago




Welcome to rpg.se! Have you taken the tour? It's a great place to start. This is an excellent first question. Thanks for participating and happy gaming!
– linksassin
18 hours ago




4




4




This is a related answer about critical fails, and what's wrong with them, by @KRyan that I think is worth the time to read. I'd share it with your DM. Even though it's an answer for 3.5e, the same punishment factor on PCs (who roll dice a lot and who will thus get a lot of 1's) is worth consideration.
– KorvinStarmast
8 hours ago






This is a related answer about critical fails, and what's wrong with them, by @KRyan that I think is worth the time to read. I'd share it with your DM. Even though it's an answer for 3.5e, the same punishment factor on PCs (who roll dice a lot and who will thus get a lot of 1's) is worth consideration.
– KorvinStarmast
8 hours ago






2




2




What if there are multiple damage dice rolled? Does a rogue keep getting a higher chance of failure when they add sneak attack dice?
– Mookuh
7 hours ago




What if there are multiple damage dice rolled? Does a rogue keep getting a higher chance of failure when they add sneak attack dice?
– Mookuh
7 hours ago




1




1




Does this DM also give you a critical success when you roll a 4 on your d4 damage die?
– Mark Wells
3 hours ago




Does this DM also give you a critical success when you roll a 4 on your d4 damage die?
– Mark Wells
3 hours ago










4 Answers
4






active

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up vote
81
down vote













No, this is not normal.



By the book, critical failures only (kind of) happen on death saving throws.



Even for DMs that use crit fails on attack rolls, they are usually only on the attack roll (the d20), not the damage roll (the d4 in your example).



Having a 25% chance of a crit fail on a dagger attack is completely ridiculous!






share|improve this answer



















  • 7




    Exactly what i explained to him its easier to not attack
    – LarK
    18 hours ago






  • 8




    Also, technically a nat. 1 even on a death save is not called a "critical failure"; it just says it counts as two failures.
    – V2Blast
    17 hours ago






  • 13




    I'd hate to be the guy at the table who decides to cast a high level magic missiles. "Yeah so that's... ehm... 6 1's?" - "Yeah, your magic missiles rebound off the guy's shield and strike you dead. Roll a new character."
    – Theik
    16 hours ago






  • 4




    Or a high-level rogue rolling all those d6s for sneak attack…
    – Christopher
    13 hours ago






  • 3




    Pretty ridiculous with daggers, and low level monks are screwed...
    – fabian
    12 hours ago




















up vote
12
down vote













No its not normal and its unfair to a lot of builds



Nothing in the rules calls for a critical fail on damage rolls, not even the DMG optional rule on critical failure.



Anything that rolls a lot of small dice for damage will be at a disadvantage. Beyond that, anything that isn't rolling as big a die as possible for damage is disadvantaged. This unfairness includes rogues, spells like magic missile or fireball, or cloud of daggers, or basically anything other than a 2 handed weapon focused character. A d4 damage die has 3 times as much chance to crit fail' as a d12 using this rule.






share|improve this answer























  • This seems like a commentary to how the dm calls for critical fail, instead of answering "is this normal?"
    – Vylix
    8 hours ago






  • 1




    Ive updated my answer to more clearly say its not normal.
    – Chris
    8 hours ago


















up vote
5
down vote













What? No. Stop that. A damage roll just gives you the numerical value for how many hit points a creature loses as result of a successful attack. There should be no narrative outcomes of this except things like, "they got a good scratch on the arm" or "they're limpy and coughing up blood now" to visualize how the creature's overall health is as a result of the attack. This is an incorrect use of the "critical failure" which is primarily designed as a worst-case-scenario on ability checks (when a character is doing something with risks and consequences). It really shouldn't even apply to simple tasks that a character would normally excel at (you shouldn't crit, nor even roll dice, to put on your boots). Critical failures are designed for when a character wants to sweet talk a guard into opening a protected door or swing from tree branch to tree branch like Tarzan. These actions have real consequences (both negative and positive) and so both a guaranteed success (20) and a guaranteed failure (1) are part of the game's chance systems. A d4 damage roll is not part of any chance system built into the game, other than how much damage is done (e.g. a little, some, or a lot)...plus, if a damage roll is taking place, the character has ALREADY SUCCEEDED in what they were trying to do! :)



Oh, and all that said...there is no mention of critical failures in Fifth Edition. Critical hits yes, but as far as rules go, critical misses are not even mentioned in the Player's Handbook or the Dungeon Master's Guide. I assume you are playing with the "house rule" of using critical failures as your DM has gone to an extreme, but the point of order discussed by others here is definitely worth noting as there are no official rules in 5e for critical failures.






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    up vote
    4
    down vote













    No



    I'd possibly say a natural 1 on an Attack-roll might be a critical failure
    (e.g. You went to go skewer your opponent and accidentally let go of your weapon, so now you're unarmed and your weapon needs to be retrieved or re-roll an attack against another nearby target [possibly friendly] or something of that ilk, where you're now disadvantaged). I figure if there's a 5% chance of doubling damage, there's an equal 5% chance of royally flubbing it, and just to make things 'interesting'.



    However, Damage rolls are NEVER treated as failures (or critical failures). Of course, resistances and hardnesses could reduce damages to zero -- i.e. you hit the target, but, failed to cause damage.



    I'm not sure how/why a 1 on a damage roll would be a critical failure...I'm just trying to see/justify a rational how certain weapons would have a huge chance of failure and if so, does rolling a natural max die roll increase damage??
    Personally, I can't see ANY rationalization of this.






    share|improve this answer



















    • 2




      I like the meat of your answer, but I would like if you made it more clear that the "critical failure" aspect is a house rule and that normal play has no such implication.
      – goodguy5
      6 hours ago











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    4 Answers
    4






    active

    oldest

    votes








    4 Answers
    4






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes








    up vote
    81
    down vote













    No, this is not normal.



    By the book, critical failures only (kind of) happen on death saving throws.



    Even for DMs that use crit fails on attack rolls, they are usually only on the attack roll (the d20), not the damage roll (the d4 in your example).



    Having a 25% chance of a crit fail on a dagger attack is completely ridiculous!






    share|improve this answer



















    • 7




      Exactly what i explained to him its easier to not attack
      – LarK
      18 hours ago






    • 8




      Also, technically a nat. 1 even on a death save is not called a "critical failure"; it just says it counts as two failures.
      – V2Blast
      17 hours ago






    • 13




      I'd hate to be the guy at the table who decides to cast a high level magic missiles. "Yeah so that's... ehm... 6 1's?" - "Yeah, your magic missiles rebound off the guy's shield and strike you dead. Roll a new character."
      – Theik
      16 hours ago






    • 4




      Or a high-level rogue rolling all those d6s for sneak attack…
      – Christopher
      13 hours ago






    • 3




      Pretty ridiculous with daggers, and low level monks are screwed...
      – fabian
      12 hours ago

















    up vote
    81
    down vote













    No, this is not normal.



    By the book, critical failures only (kind of) happen on death saving throws.



    Even for DMs that use crit fails on attack rolls, they are usually only on the attack roll (the d20), not the damage roll (the d4 in your example).



    Having a 25% chance of a crit fail on a dagger attack is completely ridiculous!






    share|improve this answer



















    • 7




      Exactly what i explained to him its easier to not attack
      – LarK
      18 hours ago






    • 8




      Also, technically a nat. 1 even on a death save is not called a "critical failure"; it just says it counts as two failures.
      – V2Blast
      17 hours ago






    • 13




      I'd hate to be the guy at the table who decides to cast a high level magic missiles. "Yeah so that's... ehm... 6 1's?" - "Yeah, your magic missiles rebound off the guy's shield and strike you dead. Roll a new character."
      – Theik
      16 hours ago






    • 4




      Or a high-level rogue rolling all those d6s for sneak attack…
      – Christopher
      13 hours ago






    • 3




      Pretty ridiculous with daggers, and low level monks are screwed...
      – fabian
      12 hours ago















    up vote
    81
    down vote










    up vote
    81
    down vote









    No, this is not normal.



    By the book, critical failures only (kind of) happen on death saving throws.



    Even for DMs that use crit fails on attack rolls, they are usually only on the attack roll (the d20), not the damage roll (the d4 in your example).



    Having a 25% chance of a crit fail on a dagger attack is completely ridiculous!






    share|improve this answer














    No, this is not normal.



    By the book, critical failures only (kind of) happen on death saving throws.



    Even for DMs that use crit fails on attack rolls, they are usually only on the attack roll (the d20), not the damage roll (the d4 in your example).



    Having a 25% chance of a crit fail on a dagger attack is completely ridiculous!







    share|improve this answer














    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer








    edited 16 hours ago

























    answered 18 hours ago









    Adeptus

    20k257103




    20k257103








    • 7




      Exactly what i explained to him its easier to not attack
      – LarK
      18 hours ago






    • 8




      Also, technically a nat. 1 even on a death save is not called a "critical failure"; it just says it counts as two failures.
      – V2Blast
      17 hours ago






    • 13




      I'd hate to be the guy at the table who decides to cast a high level magic missiles. "Yeah so that's... ehm... 6 1's?" - "Yeah, your magic missiles rebound off the guy's shield and strike you dead. Roll a new character."
      – Theik
      16 hours ago






    • 4




      Or a high-level rogue rolling all those d6s for sneak attack…
      – Christopher
      13 hours ago






    • 3




      Pretty ridiculous with daggers, and low level monks are screwed...
      – fabian
      12 hours ago
















    • 7




      Exactly what i explained to him its easier to not attack
      – LarK
      18 hours ago






    • 8




      Also, technically a nat. 1 even on a death save is not called a "critical failure"; it just says it counts as two failures.
      – V2Blast
      17 hours ago






    • 13




      I'd hate to be the guy at the table who decides to cast a high level magic missiles. "Yeah so that's... ehm... 6 1's?" - "Yeah, your magic missiles rebound off the guy's shield and strike you dead. Roll a new character."
      – Theik
      16 hours ago






    • 4




      Or a high-level rogue rolling all those d6s for sneak attack…
      – Christopher
      13 hours ago






    • 3




      Pretty ridiculous with daggers, and low level monks are screwed...
      – fabian
      12 hours ago










    7




    7




    Exactly what i explained to him its easier to not attack
    – LarK
    18 hours ago




    Exactly what i explained to him its easier to not attack
    – LarK
    18 hours ago




    8




    8




    Also, technically a nat. 1 even on a death save is not called a "critical failure"; it just says it counts as two failures.
    – V2Blast
    17 hours ago




    Also, technically a nat. 1 even on a death save is not called a "critical failure"; it just says it counts as two failures.
    – V2Blast
    17 hours ago




    13




    13




    I'd hate to be the guy at the table who decides to cast a high level magic missiles. "Yeah so that's... ehm... 6 1's?" - "Yeah, your magic missiles rebound off the guy's shield and strike you dead. Roll a new character."
    – Theik
    16 hours ago




    I'd hate to be the guy at the table who decides to cast a high level magic missiles. "Yeah so that's... ehm... 6 1's?" - "Yeah, your magic missiles rebound off the guy's shield and strike you dead. Roll a new character."
    – Theik
    16 hours ago




    4




    4




    Or a high-level rogue rolling all those d6s for sneak attack…
    – Christopher
    13 hours ago




    Or a high-level rogue rolling all those d6s for sneak attack…
    – Christopher
    13 hours ago




    3




    3




    Pretty ridiculous with daggers, and low level monks are screwed...
    – fabian
    12 hours ago






    Pretty ridiculous with daggers, and low level monks are screwed...
    – fabian
    12 hours ago














    up vote
    12
    down vote













    No its not normal and its unfair to a lot of builds



    Nothing in the rules calls for a critical fail on damage rolls, not even the DMG optional rule on critical failure.



    Anything that rolls a lot of small dice for damage will be at a disadvantage. Beyond that, anything that isn't rolling as big a die as possible for damage is disadvantaged. This unfairness includes rogues, spells like magic missile or fireball, or cloud of daggers, or basically anything other than a 2 handed weapon focused character. A d4 damage die has 3 times as much chance to crit fail' as a d12 using this rule.






    share|improve this answer























    • This seems like a commentary to how the dm calls for critical fail, instead of answering "is this normal?"
      – Vylix
      8 hours ago






    • 1




      Ive updated my answer to more clearly say its not normal.
      – Chris
      8 hours ago















    up vote
    12
    down vote













    No its not normal and its unfair to a lot of builds



    Nothing in the rules calls for a critical fail on damage rolls, not even the DMG optional rule on critical failure.



    Anything that rolls a lot of small dice for damage will be at a disadvantage. Beyond that, anything that isn't rolling as big a die as possible for damage is disadvantaged. This unfairness includes rogues, spells like magic missile or fireball, or cloud of daggers, or basically anything other than a 2 handed weapon focused character. A d4 damage die has 3 times as much chance to crit fail' as a d12 using this rule.






    share|improve this answer























    • This seems like a commentary to how the dm calls for critical fail, instead of answering "is this normal?"
      – Vylix
      8 hours ago






    • 1




      Ive updated my answer to more clearly say its not normal.
      – Chris
      8 hours ago













    up vote
    12
    down vote










    up vote
    12
    down vote









    No its not normal and its unfair to a lot of builds



    Nothing in the rules calls for a critical fail on damage rolls, not even the DMG optional rule on critical failure.



    Anything that rolls a lot of small dice for damage will be at a disadvantage. Beyond that, anything that isn't rolling as big a die as possible for damage is disadvantaged. This unfairness includes rogues, spells like magic missile or fireball, or cloud of daggers, or basically anything other than a 2 handed weapon focused character. A d4 damage die has 3 times as much chance to crit fail' as a d12 using this rule.






    share|improve this answer














    No its not normal and its unfair to a lot of builds



    Nothing in the rules calls for a critical fail on damage rolls, not even the DMG optional rule on critical failure.



    Anything that rolls a lot of small dice for damage will be at a disadvantage. Beyond that, anything that isn't rolling as big a die as possible for damage is disadvantaged. This unfairness includes rogues, spells like magic missile or fireball, or cloud of daggers, or basically anything other than a 2 handed weapon focused character. A d4 damage die has 3 times as much chance to crit fail' as a d12 using this rule.







    share|improve this answer














    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer








    edited 8 hours ago









    KorvinStarmast

    70.9k17224391




    70.9k17224391










    answered 9 hours ago









    Chris

    37916




    37916












    • This seems like a commentary to how the dm calls for critical fail, instead of answering "is this normal?"
      – Vylix
      8 hours ago






    • 1




      Ive updated my answer to more clearly say its not normal.
      – Chris
      8 hours ago


















    • This seems like a commentary to how the dm calls for critical fail, instead of answering "is this normal?"
      – Vylix
      8 hours ago






    • 1




      Ive updated my answer to more clearly say its not normal.
      – Chris
      8 hours ago
















    This seems like a commentary to how the dm calls for critical fail, instead of answering "is this normal?"
    – Vylix
    8 hours ago




    This seems like a commentary to how the dm calls for critical fail, instead of answering "is this normal?"
    – Vylix
    8 hours ago




    1




    1




    Ive updated my answer to more clearly say its not normal.
    – Chris
    8 hours ago




    Ive updated my answer to more clearly say its not normal.
    – Chris
    8 hours ago










    up vote
    5
    down vote













    What? No. Stop that. A damage roll just gives you the numerical value for how many hit points a creature loses as result of a successful attack. There should be no narrative outcomes of this except things like, "they got a good scratch on the arm" or "they're limpy and coughing up blood now" to visualize how the creature's overall health is as a result of the attack. This is an incorrect use of the "critical failure" which is primarily designed as a worst-case-scenario on ability checks (when a character is doing something with risks and consequences). It really shouldn't even apply to simple tasks that a character would normally excel at (you shouldn't crit, nor even roll dice, to put on your boots). Critical failures are designed for when a character wants to sweet talk a guard into opening a protected door or swing from tree branch to tree branch like Tarzan. These actions have real consequences (both negative and positive) and so both a guaranteed success (20) and a guaranteed failure (1) are part of the game's chance systems. A d4 damage roll is not part of any chance system built into the game, other than how much damage is done (e.g. a little, some, or a lot)...plus, if a damage roll is taking place, the character has ALREADY SUCCEEDED in what they were trying to do! :)



    Oh, and all that said...there is no mention of critical failures in Fifth Edition. Critical hits yes, but as far as rules go, critical misses are not even mentioned in the Player's Handbook or the Dungeon Master's Guide. I assume you are playing with the "house rule" of using critical failures as your DM has gone to an extreme, but the point of order discussed by others here is definitely worth noting as there are no official rules in 5e for critical failures.






    share|improve this answer










    New contributor




    Justin Anderson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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      up vote
      5
      down vote













      What? No. Stop that. A damage roll just gives you the numerical value for how many hit points a creature loses as result of a successful attack. There should be no narrative outcomes of this except things like, "they got a good scratch on the arm" or "they're limpy and coughing up blood now" to visualize how the creature's overall health is as a result of the attack. This is an incorrect use of the "critical failure" which is primarily designed as a worst-case-scenario on ability checks (when a character is doing something with risks and consequences). It really shouldn't even apply to simple tasks that a character would normally excel at (you shouldn't crit, nor even roll dice, to put on your boots). Critical failures are designed for when a character wants to sweet talk a guard into opening a protected door or swing from tree branch to tree branch like Tarzan. These actions have real consequences (both negative and positive) and so both a guaranteed success (20) and a guaranteed failure (1) are part of the game's chance systems. A d4 damage roll is not part of any chance system built into the game, other than how much damage is done (e.g. a little, some, or a lot)...plus, if a damage roll is taking place, the character has ALREADY SUCCEEDED in what they were trying to do! :)



      Oh, and all that said...there is no mention of critical failures in Fifth Edition. Critical hits yes, but as far as rules go, critical misses are not even mentioned in the Player's Handbook or the Dungeon Master's Guide. I assume you are playing with the "house rule" of using critical failures as your DM has gone to an extreme, but the point of order discussed by others here is definitely worth noting as there are no official rules in 5e for critical failures.






      share|improve this answer










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      Justin Anderson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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        up vote
        5
        down vote










        up vote
        5
        down vote









        What? No. Stop that. A damage roll just gives you the numerical value for how many hit points a creature loses as result of a successful attack. There should be no narrative outcomes of this except things like, "they got a good scratch on the arm" or "they're limpy and coughing up blood now" to visualize how the creature's overall health is as a result of the attack. This is an incorrect use of the "critical failure" which is primarily designed as a worst-case-scenario on ability checks (when a character is doing something with risks and consequences). It really shouldn't even apply to simple tasks that a character would normally excel at (you shouldn't crit, nor even roll dice, to put on your boots). Critical failures are designed for when a character wants to sweet talk a guard into opening a protected door or swing from tree branch to tree branch like Tarzan. These actions have real consequences (both negative and positive) and so both a guaranteed success (20) and a guaranteed failure (1) are part of the game's chance systems. A d4 damage roll is not part of any chance system built into the game, other than how much damage is done (e.g. a little, some, or a lot)...plus, if a damage roll is taking place, the character has ALREADY SUCCEEDED in what they were trying to do! :)



        Oh, and all that said...there is no mention of critical failures in Fifth Edition. Critical hits yes, but as far as rules go, critical misses are not even mentioned in the Player's Handbook or the Dungeon Master's Guide. I assume you are playing with the "house rule" of using critical failures as your DM has gone to an extreme, but the point of order discussed by others here is definitely worth noting as there are no official rules in 5e for critical failures.






        share|improve this answer










        New contributor




        Justin Anderson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.









        What? No. Stop that. A damage roll just gives you the numerical value for how many hit points a creature loses as result of a successful attack. There should be no narrative outcomes of this except things like, "they got a good scratch on the arm" or "they're limpy and coughing up blood now" to visualize how the creature's overall health is as a result of the attack. This is an incorrect use of the "critical failure" which is primarily designed as a worst-case-scenario on ability checks (when a character is doing something with risks and consequences). It really shouldn't even apply to simple tasks that a character would normally excel at (you shouldn't crit, nor even roll dice, to put on your boots). Critical failures are designed for when a character wants to sweet talk a guard into opening a protected door or swing from tree branch to tree branch like Tarzan. These actions have real consequences (both negative and positive) and so both a guaranteed success (20) and a guaranteed failure (1) are part of the game's chance systems. A d4 damage roll is not part of any chance system built into the game, other than how much damage is done (e.g. a little, some, or a lot)...plus, if a damage roll is taking place, the character has ALREADY SUCCEEDED in what they were trying to do! :)



        Oh, and all that said...there is no mention of critical failures in Fifth Edition. Critical hits yes, but as far as rules go, critical misses are not even mentioned in the Player's Handbook or the Dungeon Master's Guide. I assume you are playing with the "house rule" of using critical failures as your DM has gone to an extreme, but the point of order discussed by others here is definitely worth noting as there are no official rules in 5e for critical failures.







        share|improve this answer










        New contributor




        Justin Anderson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.









        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited 3 hours ago





















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        answered 4 hours ago









        Justin Anderson

        512




        512




        New contributor




        Justin Anderson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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        New contributor





        Justin Anderson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.






        Justin Anderson is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
        Check out our Code of Conduct.






















            up vote
            4
            down vote













            No



            I'd possibly say a natural 1 on an Attack-roll might be a critical failure
            (e.g. You went to go skewer your opponent and accidentally let go of your weapon, so now you're unarmed and your weapon needs to be retrieved or re-roll an attack against another nearby target [possibly friendly] or something of that ilk, where you're now disadvantaged). I figure if there's a 5% chance of doubling damage, there's an equal 5% chance of royally flubbing it, and just to make things 'interesting'.



            However, Damage rolls are NEVER treated as failures (or critical failures). Of course, resistances and hardnesses could reduce damages to zero -- i.e. you hit the target, but, failed to cause damage.



            I'm not sure how/why a 1 on a damage roll would be a critical failure...I'm just trying to see/justify a rational how certain weapons would have a huge chance of failure and if so, does rolling a natural max die roll increase damage??
            Personally, I can't see ANY rationalization of this.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 2




              I like the meat of your answer, but I would like if you made it more clear that the "critical failure" aspect is a house rule and that normal play has no such implication.
              – goodguy5
              6 hours ago















            up vote
            4
            down vote













            No



            I'd possibly say a natural 1 on an Attack-roll might be a critical failure
            (e.g. You went to go skewer your opponent and accidentally let go of your weapon, so now you're unarmed and your weapon needs to be retrieved or re-roll an attack against another nearby target [possibly friendly] or something of that ilk, where you're now disadvantaged). I figure if there's a 5% chance of doubling damage, there's an equal 5% chance of royally flubbing it, and just to make things 'interesting'.



            However, Damage rolls are NEVER treated as failures (or critical failures). Of course, resistances and hardnesses could reduce damages to zero -- i.e. you hit the target, but, failed to cause damage.



            I'm not sure how/why a 1 on a damage roll would be a critical failure...I'm just trying to see/justify a rational how certain weapons would have a huge chance of failure and if so, does rolling a natural max die roll increase damage??
            Personally, I can't see ANY rationalization of this.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 2




              I like the meat of your answer, but I would like if you made it more clear that the "critical failure" aspect is a house rule and that normal play has no such implication.
              – goodguy5
              6 hours ago













            up vote
            4
            down vote










            up vote
            4
            down vote









            No



            I'd possibly say a natural 1 on an Attack-roll might be a critical failure
            (e.g. You went to go skewer your opponent and accidentally let go of your weapon, so now you're unarmed and your weapon needs to be retrieved or re-roll an attack against another nearby target [possibly friendly] or something of that ilk, where you're now disadvantaged). I figure if there's a 5% chance of doubling damage, there's an equal 5% chance of royally flubbing it, and just to make things 'interesting'.



            However, Damage rolls are NEVER treated as failures (or critical failures). Of course, resistances and hardnesses could reduce damages to zero -- i.e. you hit the target, but, failed to cause damage.



            I'm not sure how/why a 1 on a damage roll would be a critical failure...I'm just trying to see/justify a rational how certain weapons would have a huge chance of failure and if so, does rolling a natural max die roll increase damage??
            Personally, I can't see ANY rationalization of this.






            share|improve this answer














            No



            I'd possibly say a natural 1 on an Attack-roll might be a critical failure
            (e.g. You went to go skewer your opponent and accidentally let go of your weapon, so now you're unarmed and your weapon needs to be retrieved or re-roll an attack against another nearby target [possibly friendly] or something of that ilk, where you're now disadvantaged). I figure if there's a 5% chance of doubling damage, there's an equal 5% chance of royally flubbing it, and just to make things 'interesting'.



            However, Damage rolls are NEVER treated as failures (or critical failures). Of course, resistances and hardnesses could reduce damages to zero -- i.e. you hit the target, but, failed to cause damage.



            I'm not sure how/why a 1 on a damage roll would be a critical failure...I'm just trying to see/justify a rational how certain weapons would have a huge chance of failure and if so, does rolling a natural max die roll increase damage??
            Personally, I can't see ANY rationalization of this.







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited 6 hours ago









            Rubiksmoose

            43.6k6217332




            43.6k6217332










            answered 7 hours ago









            David Fass

            40326




            40326








            • 2




              I like the meat of your answer, but I would like if you made it more clear that the "critical failure" aspect is a house rule and that normal play has no such implication.
              – goodguy5
              6 hours ago














            • 2




              I like the meat of your answer, but I would like if you made it more clear that the "critical failure" aspect is a house rule and that normal play has no such implication.
              – goodguy5
              6 hours ago








            2




            2




            I like the meat of your answer, but I would like if you made it more clear that the "critical failure" aspect is a house rule and that normal play has no such implication.
            – goodguy5
            6 hours ago




            I like the meat of your answer, but I would like if you made it more clear that the "critical failure" aspect is a house rule and that normal play has no such implication.
            – goodguy5
            6 hours ago










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