Death Shot [Archive] - Wizards Community - Pages Merged by Solauren

Death Shot [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
GruunTheLegend
11-04-07, 01:25 AM ok (i don't believe this is a book rule) so when i play we have a house rule called a death shot (rolling two 20's in a row and rolling a third time to break AC) and if you do break AC your opponent dies suddenly do to some amazing feat you just pulled. EX. Tordek charges the giant and slices his head in half with his greataxe. can go for you or against you. Just wanting a thought, what do you think of this rule?? :) or :(
KillerGM
11-04-07, 01:17 AM It's actually an optional rule presented in the DMG, called "Instant Kill".

I used it in my games, but I think I might not be in the future.

Here's my problem with it: monsters get way more rolls than PCs, so it is more likely to happen to a PC than to a monster. Insta-killing a monster, while cool, is ultimately fleeting and unimportant for gameplay. Insta-killing a PC, however, can bring a game to a crashing halt, and also may result in a TPK.

I was already considering removing them from my games when my character was insta-killed last game by a javelin IN THE SURPRISE ROUND.

I would have been extremely bored for the whole combat, but the DM let me play the Ogres, so it was ok. I almost killed the party Cleric... because having a miss chance apparently means nothing to my dice.
thanatos_lich
11-04-07, 02:57 PM Personaly I dislike instant death due to its horribly random nature. I hate players/BBEG's dieing in one hit
B4_life
11-04-07, 05:13 PM its fine for mooks, but when it happens to a player or to an NPC you took hours to prepare and nurture for that one special encounter... it pretty much sucks.
icuall
11-05-07, 01:44 PM GruuntheLegend....
I would say that you are going to have more dead PCs than you think. As KillerDM pointed out how deadly and game altering it can be. If you want to keep the Instant Death in your game. Consider lowering the odds a bit so that it will make it more rare. You have 20, 20, Hit AC as dead. Rolling a couple of 20s and hit AC does not seem that hard.

In all my games, I bring up the Instant Kill rule and ask the players if they want it so that they can't complain about it and feel involved as opposed to me dictating a deadly rule.

In some of my games, I've had 20, 20, 20, which is 1 in 10,000, for Instant Kill. I had to think of stopping it when it happened three times in one session. Especially, when one time happened to one of the PCs. Over the years, I remember seeing a lot of triple 20s.

Which leads me to make my next game I DM of making Instant Kill four 20s which it would make it 1 in 100,000. It would make it more rare and more exciting when it did occur. I'm completely positive it will happen at some point in time.
Rania
11-05-07, 02:41 PM My DM has rolling 3 20's as "destroying their soul", which I guess counts as instant kill. You roll more 20s, their family dies; and if you roll 20 20's in a row, you transform into an "avatar of DEATH" I think he called it; with 5,000 HP and if you roll higher than 5 on a d20, whatever you look at, it dies.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
GruunTheLegend 11-04-07, 01:25 AM	ok (i don't believe this is a book rule) so when i play we have a house rule called a death shot (rolling two 20's in a row and rolling a third time to break AC) and if you do break AC your opponent dies suddenly do to some amazing feat you just pulled. EX. Tordek charges the giant and slices his head in half with his greataxe. can go for you or against you. Just wanting a thought, what do you think of this rule?? :) or :(
KillerGM 11-04-07, 01:17 AM	It's actually an optional rule presented in the DMG, called "Instant Kill". I used it in my games, but I think I might not be in the future. Here's my problem with it: monsters get way more rolls than PCs, so it is more likely to happen to a PC than to a monster. Insta-killing a monster, while cool, is ultimately fleeting and unimportant for gameplay. Insta-killing a PC, however, can bring a game to a crashing halt, and also may result in a TPK. I was already considering removing them from my games when my character was insta-killed last game by a javelin IN THE SURPRISE ROUND. I would have been extremely bored for the whole combat, but the DM let me play the Ogres, so it was ok. I almost killed the party Cleric... because having a miss chance apparently means nothing to my dice.
thanatos_lich 11-04-07, 02:57 PM	Personaly I dislike instant death due to its horribly random nature. I hate players/BBEG's dieing in one hit
B4_life 11-04-07, 05:13 PM	its fine for mooks, but when it happens to a player or to an NPC you took hours to prepare and nurture for that one special encounter... it pretty much sucks.
icuall 11-05-07, 01:44 PM	GruuntheLegend.... I would say that you are going to have more dead PCs than you think. As KillerDM pointed out how deadly and game altering it can be. If you want to keep the Instant Death in your game. Consider lowering the odds a bit so that it will make it more rare. You have 20, 20, Hit AC as dead. Rolling a couple of 20s and hit AC does not seem that hard. In all my games, I bring up the Instant Kill rule and ask the players if they want it so that they can't complain about it and feel involved as opposed to me dictating a deadly rule. In some of my games, I've had 20, 20, 20, which is 1 in 10,000, for Instant Kill. I had to think of stopping it when it happened three times in one session. Especially, when one time happened to one of the PCs. Over the years, I remember seeing a lot of triple 20s. Which leads me to make my next game I DM of making Instant Kill four 20s which it would make it 1 in 100,000. It would make it more rare and more exciting when it did occur. I'm completely positive it will happen at some point in time.
Rania 11-05-07, 02:41 PM	My DM has rolling 3 20's as "destroying their soul", which I guess counts as instant kill. You roll more 20s, their family dies; and if you roll 20 20's in a row, you transform into an "avatar of DEATH" I think he called it; with 5,000 HP and if you roll higher than 5 on a d20, whatever you look at, it dies.