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Skill checks
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If the players are demanding wild results, especially if they're the kind to roll unprompted, then sure. But in my experience, it's usually just a little flourish or a small bonus, which I think is fine. And if the issue is that a nat 20 doesn't guarantee success, technically, sure, but I'd be more annoyed being asked to make a pointless roll. I know there are reasons, like a hidden target number, or other characters being able to do it, but in general, I'd rather just hear "no" than go through a pointless check.
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It's technically homebrew, but basically every table Ive played at will give you a little bonus if you roll a 20 for a check and a little negative if you roll a 1. But we still kept that a 20 does not necessarily mean an auto success and a 1 is not necessarily an auto failure. You still need to beat the DC
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They can’t crit, but success can determined by numerical thresholds that the dm sets, and they just so happen to align with rolling a 12 for success, 20 for glorious accomplishment, and 1 for terrible snafu.
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They absolutely do, and the bonus effects are listed in the description of each skill action. Oh. you mean in D&D. *washes hands*
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I like the idea of extraordinary luck given to players. Giving everything they do a 5% chance of incredible success no matter the difficulty is such a small tweak to let some really hilarious, or awesome things play out. And they will take more risks knowing there is potentially a great reward. How do you balance this? 5% chance of terrible failure no matter how easy. No more automatic success. Sometimes shit just happens and when it happens, it _really_ hurts. And also, you can just make regular failure more punishing or even make success a monkey's paw thing: "You want to seduce the lich?! *already rolling dice* "No, you fail. In your attempt to seduce the lich, his aura of evil has made you impotent. Permanently." OR "YES NAT TWENTY!! *DM deadpan for 10 seconds, then* "I have a fetish for fingers. I'll give you the information you want in exchange for a few those delectable, dainty fingers, half-elf" (Some temporary debuffs that can heal, and they get to skip the fetch quest)
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D&D has all the money in the entire hobby, basically, and they still make terrible design decisions like this. Rolling a nat 20 and getting a crit is the jackpot of d&d mechanics. Don't design a system where sometimes you hit the jackpot but don't win anything. That's an objectively bad choice to make.
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It's technically homebrew, but basically every table Ive played at will give you a little bonus if you roll a 20 for a check and a little negative if you roll a 1. But we still kept that a 20 does not necessarily mean an auto success and a 1 is not necessarily an auto failure. You still need to beat the DCAgreed, auto success on a skill check nerfs challenges. If the DC is so high that the PC doesn't succeed with a 20, it seems too random to give it to them. Then again, it depends on the situation: a nat 20 trying to convince the penny pinching tavern owner to give you a discount seems like fun even if the DC should be infinite; but when dealing with something story related, I'd stick a little closer to the rules.
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It's technically homebrew, but basically every table Ive played at will give you a little bonus if you roll a 20 for a check and a little negative if you roll a 1. But we still kept that a 20 does not necessarily mean an auto success and a 1 is not necessarily an auto failure. You still need to beat the DC
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::: spoiler
Pedant mode activated
Erm, ackshually, a natural 20 only increases the degree of success by one. This means, for example, if someone rolls a 20 on an attack roll, the total with modifiers is 28, and the defender's AC is 30, the attack will be bumped up from a failure to a normal success, not a critical success.
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Agreed, auto success on a skill check nerfs challenges. If the DC is so high that the PC doesn't succeed with a 20, it seems too random to give it to them. Then again, it depends on the situation: a nat 20 trying to convince the penny pinching tavern owner to give you a discount seems like fun even if the DC should be infinite; but when dealing with something story related, I'd stick a little closer to the rules.
