Changes are coming to D&D with the upcoming version, One D&D.
This blog will be discussing one change in particular, which is the removal of NPC’s (Non Player Character) critical hits from weapon attacks.
The current rule in D&D 5e, is that whenever ANYONE rolls a 20 on a 20 side dice for a weapon attack, the attack is a critical hit. A critical hit means that every dice you roll to do damage, you roll twice and add the amount. Thus delivering substantial more damage than would otherwise be the case.
The new proposed change is that anyone who isn’t PC (Player Character (an actual person)) no longer can deal critical hit damage. This means that any monsters or others controlled by the DM won’t gain any bonus by rolling a 20. Therefore, leaving everyone with a flat feeling when an NPC rolls a 20.
I’m straight up not a fan of this change, I believe it’s a step in the wrong direction where players feel even more safe doing combat, which definitely won’t make combat more exciting.
It has been said by the company Wizards (makers of D&D) reason for this change is to get rid of the random extra damage that will have the potential to kill players, even when the DM did’t mean for it. I do understand the need for the DM to have at least a bit more control when it gets down to those fights that’s really close to a TPK (total party kill). However, I believe that this could be done in a better way.
The company Wizards has also stated that the NPC’s won’t become weaker even though they are removing critical hits from the game, because they will beef up some of the NPC abilities. Instead of just beefing up the damage of NPCs’ to mitigate what they took from them, a solution could be implementation of a system that makes combat more fun and where combat is actually dangerous to your character. Far more than what a simple long rest can heal.
Our solution
In my D&D group we have implemented a system we call Crit Cards. Whenever a player receives a critical hit, he or she draws a Crit Card which depicts what happens to the player. We have enjoyed using these cards so much that we wan’t others to have the opportunity as well!
We are soon launching a Kickstarter where we hope to make this product, as well as a Doctor’s Handbook so that you may create your very own Doctor class. Check out the image link below to find out more!
Cheers!
