how do -you- handle critfails?

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Kastrenzo
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how do -you- handle critfails?

Post by Kastrenzo » Wed Dec 27, 2017 9:31 pm

Scenario.

A squad of space racists is about to shoot on the peach militia with their space AKs, They do their skill roll and 2 of them roll big fat 1's.

If this was -your- game, how would you treat the critfail? Do they shoot comrades in the back, does their gun jam or explode in their arms... or does the hand of god come down and obliterate them for no reason other than for being scrubs?


My preferred method is a little gamey, I keep what I call a "fail die" around, it's just a modified D6 that has 1 red side, 2 yellow sides and 3 green sides, with 1 green side marked off with a dot
Usually what I do is upon a crifail rolling, I roll the fail die to determine their fate

If it lands on the green side with the dot, it's considered to be a crit success.. to a crit fail, and nothing happens, the dimwit gets off unscathed.
if it lands on one of the other greens. something unfortunate happens, but it is not lethal. at best the fig falls over or something, at worst he drops or breaks his weapon.

if it lands on yellow. I immediately roll another skill die. depending on what makes more sense, if there are enemies in range, a yellow roll will grant a free counter attack from any 1 unit that's directley engaged with it or has direct line of sight. if it makes more sense for a weapon misfire or friendly fire, that will happen instead. if the skill roll is successful, then it goes into damage mode, and the minifig could die from this after another roll

if it lands on the red, this is the worst case scenario, same as yellow, except i treat it as instant and immediate damage. again towards either the guy who failed, or if it makes more sense, a comrade. whatever the case, a die is rolled immediately and it is treated like a normal attack. a free counter attack by an enemy that could kill him right then and there for being such a scrub. other things could happen too like grenades being dropped at one's foot, vehicles swerving out of control and mowing down friendlies, if you roll a 1 and a red. you done fucked up.

the reason I roll a die is because determining the consequence of a critfail is entirely subjective. and I like things to be somewhat fair, because one player's idea of a criftail on a rifle attack is to have the guy fall on his face and stab himself with the rifle, another's idea is to simply have his gun blow up in his hands while surviving..

what's your method for doing critfails?
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Re: how do -you- handle critfails?

Post by Zupponn » Wed Dec 27, 2017 10:29 pm

I do critfails based on my mood.

Sometimes it's just a dropped weapon.

Sometimes the weapon explodes.

Sometimes there is an accidental team kill or suicide.

Also, if one option can be funny, I go for the funny one.
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Re: how do -you- handle critfails?

Post by dilanski » Thu Dec 28, 2017 7:36 pm

In the past I've alwsys gone with just an automatic failure regardless of modifiers.

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Re: how do -you- handle critfails?

Post by Quantumsurfer » Fri Dec 29, 2017 2:42 pm

For me, critfails are just another part of a flowing narrative. So I do whatever makes the most sense situationally, even if it steps outside the rules.

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Re: how do -you- handle critfails?

Post by Gungnir » Wed Jan 03, 2018 3:44 pm

Quantumsurfer wrote:For me, critfails are just another part of a flowing narrative. So I do whatever makes the most sense situationally, even if it steps outside the rules.
Pretty much this. In the example given, I'd say one of the 1s sneezes mid-shot, causing his shots to go wide, while the other 1 jumps and turns towards the other 1, spraying his squad mates with automatic fire in the process.
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Re: how do -you- handle critfails?

Post by DatGuy » Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:22 am

Falling over.
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Re: how do -you- handle critfails?

Post by General Hawke » Tue Jan 09, 2018 2:24 pm

Personally, I do it like this: Is it a melee weapon? If it is, the weapon is dropped (or thrown 1d4 inches away). If it's a ranged weapon, it ranges from jammed weapon, which is fixed next turn, to exploding weapon, if it makes sense.
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Re: how do -you- handle critfails?

Post by Doot123 » Wed Jul 11, 2018 10:06 am

I just roll any dice. If I roll an even number, the minifigs head blows up and flies away and hits a great spot, killing an ally, causing nuclear warfare. If I roll an odd number, :mystery:
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Re: how do -you- handle critfails?

Post by Kommander Ken » Wed Jul 11, 2018 10:30 am

I’m with Zupponn on this, I do whatever is more hilarious for the situation. That idea with the 1d6 is kind of interesting if not a little lengthy though.

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Re: how do -you- handle critfails?

Post by Bragallot » Wed Jul 11, 2018 12:26 pm

Same as heroic feats, basically. The bigger the attempted action, the bigger the consequence if it fails. If it's an attack roll then I simply treat it as a miss since missing what could've or should've been an easy hit is already a consequence of the roll and the receiver is more than likely not going to see the humour in it and will retaliate on their turn. If a random minifig with no degree in exotic animal behaviour however tries to tame a dragon and rolls a '1' there's a good chance the dragon will bite his head off.

Having to make extra rolls to 'see what happens' every time a crit fail comes up is just annoying imo.
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Re: how do -you- handle critfails?

Post by AnnoyedZebra » Fri Jul 13, 2018 4:48 pm

I just make it so that they fuck up somehow, not even consistent
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Re: how do -you- handle critfails?

Post by cleanupcrew » Sat Jul 14, 2018 5:02 am

Usually I Disrupt (aka knock over) them, sometimes explode or jam the weapon if it's more interesting than a standard issue rifle. If it's a huge battle or I need to hurry along a chat battle it's usually just a normal failure (nothing happens).

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Re: how do -you- handle critfails?

Post by Cracjaw » Tue Feb 25, 2020 7:40 pm

I do the same die roll thing. 1 = explosion, 2-3 = dropped gun, 4-6 = jammed gun. If I roll two 1's (?) in a row, then something catastrophic happens. Maybe they get their head blown up, maybe they kill an ally, maybe they get nuked, maybe they randomly forget how to exist. I just choose an appropriate death. Because anyone that rolls two 1's (?) in a row, should not be allowed to live. Except for Brikwarriors, they are the best, they can't ever roll 1's (?). *Cough*
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