Critical Hits and Misses

Critical Hits and Misses

"Critical hits" and "critical misses" are critical successes and failures (see Degree of Success or Failure) on rolls to attack or defend in combat.

Critical Hits

A "critical hit" is an especially lucky or good blow. It automatically hits home – your foe does not get an active defense roll!

Whenever you roll a natural 3 or 4 when attacking, you get a critical hit and you roll on the Critical Hit Table. If you have high skill or a particularly good shot at your foe, you will get critical hits more often. With an effective skill of 15+, any roll of 5 or less is a critical hit; with an effective skill of 16+, any roll of 6 or less is a critical hit. Bonuses to hit (e.g., for All-Out Attack or a large target) do make critical hits more likely, while penalties (e.g., for a difficult target) make critical hits less likely.

Example: Louis LeBlanc needs to roll 15 or less to hit Filthy Pierre. He rolls a 5. That's a critical hit for him! (A 3 or 4 would be a critical hit for anyone!) Because this is a critical hit, Pierre gets no defense roll. The blow automatically hits!

A critical hit is often the only way for an unskilled character to injure a superior opponent in a fair fight or get through heavy armor with a light weapon. Once in a while, everybody gets a lucky shot. But note that the most likely result on the table is "no extra damage." Even if you get lucky and hit a superior foe, your blow might not be especially hard ...

Critical Success on Defense Rolls

If you get a critical success on a defense roll against a melee attack, then your foe goes immediately to the Critical Miss Table. You "faked him out," knocked his weapon from his hand, or otherwise defended very well!

A critical success on a defense roll against a ranged attack has no special effect, with one exception: if the attack was a thrown weapon, a critical success on a bare-handed parry lets you catch the incoming weapon without hurting yourself, if you so desire.

Critical Misses

The opposite of a "critical hit" is a "critical miss." You suffer a critical miss when you fail badly on an attack or defense roll. You might break your weapon, throw it away, or even hit yourself!

A roll of 18 is always a critical miss. A roll of 17 is a critical miss unless your effective skill is 16 or better; in that case, it is an ordinary miss. A melee attack (but not a ranged attack) or defense roll that fails by 10 or more is also a critical miss.

If you get a critical miss on an attack or a parry, roll on the appropriate Critical Miss Table. Apply the result immediately. If you critically miss a dodge, you lose your footing and fall prone (no effect if already prone). If you tried to block, you lose your grip on your shield and must take a turn to ready it before you can use it to block again.

A firearm may also malfunction on a bad roll; see Malfunctions. A malfunction has "priority" over a critical miss: if both would occur, only the malfunction takes place.