Critical Hits: Natural 20
When you make an attack roll and get a natural 20 (the d20 shows 20), you hit regardless of your target’s Armor Class, and your level. This means that the Hit MIGHT be a Critical Hit.
A Critical Hit means that the BONUS DAMAGE, (Those points derived in the x2 of the original roll.) is applied to the Target’s CONSTITUTION and NOT their Hit Points. If the target’s CN is taken to 0 they are in a Coma. If it reaches Negative CN, they are Dead.
To find out if it’s a Critical Hit, you immediately make another attack roll, Situational Modifiers such as Surprise, DO NOT apply for this second roll.
If this roll is a miss, then your hit is just a regular Natural 20 hit and all the doubled damage is applied ONLY to the Target’s Hit Points. (Unless the total exceeds the targets Hit Points, in which case excess carries through to Health/Constitution.
If the roll results in ANOTHER hit against the target’s AC, your original hit is now a Critical Hit. (The critical roll just needs to hit to give you a hit. It doesn’t need to come up 20 again.) And all the Bonus Damage is applied to the Target’s Constitution.
IF the second roll is another Natural 20 the damage total is DOUBLED AGAIN! And all the Bonus Damage is applied to the Target’s Constitution.
Cutting or Slashing When attacking a limb with a cutting attack, on a roll of a Natural 20 there is a 50% chance of completely severing the limb. If the attack is a Critical Hit the limb is automatically severed! Even if the limb is not severed it will be maimed and useless until properly healed.
Note: Any damage reductions, due to body armor or such, is factored into the original Damage Roll.
See the section on Gun Fights for the effect of Point Blank shots.
Example: A character fires his .45 Colt Peacemaker at an enemy and rolls a Natural 20. This is a hit. The damage from a .45 pistol is 2d8+3. The enemy is struck in the body, so the resulting damage roll is multiplied by 1.5. The player rolls an 11 on the D8s plus 3 is 14. Multiplied by 1.5 (rounded down) is 21. This is Doubled as it is a Natural 20, so 42 is the damage done by the bullet. However, since it was a Natural 20 that the character hit with, there is a chance that it is a Critical Hit. A second D20 is rolled.
If the player fails to roll a hit on the second roll then the hit is a regular Natural 20 and the damage is doubled and applied to the target’s hit Points ONLY. So the target takes 42 hit points damage. (NOTE: Damage BEYOND the target’s hit points, that take the target BELOW 0 HP, will accrue to the Target’s Constitution.) If the Target had 38 hit points when he was hit, all 38 are points are gone AND he has suffered 4 points of damage to his underlying Health or Constitution. He is still conscious and bleeding at a rate of 1 Constitution point per minute.
If the character rolls a successful Hit on the second dice roll then the FIRST points of damage are applied to the target’s Hit Points while ALL the Bonus Damage is applied to the target’s Constitution. This would be fatal for most people! In the example the target takes 21 Hit Points Damage AND 21 points to Constitution!
IF the second roll is ANOTHER Natural 20 the damage total is doubled again! The target will take 42 Hit Points Damage AND 42 points to Constitution.
I hit him! Where did I hit him?
Unless the character is attempting a Called Shot, the part of the target that is actually hit is rolled randomly on the following chart.
| Dice Roll | Body Part | Damage Effect |
| 1,2 | Groin | Impaling x 1.5 |
| 3,4 | Abdomen | Impaling x 1.5 |
| 5,6 | Chest | Impaling x 1.5 |
| 7 | Upper Left Arm | Normal |
| 8 | Lower Left Arm | Normal |
| 9 | Left Hand | Normal |
| 10 | Upper Right Arm | Normal |
| 11 | Lower Right Arm | Normal |
| 12 | Right Hand | Normal |
| 13 | Upper Left Leg | Normal |
| 14 | Lower Left Leg | Normal |
| 15 | Upper Right Leg | Normal |
| 16 | Lower Right Leg | Normal |
| 17 | Left Foot | Normal |
| 18 | Right Foot | Normal |
| 19 | Face | Normal 1 in 3 chance of being blinded |
| 20 | Head (Brain) | Impaling x 1.5 Critical |