South House Games

Campaign Setting Index => Gameplay Index => Key Concepts

Critical Success and Critical Failure

For nearly all d20 rolls, a natural roll (meaning the unmodified number that comes up on the die) of a 1 or 20 will have some special significance. A natural 1 will almost always be a failed roll no matter the modifiers and a natural 20 will almost always be a success. That does not mean, however, that a character can request to do anything and then if they get a 20 it is a success. Their action has to be possible within the context of the situation.

GM Note: Critical successes and failures are excellent opportunities for the GM to inject some randomness or interesting consequences into the session. Use your imagination and remember that these extreme rolls tend to generate fun stories your game group will tell and retell for years!