Critical hits

[Frelinder]

I have a question.

if your critical threat is 13-20 that should mean you have a chance in landing an critical 40% of all the hits.

however if your base AB is 16/11/1 and with bonuses your last attack have maybe 12. If you are attacking an enemy that have an AC of 33 you must roll a 21 or higher to hit him if your AB on that attack is 12. But if you critical range is 13-20 and you roll an 13 at the first roll.. do you hit the enemy although the total its just 25.. 12+13=25?
and if you hit him because its in the critical hits range you will have to roll again to see if its an critical hit and just not an ordonary hit.. I'm I right?

In this example i'm writing about the character doesn't even has a chance in landing an critical hit.. since he must roll an 21 on the secon roll to se if the hit is an critical.

The main question here is.. with a character that has an threat range of 13-20 does he always have atleast 40% chance of landing atleast a hit?

[Yosemite Sam]

I would say No. You have to hit before you can get a critical hit.  Now think how the crit chancd works.  A second roll is made and if it hits a critical hit is scored.  If you cant hit, you cant crit.

[Faldred]

As posted, a critical hit cannot be made on a "miss" roll.  Also, you only threaten a critical, in the example, 40% of the time.  When you roll a "hit" and the (unmodified) roll is in the critical range, you roll again.  If that roll is also a "hit" (using the same modifiers), then it's a "critical hit", otherwise, it's a normal "hit".



If you needed a "20" to hit the critter, you'd only get a critical hit 1 time in 400 swings (20 + 20) no matter what the critical threat range was on the weapon.

[Frelinder]

Yea I know you must do a re roll to see if its an critical hit or just an ordonary hit . the question wasn't about the secon roll.. it was if the first roll was lower then the enemys AC but an crit.. does it then becomes a hit?

And apperantly not.. and it makes sence of course.. was just wondering because the most characters have a crit 19-20 and then its a hit just because of their high rolls.. Not necessarely an critical hit because they might just roll an 2 on the secon roll.. but atleast a hit

[Faldred]

The combat log does show it rolling a second time for critical hit determination.  (It's often hard to tell, as the "fun" combats usually have messages flying way too fast to watch.)  I have not looked to see if the engine requires a "hit" to roll a critical, but it doesn't make any sense for it not to...

[Frelinder]

I'm at work right now so i can't log on and find out.. but i will later today

[miltonyorkcastle]

Faldred, you are correct on how critical hits work.  there is only one exception:  A nat 20 (rolling a 20 to hit) results in an automatic hit, just as a nat 1 results in an automatic miss, even if you would have hit the creature by your BAB alone.  so, when you have an AC that you know mr goblin couldn't possibly overcome with his piddly BAB, and he hits you anyways, check the logs, and you'll see he rolled a nat 20.  By this same token, though the odds are rather low, it's possible for mr. gobblin to crit on you if he rolls two nat 20's in a row, as a nat 20 is always a critical threat, as well as an auto hit.

[Weeblie]

Ah.... But, due to server settings, Mr. Goblin can't crit you, even if he rolled a 21...

[Lucius]

Well, I'm not exactly sure about NWN, but with PnP mechanics you need  to either hit the enemy or score a natural 20 to bring up a threat roll. If your crit is 13-20, to hit bonus is +12, and you get a 13 against a AC 33 enemy, you'd miss.

[miltonyorkcastle]

true true, weeblie.  monsters can't crit on PC's.   But PC's can crit on PC's.  Anyone wanna play in the arena?