Critical Hits

Critical Hits/Misses

die roll	result
3,4	crit hit
5	crit hit if effective skill 15+
6	crit hit if effective skill 16+
15	crit miss if effective skill is 5 or less, ...
16	crit miss if effective skill is 6 or less
17	crit miss if effective skill <16
18	crit miss

Following the desire to reduce the number of die rolls and stil have a lot of flavor, we've added a "critical success" column to the "hit Location" table.
click on CritTable.html to see it on a page by itself (for printing).

Summary of Standard Rules for Critical Success/Failure
CRITICAL SUCCESS A roll of 3 or 4 is always a critical success. ¹ Critical hits are rolled on the Critical Hit Table, above. ¹ If your effective skill is 15, 5 is a critical success. ¹ If your effective skill is 16, 6 is a critical success. ¹ Rolls of 7 or greater are never critical successes. ^2,3 *Critical hits always hit--the defender gets no defense roll.*² If the defender rolls a critical success on defense (parry, block, or dodge -- but not against a ranged attack), the defender successfully "faked out" his opponent. The attacker immediately goes to the Critical Miss Table, above. ³	CRITICAL FAILURES Rolls of 18 are always critical failures. ¹ Rolls of 17 are always failures, and are critical failures unless* your effective skill is 16 or greater.* ¹ Any roll of 10 greater than your effective skill is a critical failure (i.e. a roll of 15 with a skill of 5) ^1,4 Critical failures on attack rolls require you to immediately check on the Critical Miss Table, above. ¹ For phobias and all other mental disadvantages, any roll of 14 or greater is an automatic failure. ¹ Any defense roll of 17 or 18 is a critical failure. ⁴ In addition to failing to avoid the attack, If you tried to dodge, you fall. ⁴ If you tried to block, you lose your grip on your shield and must re-ready it before you can block (it still has a passive defense value, however). ⁴ If you tried to parry, use the Critical Miss Table, above. ⁴ ["Effective skill" means your skill, *after* including all modifiers.]

Summary of Standard Rules for Critical Success/Failure

CRITICAL SUCCESS

A roll of 3 or 4 is always a critical success. ¹
Critical hits are rolled on the Critical Hit Table, above. ¹

If your effective skill is 15, 5 is a critical success. ¹
If your effective skill is 16, 6 is a critical success. ¹
Rolls of 7 or greater are never critical successes. ^2,3

Critical hits always hit--the defender gets no defense roll.²

If the defender rolls a critical success on defense (parry, block, or dodge -- but not against a ranged attack), the defender successfully "faked out" his opponent. The attacker immediately goes to the Critical Miss Table, above. ³

CRITICAL FAILURES

Rolls of 18 are always critical failures. ¹
Rolls of 17 are always failures, and are critical failures unless your effective skill is 16 or greater. ¹
Any roll of 10 greater than your effective skill is a critical failure (i.e. a roll of 15 with a skill of 5) ^1,4
Critical failures on attack rolls require you to immediately check on the Critical Miss Table, above. ¹

For phobias and all other mental disadvantages, any roll of 14 or greater is an automatic failure. ¹

Any defense roll of 17 or 18 is a critical failure. ⁴
In addition to failing to avoid the attack,

If you tried to dodge, you fall. ⁴
If you tried to block, you lose your grip on your shield and must re-ready it before you can block (it still has a passive defense value, however). ⁴
If you tried to parry, use the Critical Miss Table, above. ⁴

["Effective skill" means your skill, after including all modifiers.]

Footnotes (page references):

¹ pB86
² pB98
³ pB109
⁴ pB110

old crit table