Brutality Unleashed

Critical hit systems

For OSR games

A Nordic Weasel Games product

Introduction:
Critical hits. Some groups love them, while others cannot stand them.
With this supplement, we have tried to provide a few different ways in which critical hits could
be used in a game.
Some of these are of the brutal type where a lucky hit can end a fight very rapidly, while
others are intended to generate interesting situations and let characters exploit an opening or
opportunity. Test them out and see what works best for you.

This supplement is open gaming content and any parts can be utilized in your own work.

How to score a critical:

Determining when a hit is critical can be resolved in a number of ways, depending on your
desire for complexity or speed.

Natural 20:
A natural roll of 20 will inflict a critical hit. This means that any attack has a basic 5% chance
of being critical.
While a system where the critical chance is tied into the attackers skill may be more realistic,
in most cases, the stronger combatant does not need any more help to win the fight. Critical
hits represent those fleeting, rare moments when a blow lands in just the right way.
Likewise, this ensures that critical hits are equally available to all character classes, rather than
being effectively limited to classes with good attack rolls.

Note that characters with multiple attacks only receive a chance of inflicting a critical on the
first attack rendered in each round of combat. For speed of play, use a differently coloured
D20.
The GM may elect to ignore this, and let any 20 inflict a critical, though this will give a larger
advantage to monsters that frequently roll multiple attack dice.
Proceed at your discretion.

Double roll:
If the DM prefers a more skill­oriented approach, you can use this option:
If an attack hits, roll the D20 along with the damage dice. If the D20 roll is another hit, the
attack is considered a critical hit. Otherwise, ignore it. This will tend to make critical hits fairly
infrequent.

Double roll without skill:

As the double roll, but roll a D10, along with the damage dice. If the D10 scores a 10, the hit is
considered to be a critical hit.
Exceed:
Another alternative that avoids multiple dice rolls and ties in heavily to skill is to treat any
attack roll that exceeds the required number by 5 or more, as a critical hit.
This heavily emphasizes characters with good fighting abilities, as well as the importance of
heavy armour to limit injuries.

Simple critical systems:

This section provides a number of “no charts” options for handling critical hits in your games.
These are relatively simple options that could be added to any OSR game with little impact.
While using one of these options will not generate the variety of results that a more involved
system will, they have the advantage of being quick, and providing minimal distraction from
the game play.

Critical hit permits an additional attack with the same weapon.

Critical hit stuns opponent, negating their next action.
Critical hit causes maximum rolled damage.
Critical hit causes one extra die of damage to be rolled.
Critical hit causes 3 extra points of damage.
Critical hit lets attacker roll twice for damage, picking the best result.
Critical hit gives enemy ­2 attack penalty for reminder of battle.
Critical hit forces enemy to check morale.
Critical hit will cause loss of 1D6 hit points in following combat round.
Critical hit breaks enemy's weapon or causes loss of 1 attack (if unarmed)
Situational critical hits:
This critical hit system views a critical hit as a unique opportunity to win an advantage in the
combat situation, rather than a particularly telling blow (though it may be so at times).

This can lead to a more dramatic and cinematic combat, and add some unpredictability to the
situation.

When a critical hit is inflicted, roll on the appropriate table below, depending on whether the
character is in melee combat or conducting a ranged attack.

Melee situational critical table:

1 Enemy pushed back 2D6 feet.

2 Enemy disarmed
3 Character may move 10 feet, even disengaging from combat
4 Character receives an extra attack
5 Character adopts defensive position. +2 armour class next round
6 Opening in defences. Character strikes first next round.
7 Character receives +2 to attacks next round.
8 Character can take a quick action, such as retrieving a potion or grabbing an item off the ground
9 Enemy off balance. ­2 to attacks next round.
10 Character receives extra attack with off­hand weapon, punch or similar.
11 Enemy must test morale
12 Enemy loses one attack
13 Enemy prevented from moving or swapping equipment next round
14 All attacks against enemy is +2 to hit next round
15 Character regains 1D4 hit points due to inspiration
16 Character inflicts 1D6 additional damage
17 Next round character is +1 to attacks and +1 armour class
18 Character receives extra attack against different target
19 Enemy knocked down
20 Character inflicts 1D6 additional damage, and may roll again on this table.

Ranged situational critical table:

1 Move 15 feet
2 Good aim, +2 to hit next attack
3 One extra attack, or reduce reload time by 1 round
4 May swap weapon or retrieve item for free
5 If firing at same target next round, +4 to hit
6 Next shot, may select any target, even in melee
7 Enemy cowers and may not fire or move next round
8 +2 damage if target was within 20 feet
9 +2 initiative next round
10 Character regains 1D4 hit points due to inspiration
11 Target loses one round
12 Enemy is ­3 to attacks next round
13 Enemy may not move next round and is ­2 to armour class
14 Move 10 feet and reload for free if applicable
15 Next round, +1 to initiative and +1 to hit
16 Enemy must save versus death or take 1D6 damage next round
17 +2 damage
18 Next turn, may fire without range penalty
19 Enemy knocked down
20 Character inflicts +2 additional damage, and may roll again on this table.
Damaging critical hits:
This system treats critical hits as primarily a source of additional combat damage. This has the
advantage that you will rarely get a bypass of the traditional hit point system, though hit point
loss can be dramatically higher on a critical hit.
Since the results mainly rely on combat effects, they can be applied broadly to almost any type
of creature.

When using this system, incidents may occur where a character suffers far more damage than
what is needed to incapacitate or kill them. Any character reduced to ­10 hit points or worse in
a single blow is subject to overkill, forcing a morale check of the side suffering the overkill.

Damaging critical table:

1 Attack does +1 damage per die rolled.
2 Attack does +2 damage
3 Player may re­roll damage dice but must accept new roll
4 Attack does +1 damage per hit die of target
5 Enemy takes 1 damage each round for 1D6 rounds
6 Enemy takes save versus death next round or take 6 damage.
7 Player may roll twice for damage, picking best result
8 Attack does 1D6 additional damage
9 +1 damage per die rolled and may re­roll any dice
10 Each damage die upgraded one type (D6 becomes D8 f.x.)
11 Add additional damage die of same type already rolled
12 Attack does 1D6+3 additional damage
13 Attack does +6 damage
14 Attack does +2 damage per hit die of target
15 Attack does +1 damage per level of attacker
16 Attack does 2D6 additional damage
17 Attack does 2D6 additional damage, re­rolling 1's.
18 Attack does 3D6 additional damage
19 Attack does additional damage equal to attackers strength (level for monsters)
20 Attack does 4D6 additional damage
Brutal critical hits:
If you want your critical hits to be memorable, unpleasant and ultimately brutal, this is the
system to select. As it is hard to provide results that can be applied to any creature imaginable,
some modification and adaptation may be needed.

Be warned that when using this type of critical hit system, combat can be significantly more
dangerous for characters, as they may suffer permanent consequences of their encounters.

The GM will have to judge healing times based on the situation. Serious injuries generally only
heal between adventures.

Brutal critical table:

1 Wind knocked out. Next round ­2 to hit and half movement.
2 Stunned. Lose one attack.
3 Intense pain. ­2 to hit and half movement. Save versus death at end of each round to
overcome
4 Dazed. ­1 to all saving throws and initiative for remainder of fight.
5 Leg injured. Half movement and ­1 AC for remainder of battle.
6 Arm injured. Unable to use for remainder of battle.
7 Chest injury. ­2 to attacks for remainder of battle.
8 Bleeding. Save versus death each round or lose 1 HP. 3 passed saves stops bleeding
9 Concussion. ­2 to initiative and saving throws for 1D6 days
10 Knocked sprawling. No actions next round, and is ­2 to armour class.
11 Severe stun. Unable to act. 25% chance per round of recovering.
12 Unconscious. 10% chance per round of coming to.
13 Debilitating wound. Each round character fights, 25% chance of losing 1 HP.
14 Throat injury. Unable to speak clearly until healed.
15 Disfiguring injury. 25% of ­1 to Charisma when dealing with non warriors.
16 Severe bleeding. Save versus death each round or lose 1 HP. 5 passed saves stops
bleeding.
17 Leg crushed or severed. Half movement and ­1 AC until magically restored.
18 Arm crushed or severed. Useless unless magically restored.
19 Internal injuries. Incapacitated for at least a month.
20 Head crushed or decapitated. Slain instantly.
Narrative injuries
Narrative injuries are used in cases where the group wants more flavour and context, without
delving too deep into special rules cases. When a critical is inflicted, consult the table below.
The GM is free to rule on each case as appropriate, or may simply use the results in the
descriptions of what is going on, to add atmosphere.

1 Light injuries to arm

2 Light injuries to leg
3 Severe pain when moving
4 Intense agony for short period
5 Dazed and confused
6 Hard to maintain balance
7 Persistent bleeding
8 Will have minor scars
9 Will ache in bad weather
10 Will have dramatic scars
11 Arm severely injured
12 Leg severely injured
13 Shaky and uncertain
14 Looks worse than it is
15 Facial scar
16 Hand injured
17 Cowed
18 Panicked
19 Surge of adrenaline
20 Berserk rage
Weapon based critical hits:
This system works to distinguish attack types, by having critical hits always work in a specific
manner for a specific type of weapon. Particularly in games using 1D6 for all or most weapon
damage, this can be desirable to add a little flavour.

Swords and fencing weapons

Fencing. Free attack

Axes and chopping weapons

Hack. 1D6 additional damage

Spears and pikes

At bay. Enemy is ­4 to attacks next round

Maces and hammers

Stun. Enemy loses 1 attack

Staffs
Defensive. +4 armour class next round

Arrows and bolts

Impale. 1D6 additional damage

Blunt projectiles
Stun. Enemy loses 1 attack

Daggers
Critical strike. 2 additional damage and free attack at ­2 to hit

Flails
Crush. Enemy ­2 to attacks next round, and 2 additional damage

Brawling
Grapple. Enemy ­4 to attacks next round

Claws and fangs

Gore. 1D3 extra damage and +2 to hit next round
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