| 1 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1326687108047200100 |
| 2 | %% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread. |
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| 4 | [[quoteright:319:[[Webcomic/DMOfTheRings https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/critical-failure_3368.jpg]]]] |
| 5 | [[caption-width-right:319:At least he didn't fail to roleplay the failure...]] |
| 6 | |
| 7 | ->''"You see, Fighter, any time you do '''any'''thing, there is a one in twenty chance that you will critically fail. The results of such catastrophic events are up to the gods. Sadly for us, they are vindictive, and filled with bad ideas."'' |
| 8 | -->-- '''Red Mage''', ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/06/17/episode-430-very-long-range "Very Long Range"]] |
| 9 | |
| 10 | %% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional entries on the quotes tab. %% |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Just as a CriticalHit gives a character a [[GameplayRandomization random chance]] of doing noticeably increased damage with an attack, a Critical Failure is the precise opposite: A finite, if sometimes [[EverythingTryingToKillYou suspiciously]] [[KillerGameMaster large]], possibility that the attack will fail, be resisted, miss, or even [[AttackBackfire backfire and hurt the attacker]], regardless of any stat bonuses, upgrades, tweaks, or special equipment involved. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | If being used on everything from swordplay to rock climbing, it may be a game mechanic meant to show the inherent danger in messing about with such dangerous things. Perhaps it's described as the unseen weak link in the armour or the sudden gust of wind or [[JerkassGods the gods just being dicks]] that day. When used only on particular items or actions, it could be used to show how they are the riskier choice or contain some particular special power that must be paid off for with a special risk (see AwesomeButImpractical and DifficultButAwesome). |
| 15 | |
| 16 | The weapon of choice for the KillerGameMaster, the bane of the {{Munchkin}}, and the source of mirth for TheLoonie, ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''[='=] '''unofficial''' [[PopularGameVariant utilization of it as the roll of a 1 on a D20]][[note]]the actual rules merely have the 1 as auto-fail, and only on certain rolls like attacks and saves (as a side note, those same rolls are also the only ones for which a natural 20 is an automatic success)[[/note]] is the [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]] and [[TropeMakers Trope Maker]] for many tabletop and video games based on role-playing. However, it has often been a factor in games of luck for much of time. The attempts of Game Masters to explain ''how'' a particular RandomNumberGod-decreed critical failure 'happened' regularly stretch plausibility to make it an EpicFail for the character responsible. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | No matter how small or large the chance of their randomly cropping up in a given system may be, critical failures will almost inevitably have more of an adverse effect on the ''[[PlayerCharacter player]]'' [[PlayerCharacter characters]] than they will on the {{NPC}}s. After all, the [=PCs=] are the characters for whom the dice get rolled by far the most often — and as the main protagonists, anything bad that happens to ''them'' will also likely impact the game itself and the associated experience far more than just [[{{Mook}} random anonymous orc #7]] fumbling and dropping his sword. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | MagicMisfire is one possible consequence or subtype. See also LuckStat. Can sometimes result in a CriticalExistenceFailure, but the tropes are not directly related. Compare RandomizedDamageAttack when a particular attack can deal a widespread random amount of damage, which may encompass [[ScratchDamage such embarrassingly low damage]] so as to be called a "critical failure". Contrast CriticalHit. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Also known as a "Fumble". |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Not to be confused with CriticalDissonance, which is when critics' opinions on a work fail to match the general public's. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | ---- |
| 27 | !!Examples: |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 32 | * In the Monster World RPG arc of the ''Manga/YuGiOh'' manga, Ryou Bakura plays a tabletop game with Yugi and his friends, wherein they use percentile dice (two 10-sided die — one for the tens and one for the ones) — for every roll. When Dark Bakura takes over, rolling a 99 (a fumble, low numbers are good, so 00 is the opposite — a CriticalHit) carries the penalty of having your soul trapped in your figurine. |
| 33 | * One chapter of ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' has the Student Council playtesting a board game that Fujiwara made with the rest of the Tabletop Gaming Club. On his first turn, Ishigami lands on an instant death space and ends up getting a one on his saving throw. |
| 34 | [[/folder]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 37 | * In ''[[https://web.archive.org/web/20050309224933/http://www.dimfuture.net/elsewhere/roleplaying/night/anodi-index.html A Night of Dark Intent]]'', the player characters can make a roll to heal bashing damage if they have a med kit. When one player botches this roll, the GameMaster makes a joke before finally deciding that he [[LaxativePrank took laxatives instead of painkillers]]. |
| 38 | -->'''Storyteller:''' ''(out-of-character)'' ...I have no idea how to adjucate that. [...] "Well, [Player #1], you accidentally shoved the cold pack up your nose. Roll to soak."\ |
| 39 | '''Player #1:''' ''(out-of-character)'' Augh! I am snorting ice!\ |
| 40 | '''Player #2:''' ''(out-of-character)'' I think Ice [Fenix, Player #3] would object.\ |
| 41 | [[/folder]] |
| 42 | |
| 43 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 44 | * In ''Film/TheGamersDorknessRising'', Leo, who is playing as a bard, tries to demonstrate his lackluster combat skills by sneak-attacking a ''book''. After arguing to his reluctant DM that the book's spine makes it eligible for backstabbing, Leo rolls and gets a 1. The critical failure involves [[YetAnotherStupidDeath stabbing himself instead and killing himself in the process]]. |
| 45 | -->'''Leo:''' ''[in shock]'' [[QuirkyBard Bards suck.]]\ |
| 46 | '''Lodge:''' That... was unprecedented, Leo. |
| 47 | ** Earlier, when [[RulesLawyer Cass's]] [[{{Munchkin}} character]] falls under a demon's compulsion ability, [[TemptingFate he insists on making a roll to resist]], as a natural 20 would automatically succeed against the demon's otherwise insurmountable DC. Lodge begrudgingly allows it...and Cass rolls a 1. |
| 48 | --->'''Lodge''': ''[gleeful]'' OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!!! A ''fumble!'' That means you are ''completely'' compelled, and ''I'' get to control your character until you snap out of it!\ |
| 49 | ''[motions for Cass to hand over his character sheet; Cass, not looking at him, sullenly does so]''\ |
| 50 | '''Lodge''': ''[smug]'' Since we're playing by the ''rules'', [[HoistByHisOwnPetard I know you don't mind]].\ |
| 51 | '''Cass''': Oh, shut up, Kevin. |
| 52 | [[/folder]] |
| 53 | |
| 54 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 55 | * ''Literature/PrincessesOfThePizzaParlor'': In the first episode, a bandit gets a "critical failure" when trying to resist a spell, it's not explicitly said, but it presumably turned an effect of generating a slight annoyance, into circumstances that totally total immobilized him. |
| 56 | * In the ''Literature/SpellsSwordsAndStealth'' books by Drew Hayes, the Bridge is a mysterious artifact that appears to link the world of the titular RPG game and the real world. In the "game world", the artifact is capable of affecting die rolls and causing critical failure, such as in the first novel, when the players try to ambush the [=NPCs=], who have recovered the artifact, but none of their attacks work due to this trope. |
| 57 | [[/folder]] |
| 58 | |
| 59 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 60 | * In ''Podcast/AcquisitionsIncorporated'', Jerry has quite a reputation of rolling horrible. He even rolled critical failures back-to-back at the climax of season 2. Not that he's the only one to ever have bad rolls... |
| 61 | -->'''Creator/{{Wil|Wheaton}}:''' Oh yeah, so I run down the thing, and I land on top of the bear, and I, like, flip in the air, and then, as I'm coming down, I sort of, like, barrel-roll a little bit, and then I flip again, and then I come down here so I land just like this, so I'm flanking this guy. Yeah, and it's super-cool! And there's rock music playing while I do it, and I'm gleaming cubes on my way there, and as I come down, I use my Avenging Echo against him... ohhh, I rolled a 1. |
| 62 | [[/folder]] |
| 63 | |
| 64 | [[folder:Roleplay]] |
| 65 | * One of the main points of ''Roleplay/RollToDodge'' is that everything is determined by the RandomNumberGod -- rolling a [[InstantWinCondition 6 or a 12 makes the Universe bend to your will]], whereas a 1 can result in EpicFail or [[CriticalExistenceFailure worse]]. |
| 66 | [[/folder]] |
| 67 | |
| 68 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 69 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': |
| 70 | ** Despite the strong possibility that ''D&D'' is the TropeMaker, critical failures have ''never'' been more than an optional rule... but [[PopularGameVariant thousands of tables have added them to their house rules]]. The ''official'' rule for rolling a 1 on d20 varies by edition and the type of roll, but generally a 1 is either calculated normally, or at worst the natural 1 is just an automatic miss with no additional effects. There have been extensive {{flame war}}s, all the way back to the days when they had to be conducted by letter column, debating whether critical failures deserve a place in the game. |
| 71 | ** In [[TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragons2ndEdition 2nd edition]], there were semi-official optional rules for critical hits and misses published by ''Dragon magazine'', where you would roll a percent and in general, the higher the number the more potent the effect. The funny thing is, both critical hits and critical failures used the same table — so it was entirely possible to decapitate yourself on a critical failure if you rolled exceptionally high on the table. |
| 72 | ** The Critical Failure rule has been included in the Dungeon Master's Guide since 3rd edition as an example of what a house rule is. In 4th Edition, the suggested House rule format is that a player who rolls a 1 on an attack roll loses all subsequent actions this round. Rather tame and less deadly than the more classic versions. |
| 73 | ** [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition 3rd Edition]]: |
| 74 | *** In the third edition (and variants), automatic failure on a roll of 1 applies only to attack rolls and saving throws. Skill checks ''do not'' result in an automatic failure when rolling a 1, nor an automatic success when rolling a 20 — making it impossible for most people to (say) balance on a single cobweb, but also preventing them from garroting themselves while tying their shoes. |
| 75 | *** One critical failure actually included in the standard rules is for the use of PoisonedWeapons. On a natural attack roll of 1 with a poisoned weapon, the wielder must succeed on a Reflex save or accidentally poison himself. |
| 76 | *** The 3.5 ''Dragon Compendium'' includes expanded rules for what happens when rolling a 1 or a 20 on an attack roll. The critical failures are rather amusing. And that quote from Red Mage at the top of the page is a very good reason to never enforce these rules. Especially the ''Dragon Compendium'' version. |
| 77 | ** [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsFifthEdition 5th Edition]]: |
| 78 | *** This is partially inverted by Halflings. Their Halfling Luck racial feature allows them to reroll any 1 on any D20 they roll (unless they roll a second 1 on the reroll). This means that rolling a 1 can be more beneficial to Halflings than rolling other "automatic" failure rolls like 2s, 3s, or 4s. This is particularly helpful if a given DM enforces critical failures. |
| 79 | *** The (silly) sourcebook ''Acquisition Incorporated'' includes the spell "Jim's Magical Missile". On a 1, the missiles fly back and hit the caster. |
| 80 | ** [[https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Sameo Sameo]] is a tale of a particularly spectacular failure of a failure (three 1s in a row) that gets turned into an equally spectacular [[spoiler:DyingMomentOfAwesome]]. |
| 81 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', ''D&D'' spin-off created when fourth edition proved very controversial with fans, has differed between editions. |
| 82 | ** First Edition's official rules followed 3.5 rules; a natural 1 did nothing but guarantee a failed attack roll or saving throw. On a skill check, results were calculated normally. A house rule allowed a skill check on a natural 1 to be resolved as if a -10 was rolled. An ''optional'' critical hit and fumble deck existed, and with the same pros and cons as any other critical hit and fumble table. |
| 83 | ** Second Edition uses four grades of outcome. If you exceed the DC (including AC) of any roll by 10, you critically succeed. If you fail by 10, you critically fail. Otherwise, check success and failure normally. Rolling a natural 20 raises your level of success by one level, and rolling a natural 1 lowers your level of success by one. This means that at the extreme edges of the table, you could critically fail on a 1-19, and fail on a 20, or succeed on a 1, and critically succeed on a 2-20. Mind you, these would be extraordinary circumstances, like if a 2nd level character picked a fight with a 17th level monster or a 19th level character disarming a level 4 trap. Such events would almost never come up in actual gameplay because at that point the encounter is a foregone conclusion. Playing it out would waste the player's and GameMaster's time. |
| 84 | ** Generally, in ''Pathfinder'' Second Edition, critical failures are costly. Critically failing a save means you usually take double damage and worse penalties from status effects. Critically failing a skill roll usually leads to worse outcomes than a normal failure. Critically failing Medicine, for example, means you apply ComicallyIneptHealing and injure your target, while critically failing a Diplomacy check to make a Request generally offends the target and causes them to become more hostile to you. Critically failing an attack roll does nothing for standard attacks, but for attacks like Grapple and Trip, may cause you to be hoisted by your own petard. |
| 85 | * ''TabletopGame/InNomine'', which is based on the War between Heaven and Hell, has a special take on critical failures (and critical successes). The game uses a system of rolling 3 six sided dice; a natural roll of 3 ones (representing the Holy Trinity) is a "Divine Intervention", which is good for angels and those allied with them, and bad for demons and their allies; a natural roll of 3 sixes (representing... [[NumberOfTheBeast well, you know]]) is an "Infernal Intervention", which is good for those on Hell's side and bad for those fighting for Heaven. Depending on the nature and circumstances of the roll, these Interventions can be anything from [[InMysteriousWays a(n) (un)lucky coincidence]] to a [[DeusExMachina blatant spectacular manifestation of divine or infernal power]]. |
| 86 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' has Glitches — rolling a one on half or more of all dice in a roll — and critical Glitches — a glitch that also has no successes. The former is just annoying side effects like a burst of suppressive fire hitting a steam pipe, but the latter tends to invoke the ChunkySalsaRule. |
| 87 | * ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies'' has fumble rolls at 00. Since they're vastly less common than typical Critical Failures, they also tend to be vastly more dangerous or entertaining. The only real rule is that they won't ''kill'' a player, but that not very reassuring in [[CrapsackWorld the setting.]] The technical term for these is "BOHICA": FunWithAcronyms for "[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Bend Over, Here It Comes Again]]". |
| 88 | * Due to a quirk of the system (the use of 3d6 rather than a d20, and success made by rolling ''under'' a target number) ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' reverses the normal expectations and has critical failures on an 18 and critical success on a 3. This may be due to TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'s influence on Steve Jackson; Hero System runs the same way. It should be noted that due to the bell curve of rolling three dice, the chances of a either in GURPS is less than half a percent, versus 5% chance of rolling 1 on a d20. The chance of a critical success or failure increases as you become better, or worse, respectively, at an action, up to 6 or below (for a critical success) and 15 or above (for a critical failure), for a 9.3% chance. |
| 89 | * [[https://funnydndstories.com/sameo/ Sameo]]: proof that even a critical failure can be a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome. |
| 90 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has its own version, which tends to be very, very bad for you. To fail, you have to have half ones and ''no'' successes. The more dice that come up one, the worse the problem. You screw up less often as you get more skilled, but when you do, it is more catastrophic. That's the Exalted for you — even their screw-ups are epic. |
| 91 | * Speaking of White Wolf, [[TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness both]] [[TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness versions]] of ''The World of Darkness'' come with rules to this effect. In the Old version, should you roll no successes and one or more dice come up 1, you get a "botch" (also the term ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' uses) — which is usually a horrific mishap of the amusing-but-grievous variety. In the New World of Darkness, when your dice pool is reduced by penalties to nothing, you get a "chance die" — it only succeeds on a 10 and gives you a Dramatic Failure on 1. |
| 92 | ** Due to the fact that [[WritersCannotDoMath Game Designers Have No Sense of Statistics]], the [[TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness OWOD]] system made you ''more'' likely to botch on very difficult rolls if you had a large number of dice to roll, as illustrated [[http://wiki.white-wolf.com/worldofdarkness/index.php?title=Probability_Math#Botching.2C_Second_Edition here]] and [[http://millercommamatt.com/journal/index.php/2008/11/16/probabilities-in-the-white-wolf-role-pla#more175 here.]] Thankfully Revised Edition reduced this problem, as a botch required a 1 plus no successes at all (even if your successes are all cancelled by 1's, it's still just a failure). |
| 93 | ** ''TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen'' is notable for encouraging Storytellers not to rely on just "you fail in a horrible manner" for botches. Their example was jumping across rooftops: on a failure, you fall; on a botch, you barely make it across... [[OhCrap and interrupt a Mafia execution.]] |
| 94 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'', which uses a readjusted variant of the ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'' system, carries over the Botch rule. However, there is one form of relief — if you have Epic Attributes (which add automatic successes to rolls involving them), you ''can't'' botch rolls of that attribute. Divinity means that even if you fail, you fail ''well.'' |
| 95 | * Magic in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' is portrayed as an always risky affair, manipulating the spillage of raw Chaos into the material world that invites the attention of deities [[EldritchAbomination who are far too ugly for a mother to comprehend never mind love]]. So not only does it have the Miscast rule that automatically fails the players' attempts to cast a spell but the player must then roll again to see what happens to their mage; it ranges from a bad headache to a legion of daemons invading its brain and dragging the world around him into hell. |
| 96 | ** And don't think worshipping one of the [[strike:good]] [[BlackAndGreyMorality okay]] deities in ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'' exempts you from this rule. The same botch rules apply, only the gods get angry with you for abusing their gifts. It's generally not as bad as the Curse of Tzeentch, however — the gods may get angry and stun you for a round, but they won't summon hordes of demons, inflict insanity points on you, or render your entire family sterile(!). |
| 97 | ** The eighth edition magic rules changed most magic critical failures into "bad critical successes": The spell succeeds and can't be [[AntiMagic dispelled by the enemy]], but something bad happens to the caster. |
| 98 | ** In the offshoot board game ''TabletopGame/BloodBowl'', you can make a "Go for it" roll to move up to two extra spaces in a turn. You have a 1 out of 6 chance to fail, but failure is treated the same way as if the player was attacked by an opponent, which means they have to roll against their armour. If they fail their armour roll, they make a roll on the injury table, which has consequences ranging from being briefly stunned up to a permanent disability or death. If the player is equipped with a chainsaw, they have a significant penalty to their armour roll, which makes them very likely to be injured every time they fall down. |
| 99 | *** ''Blood Bowl'' has many amusing total failure states for attacks as well. For example, if you roll a skull when your attacking an enemy (even if you attacking with something huge like an ogre to attack a halfling) the attacker is injured instead, which can just be anything from being knocked over, [[GroinAttack to groin strain]], to ''death''. This can even happen if you trip from running too far. |
| 100 | ** There is also a 1-in-6 critical failure chance in non-magic affairs, such as combat. If you roll a 1, no matter how skilled your warriors are, you miss. |
| 101 | *** The new Skaven army book has misfire charts for virtually every weapon more complex than a pointy stick (and even some of those). With the amount of 1-in-6 failures inherent in the army, you are practically guaranteed never to end a game without one of your wonder weapons shooting your own troops / exploding / gassing itself / blowing up / imploding / causing daemonic burns / catching fire / sucking the user into the Realm of Chaos. |
| 102 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' has its rules reflect the fact that the game takes place in a [[CrapsackWorld crapsack universe]] where EverythingIsTryingToKillYou - like your own weapons, for example. |
| 103 | ** Guns with the Gets Hot! special rule, such as Imperial plasma weapons or some of the more dangerous [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Ork]] "kustom shootas," will overheat and wound their wielder if you roll a 1 to hit. They're [[https://1d4chan.org/images/b/ba/Warhammer_Plasma.jpg totally worth the risk]], though. |
| 104 | ** Previous editions were even more fun. The second edition, with its detailed skirmish-level rules, included obscure failure modes for the most experimental or cobbled-together weaponry available. As a particularly memorable example, shoulder-mounted missile packs could misfire in a manner which required the player to roll for direction and range over and over again as the wielder's remaining arsenal launched itself around at random and the poor soul spun around comically. Chaos Space Marines got the worst of it, with plasma weapons which could fail in fashions ranging from "weapons jam" to "smouldering crater", and Juggernaut war-machines that would randomly go on an auto-pilot rampage across the board and never be seen again. |
| 105 | ** Chaos Dreadnoughts, being psychotic super-soldiers entombed in a walking tank, have a special Crazed table you have to roll on each turn, giving you a one-in-six chance that your mobile weapons platform will unleash a salvo of missiles and plasma fire on its own side. |
| 106 | ** Rolling nothing but ones to hit with a Space Marine's [[GatlingGood assault cannon]] used to jam the gun, making it unusable for the rest of the match, which may have contributed to its rarity in 3rd Edition armies. More recent rules updates have [[GameBreaker reversed the trend]], however. |
| 107 | ** The Orks' Shokk Attack Gun, the infamous weapon that fires [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent Snotlings]] through [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace the Warp]] into ([[TeleFrag literally]]) enemies, has a long and complex misfire table, which includes results such as the gun spinning out of control and hitting a friendly squad, the gun firing its ''wielder'' instead of its ammunition, or the gun exploding into a [[SphereOfDestruction crackling hole in reality]] that removes any nearby models from play. But that's just part of the randomness that makes playing Orks so fun. |
| 108 | *** Orks basically run on this trope, with nearly everything spectacular and devastating in their arsenal having a small chance (correlating positively with their power) of some sort of absurd Critical Failure. |
| 109 | *** There remains one subversion within the Orks themselves; certain vehicles that suffer explosion damage result simply fall apart. This is in contrast to everything else the Orks have (and indeed every other race in a similar situation) where you'd actually expect the vehicle to explode (even if it is made from piece of wood, scrap metal, and little else). |
| 110 | ** In older editions of the rules, a critical failure on a psychic test (double one or double six, around a 5.5% chance of occurring) causes the Warp to fry the Psyker's brain. Curiously, if you roll a double one on your psychic test (which is a critical success as it's based on morale/command), the power still works even if the Psyker actually dies from backlash. In the 7th edition rules, this only happens if you suffer Perils by rolling two or more 6s when rolling for successful Warp Charges and then roll a 1 on the Perils of the Warp table. That will not only kill the psyker (he's sucked into the Warp) but has a good chance of killing most or all of the unit he's attached to as well. Most other rolls on the Perils table cause the psyker to take an unsavable wound along with a downgrade of some sort. |
| 111 | ** The Vortex of Doom psychic power takes this even further: not only is there the normal chance of Perils of the Warp, there's also the following rule: "If, when casting this power, the Psyker fails his Psychic Test, [[OhCrap place the Vortex of Doom blast marker on the Psyker.]] [[ObviousRulePatch (In this case, the marker will not scatter)]]" Bear in mind, this is a Destroyer-class weapon in the new rules, so hitting yourself with it is almost guaranteed death. |
| 112 | ** Due to the nature of Ordnance weapons, you can totally miss your target, and completely obliterate your own troops due to a misfire. Not exactly Critical Failure, but just as hilarious (to your opponent, if not you). |
| 113 | ** Teleportation, also known as Deep Strike, has the possibility of the Deep Striking troops landing in terrain, fusing them to the terrain and thus utterly obliterating the squad. |
| 114 | *** The Daemons are especially prone to this: your entire army has to enter battle this way, meaning you could lose parts your army due to bad rolls. |
| 115 | ** Speaking of Daemons, they will suffer a combination of Critical Failure and CriticalExistenceFailure if they suffer too many wounds. If they fail the resulting leadership test, they will completely evaporate back into the warp, which in-game destroys the unit. |
| 116 | ** Apocalypse games allow fielding the Land Raider Terminus Ultra, which can suffer a Critical Failure if all 5 of its Las-cannons overheat, effectively turning it into a mini-nuke. |
| 117 | ** The various Warhammer 40k role-playing games (''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy'', ''TabletopGame/RogueTrader'', ''TabletopGame/BlackCrusade'', and ''TabletopGame/OnlyWar'') have expanded rules for fumbles related to psychic powers. The exact mechanic varies, but the standard is that any roll of a 9 (on a number of 10-sided dice that increases with the caster's level) causes a Psychic Phenomenon, which calls for a further 1d100 roll. Most of these rolls are amusing, or only mildly dangerous (the caster disappears into another time for 1d10 rounds, or statues and paintings begin weeping blood) -- but a roll of 75 or higher on this chart sends the unfortunate soul to the second chart, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Perils of the Warp]], which is much more deadly. This chart ranges from merely dangerous ("take a few wounds from psychic feedback", "the caster [[GoMadFromTheRevelation Goes Mad From The Revelation]]") to the outright lethal ("the caster [[DemonicPossession becomes a daemonhost]]", "the caster is sucked into the Warp and dies"). Needless to say, psychic powers are best used sparingly in the 41st millennium... |
| 118 | *** The good news is, outside of psychic powers and overheating weapons, the rules consider your "degrees of failure" (by how much you missed the target threshold) for determining whether a failure is critical. It's usually upwards from four degrees of failure (a miss by 30 or 40 depending on the system) that it goes critical, which means that if the roll is easy enough for the character (e.g. must roll under 71 to succeed), ''it cannot be critically failed''. |
| 119 | *** Psychic powers cast at half-strength never generate phenomena. |
| 120 | * Older versions of ''TabletopGame/RuneQuest'' had a notoriously unforgiving fumble chart. Some player did the math and determined that of a squad of 200 trained swordsmen, after 2 minutes of battle, '''10''' of them would be dead from self-decapitation. |
| 121 | * ''TabletopGame/RoleMaster'': |
| 122 | ** Its critical hit and critical fumble charts have some legendary results, including one that involves "tripping over an imaginary deceased turtle". (This is of course humour indicating that the character just blundered big time with zero style.) |
| 123 | ** When rolling for one weapon category's fumble's effect, if you get a high enough roll (99 or 100 if memory serves) there's a 50% chance that the enemy bursts into laughter and is helpless for an X amount of rounds, (the other 50% consists of you spraining your groin), giving you a free attack for the next round, turning a major gaffe into an advantage. |
| 124 | ** The ''M.E.R.P. (TabletopGame/MiddleEarthRolePlaying)'' game is a variation of TabletopGame/RoleMaster, and has some interesting ones for critical failures covering everything from simply inconvenient, to embarrassing, to downright deadly, depending on actions taken and roll made on fumble chart. These can include dropping or breaking your weapon or failing to move, causing a critical strike to yourself, biting off your own tongue and swallowing it, tripping up and landing in an embarrassing position, shooting yourself in the foot, or falling and crushing your own skull and dying, and my personal favourite, for those fighting from a mount: "you drive the point of your weapon into the ground, pole vault 30 feet, and take a 'C' crush critical to yourself". |
| 125 | * ''TabletopGame/{{FATAL}}'': |
| 126 | ** In this infamous roleplaying game, "crucial fumbles" (1 or 2 on a d100) have surprisingly reasonable effects. Except the 1% chance that a god decides to kill the offending character, possibly by [[RocksFallEveryoneDies making the whole building collapse]]. |
| 127 | ** The magical mishap rules, however, are ''awful''. There are pages and pages of possible side-effects, ranging from repetitive ("caster worships and entire body is branded with the symbol of god X" for every possible god, spanning 8 pages) to childish humour ("caster grows a piece of fruit from their dickhole/cuntpipe every ten days") to game-breaking stupidity ("nearest two nations declare war on each other", [[ApocalypseHow DEATH OF EVERY LIVING THING ON THE CASTER'S PLANET]]) - and of course "roll for 1d20 other effects". |
| 128 | ** You don't even have to go that far -- the rules for ''every single form of performance art'', be it music, slapstick, or whatever, say that on a critical failure you injure yourself and/or others. Meaning you can quite literally [[BrownNote sing someone to death]] or [[AccidentalMurder kick someone's face off]] after slipping on a BananaPeel. |
| 129 | * While the [[AllThereInTheManual rulebook]] encourages creativity with these things, the punishment for "botches" in ''TabletopGame/{{Ironclaw}}'' (the same as a Critical Failure) is usually less severe than most (for instance, botching a spell usually only results in the spell backfiring and dealing damage to you). However, if you play as a Necromancer, and you roll at least [[NumberOfTheBeast three 6's]] when dealing with a Black Magic spell, expect the heavens to open up, hell to let out a loud roar, and Cthulhu to wince in pain at the mighty backlash of chaos magic you just wrought upon the world. Or you just animate some angry corpses by accident, it depends on your GM. |
| 130 | * Using a set of 0s in ''TabletopGame/LegendsOfTheWulin'' will allow the DM to offer you Interesting Times. If you accept, you receive what is essentially the Power of Plot, but there will be trouble: any success off that roll will be a complicated affair, and any failure will be devastating. |
| 131 | * Rolling a 20 in ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}''. Your gun can explode, your mutant power backfires horribly, and so on. |
| 132 | ** Some [=GMs=] also invert this with a house rule that rolling a 1 may mean you succeeded ''[[GoneHorriblyRight too]]'' [[GoneHorriblyRight well]]. Shooting a Commie mutant traitor sends their shattered remains flying back In ward through a wall, causing pipes to burst and release toxic chemicals... that sort of thing. |
| 133 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' uses them too, and [[TheWestern we call 'em "busts" 'round these parts]], ''[[GratuitousSpanish hombre]]''. Going bust becomes worse if a character has the "Bad Luck" Hindrance. Of note is the fact that the only sort of [[MagicAIsMagicA magic]] that doesn't tend to do horrible things on a Critical Failure is that of [[WhiteMagic the Blessed]]. Turns out {{God}} (or [[AllMythsAreTrue whoever]] [[ReligionIsMagic else]]) isn't too hard on His most devout followers. |
| 134 | ** This is mainly because it's the only magic not fueled by [[OurDemonsAreDifferent manitous]]. Failing other forms of magic results in the manitou powering it jumping into your skull and playing tommyknockers, which can't end well. |
| 135 | ** Mad science devices have their own risks, in the form of a "reliability" number. If you roll higher than the reliability, you have to roll on a failure chart. Minor failures tend to be simple hiccups that are easily repaired, while major failures usually break the device completely. And then above major failures are ''catastrophes''... |
| 136 | * The ''TabletopGame/StarWarsD6'' system has the interesting expansion of allowing a critical failure that is also a success. The classic example is a successful dodge which leaves the player standing close to ExplodingBarrels, or a successful attack resulting in the victim falling onto an alarm button. |
| 137 | ** West End Games' old ''Star Wars'' RPG had a very similar effect, but rolling a 1 on the Wild Die (the die selected before the roll which would indicate either great success or great failure) was only really bad for a character that lacked the skill relevant to the action. While it is technically possible to have a critical failure that also is high enough to succeed, this is rather unlikely. Depending on what was attempted (and the actual numerical result of the roll), the result could be as grim as hitting your thumb with a hammer or as humorous as lopping off your own head with a lightsabre. |
| 138 | ** ''Franchise/StarWars: TabletopGame/EdgeOfTheEmpire'' has critical failure appear through "Challenge" dice, and a lesser form appear as a threat counter. They only appear if a difficulty of a task is upgraded (reserved for special circumstances, or if the DM spends a resource to upgrade said die.) Said critical failures and threats are independent of whether or not the main task is successful - you can kill the enemy, but a critical failure causes said enemy to land on the self-destruct button. |
| 139 | * ''TabletopGame/CartoonActionHour'' call these a "Flub". A "Flub" is a roll of 1 on a D12. |
| 140 | * In ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'', all rolls are on a percent die (from 00 to 99). Doubles (ie. 00, 11, etc.) are critical. Whether they're critical failures or successes is up to the parameters of the roll (so if you needed a 40 or lower to succeed a roll, 44 is a critical failure). 00 is always a critical success, and 99 is always a critical failure. Probably the most interesting critical failures in ''Eclipse Phase'' are those involving [[PsychicPowers Psi Sleights]]. The consequences there can include [[PsychicNosebleed nosebleed]], GrandTheftMe, or YourHeadAsplode. |
| 141 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Spycraft}}'' has a rule where a bad roll triggers an "error", only slightly worse than a normal failure, and a true Critical Failure requires the [[GameMaster Game Control]] to spend one or more action dice, theoretically ensuring that critical failures don't disrupt the flow of the game and occur when most dramatically appropriate. A similar rule has players spend their own action dice to activate a critical success when they roll a "threat". The game also plays around with the ranges of d20 rolls that constitute an error or a threat depending on the circumstances, producing some interesting risk/reward mechanics. |
| 142 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Toon}}'' is similar to GURPS above, but with one less die. A natural 12 is a critical failure. Keep in mind this is a cartoon roleplaying game, and you can imagine how much fun a critical failure can be. |
| 143 | * ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica''. Currently, you might botch if you roll a ten on an ability check while under stress. Previous editions had a critical failure table with increasingly-horrific results -- the worst results kill you instantly, with helpful descriptive text such as: |
| 144 | -->"Rising after yet another resounding exchange of blows, you look to your weapon and realize it's broken short, the lethal end impaling you from abdomen to spine. For a moment you feel the sinews of your back slide from their moorings before you fall lifeless to the ground." |
| 145 | ** This is not even the absolute worst result. The worst result has you die instantly, as above, and ''attack one of your allies by mistake as you die''. |
| 146 | * ''TabletopGame/NewHorizon'' uses two twenty-sided dice as its success determiner. They are referred to as the White Die and the Black Die in the rules. And if you get a twenty on the black die, you not only automatically fail, but you have to use the white die to see how much you failed. Fun. |
| 147 | * While no "general-purpose" critical failure rules exist for ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'', specific pieces of equipment have their own individual failure chances if used to full effect or sometimes even at all: |
| 148 | ** The classic examples are ultra and rotary autocannons fired more than once in a turn, which can cause them to jam and become useless for the rest of the fight on a natural 2 on the attack roll, and MASC ("myomer accelerator signal circuitry"), which adds to running speed, but with a chance of causing automatic critical hits to the legs that goes up if used on multiple turns in a row. Note that even if you roll a 2 while firing an ultra autocannon in ultra mode, it's still not an automatic miss- if your target number was low enough you still hit the target even though the weapon is now useless for the rest of the game. |
| 149 | ** [[GoombaStomp Death From Above]] attacks have a very large chance of dumping the attacking mech on its ass, missing the target entirely, or landing on the target and ''then'' face-planting into the ground, taking heavy damage. |
| 150 | ** It's possible to get a critical failure on ''movement'' as well; turning on roads while moving at a run and then leaving the hex you're in require a roll for Battlemechs -- failing the roll causes the battlemech to slip and fall onto its face or its back, which can lead to an entire squad of battlemechs slipping over a road like it's made of ice. However the roll's number is based on how far you've moved, and if you have a good enough pilot it's possible that you will automatically succeed. |
| 151 | ** The most blatant examples of a critical failure, however, goes to the High Velocity Autocannon, or HVAC and the flail. On a roll of 2, the gun's highly volitile ammunition detonates inside the barrel, destroying the weapon and damaging the mech. There's a reason HVACs are considered to be one of the worst weapons in the game. When using a flail, meanwhile, if you roll low enough on the attack roll you automatically hit yourself with it. |
| 152 | * In ''TabletopGame/{{Illuminati}}'', if you roll an 11 or 12, you fail-- no matter who you are, who your target is, how much money was spent on the attack, or even if it was a privileged attack (one other players can't interfere with). This can become downright silly with certain combinations. Roll a 12, and suddenly the Mafia can't kill Furries. |
| 153 | * Rolling a 12 in ''TabletopGame/PsionicsTheNextStageInHumanEvolution'' on a skill or talent check is always a failure and it's often flavor texted as this. |
| 154 | * The rules for black powder firearms in ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' have them misfire on a poor die roll, wasting the shot and fouling the barrel. If you keep shooting without clearing the barrel, not only does your chance of further misfires increase, but such a misfire will caused a fouled gun to explode, damaging everyone nearby and destroying the gun. And guns are rare and expensive outside a single small country in the ''Pathfinder'' setting. |
| 155 | * In ''TabletopGame/HcSvntDracones'' making a critical failure means that you think you succeeded, but didn't. I.e. piloting a ship smoothly for a few meters then crashing violently into something. This is especially bad for those with Transcendent Implants, who activate at a higher power level when they critically fail an activation roll, which is actually [[RealityWarpingIsNotAToy bad]]. |
| 156 | * In the ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' setting, unlike ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and all the others [[FollowTheLeader following its rules]], rolling a one is a critical ''success'', and if the player rolled for a non-physical skill that isn't Cthulhu Mythos, they get a chance to instantly increase their skill on a 1d6 roll. That's because players roll to hopefully get numbers ''below'' their skills, in a sense indicating the difficulty of the task the roll relates to. But may the Cosmos have pity on you should you roll "00", the equivalent of rolling a one in ''D&D''. Oh, and if you roll that while firing a gun, ''[[ReliablyUnreliableGuns it misfires and explodes in your hands]]''. |
| 157 | ** It gets worse - all guns in ''[=CoC=]'' have a "malfunction number" - rolling that number (usually a 98 or above) is as bad as rolling an 00 [[DependingOnTheWriter depending on the]] [[GameMaster Keeper]]. |
| 158 | ** Anything above a 95% in a skill or stat roll is generally considered a critical failure, which can lead to things like [[GoMadFromTheRevelation immediately taking the maximum amount of Sanity loss possible]] [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm from seeing a monster]] or accidentally killing someone while trying to do First Aid on them. |
| 159 | * ''TabletopGame/PlanetMercenary'' employs a gentle version of this. Rolling all 1's (a 1 in 216 chance with the standard 3d6 roll) results in failure, but nothing additional bad happening. |
| 160 | * ''TabletopGame/TheOneRing'': All dice roll pools include a twelve-sided Fate Die with one "Eye of Sauron" face that counts as a zero. If a dice roll includes the Eye and fails to meet the target number, it goes badly wrong somehow, such as by leaving a combatant open to an automatic Called Shot from an enemy. Eyes are also tallied; once the "Eye Awareness" score passes a threshold, the forces of darkness will soon visit some kind of misfortune on the player characters. |
| 161 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Talisman}}'': You may have your EpicFlail and get to roll two dice with it (everyone else gets only one), but if you roll two sixes you decapitate yourself. |
| 162 | * In ''TabletopGame/MutantYearZero'' actions rolls only succeed if they land on a six, if not the roll fails, but the game offers a way to try the roll again at the risk of suffering injury. These are called ''Push'' rolls; the player picks up any of the dice that has not landed on a one or a six and rolls them again, but each dice that landed on a previously or newly rolled one now counts as damage to that [=PC=]. |
| 163 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Numenera}}'': Even when you don't roll a 1, the GM can ''arbitrarily decide'' when and how you critically fail. Thankfully, ''any'' critical failure grants the PC 1 XP (you 'level up' with 4 XP) and lets them choose someone else to get 1XP. Alternatively, you can reject the 2 XP and [[LuckManipulationMechanic sacrifice an additional 1 XP to prevent the critical failure]]. |
| 164 | [[/folder]] |
| 165 | |
| 166 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 167 | * In ''VideoGame/AIDungeon2'', putting in the preface 'attempt to' can result in this; the most common result being [[RocksFallEveryoneDies the player characters death]]. [[AllJustADream Rarely]] [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle does it ever]] [[MindScrew actually end the story though.]] |
| 168 | * Both Flak and Jugger invoke this in ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars]]'' - in exchange for their attacks randomly doing more damage than usual, they also have a chance of doing ''less'' damage. Their CO Powers only exacerbate this, to the point where their attacks have a roughly equal chance of either inflicting insane amounts of damage or barely leaving a scratch. This is also the main reason why both of them are {{Joke Character}}s. |
| 169 | * ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'' has a wide range of critical failures, such as breaking your own weapon, breaking your own armour, knocking yourself out, dropping your weapon, dealing heavy damage to yourself, semi-permanent disfigurement and injury... and it's not unusual for several effects to happen at once, which is hilarious when it happens to an enemy and incredibly frustrating when it happens to you. (And it will happen to you A LOT when starting out. Expect the words "Are you blind? What in the gods-er, better luck next time!" to be burned into your mind.) There's also a trait that makes critical hits and misses less common, but more spectacular. Oh, and the critical failure chance of technological weapons [[MagicVersusScience is increased in the hands of a magic user]]. |
| 170 | * The map-based operation-level war game ''The Ardennes Offensive'' incorporated the element of chance into its battles by listing six possible outcomes, ranging from worst to best, and rolling a die. Basically, the greater your numerical and tactical superiority, the better the six possible outcomes would be - but no matter how [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown completely]] you dominated the battlefield, rolling a 1 would always mean losing more than you gained. Yes, even when chasing stragglers with [[NoKillLikeOverkill entire armoured divisions.]] |
| 171 | * One of the sidequests in the D&D-styled fourth DLC of ''Videogame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' has the players repeatedly get bad rolls on ''picking up a gun''. The first time has the gun flying off into the distance. The second time has you break your fingers, sending you into Fight for Your Life mode, and the third time turns the gun into a miniboss. Afterwards, Tina just decides to let you take the gun without needing to roll. The gun that you gain in the sidequest is a unique and rather high powered SMG which has a roughly 1 in 10 chance of rolling a critical failure when reloaded, causing it to slip out of the character's hands and go sliding across the ground (a critical fumble, presumably). |
| 172 | ** Krieg's "Silence the Voices" skill gives him a huge bonus to his melee damage, letting him easily hit enemies for thousands of points of damage, at the cost of giving his melee attacks a roughly 1 in 8 chance of hitting himself instead. This can potentially be deadly during Buzz Axe Rampage, which gives him even more melee damage and refills his health whenever he gets a kill, leading to scenarios where Krieg downs himself when you ''really'' needed a melee kill to heal. |
| 173 | ** The Holodome DLC of ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'' introduces the Boxxy Gunn, a unique Tediore SMG. Like all Tediore guns, instead of reloading normally, you simply throw the gun at your enemy like a grenade while a new copy with a full magazine gets digistructed into your hands. What makes the Boxxy Gunn stand out is the fact that it has a chance to explode prematurely in the user's hands when attempting to reload, causing significant damage. The chance of a misfire increases with every bullet left in the magazine, making the most popular strategy for Tediore guns, reloading with an almost-full magazine for extra damage, incredibly risky; needless to say, the gun got a poor reception from the fans. |
| 174 | * ''VideoGame/DarkDevotion'': Every weapon has both a chance to crit and a chance to miss. A missed attack inflicts far less damage than a normal attack would, and it won’t trigger any secondary effects that the weapon might have. |
| 175 | * ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'': Every character, hero or monster, has a maximum accuracy of 95% (90% in previous versions); no matter how high you increase your character's accuracy, there is always a 5% chance they will miss. In the same vein, if you increase a hero's dodge chance to supernatural levels (110%, above the accuracy of the average ''boss'' attack and theoretically impossible to hit at all), enemies will still have a ~10% chance to hit your supposedly invincible character. As well, the Occultist's Eldritch Reconstruction is a healing move used on allies unlike any other in the game by its numerical range having zero at the bottom of it...and it can inflict a bleed effect on allies too, so getting a "0 bleed" result on [[FromBadToWorse a hero at Death's Door]] is a [[MemeticMutation memetically famous]] possibility. It even used to be able to ''critically heal while still healing for zero'', but this was patched out. |
| 176 | * Enemies with high speed/agility stats in the ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series can dodge critical attacks. "Excellent move... It is dodging!" Or even block them. "Thy attack failed and there was no loss of hit points!" |
| 177 | * In ''VideoGame/EYEDivineCybermancy'', every now and again in combat, you get the message, "Bullshit! Ultra-failed attack!" though these can still kill enemies. However, when you fail a hack, there is always a slim possibility that your brain will be fried by the firewall, resulting in instant death regardless of how many resurrectors you had. Using [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique dangerous psychic abilities]] has a chance to [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity drive you insane]], kill you, or give you [[ScarsAreForever permanent trauma]]. Excessive use of the [[HealThyself medkit]] before it has time to regenerate can give you tainted medicine (though you get an achievement for [[UnfriendlyFire killing an ally with this]]). |
| 178 | * Primrose (and anyone with the Dancer job) in ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'' can use Bewildering Grace to one of a bevy of beneficial effects, such as dealing damage, restoring health, increasing the Experience/JP/Gold gain from the battle and turning the enemy into a [[MetalSlime Cait]]...and then again it might fully heal the enemy and buff their attack and defense stats or ''leave everyone in the party with zero MP and PP and [[HPTo1 only one HP]]''. And if you're using it multiple times in a row, after this happens you could get an effect that deals ScratchDamage to your party, ensuring everyone instantly dies. |
| 179 | * The first two ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' games are interesting examples in that they have an optional character trait that causes ''everyone'' to suffer more critical failures in combat. This can be a very bad thing if your Luck stat is low, considering that the game's critical failures tend to do things like make weapons break down (or energy weapons even exploding) in your hands. Critical failures with non-combat skills will do things like jam locks or set off traps. |
| 180 | ** Strangely, the trait is a very ''good'' thing if you have an epic LuckStat, considering that at 10 Luck you won't be getting many critical failures even ''with'' the Jinxed trait, but everyone else in the world will be suffering explosive weapons failure every other shot. |
| 181 | *** Compound that with using weapons who do not have too bad side effects for critically failing, like melee or unarmed combat, and it's [[LethalJokeCharacter a rather deadly character build]]. |
| 182 | ** The Mysterious Stranger, who randomly delivers a OneHitKill to a target in VATS once you have the perk, occasionally misses the target, or you accidentally hit him instead. Conversely, [[DistaffCounterpart Miss Fortune]] in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' causes enemies to suffer this. |
| 183 | *** VATS itself (and the TurnBasedCombat system from older ''Fallout'' titles) has a form of this in that accuracy using it is capped at 95%, so you will have at least a 5% chance of missing any attack with VATS even ''[[ATeamFiring at point blank range]]''. Probably not a coincidence that 5% is also the same chance you have of rolling a 1 on a 20-sided die. |
| 184 | *** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', since ''VATS'' no longer freezes the action, certain enemies can cancel out critical strikes. On the other side, the perk with the highest Luck requirement, Ricochet, gives enemy attack's a small chance of bouncing back at them for a OneHitKill. |
| 185 | * The ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' do model critical failures -- for example, if you're disarming a mine then a 'failure' just means failure to disarm the mine (i.e: nothing happens), but a ''critical'' failure means the mine blows up on you at point-blank range. |
| 186 | ** The chances of a critical failure are often tied to the character's skill level in the respective task -- if you're too unskilled to reliably disarm a mine, you're likely to accidentally set if off in the process, whereas if you have better than even odds for disarming it, you likely won't ever have a mine blow up on you. |
| 187 | * In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', Setzer's special command, Slot, can roll the combination of 7-7-Bar. When that happens, everyone in your party dies. Game over, man (unless you had Reraise). (On the other hand, if you manage to confuse Setzer moments before he can execute the deadly command, it is a guaranteed insta-kill on ''any'' enemy, including bosses. This is a GoodBadBug taken advantage of by speed runners.) |
| 188 | ** This feature carries over to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' in Cait Sith's Slot Limit Break, with the 7s being replaced by sections of Cait Sith's face. |
| 189 | * A few ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' games have the Devil Axe, a weapon that is rather powerful but can potentially damage the user instead of the target when used. It has spawned a number of videos where characters kill themselves by attacking a wall or a tree with it[[note]]as such obstacles have a large amount of HP but no defense, maximizing the damage they take[[/note]]. |
| 190 | * ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'' has this in its luck stats and morale stats. If your units have high luck, they have a chance of dealing double damage, and with high morale, they have a chance of moving twice. However, if your luck or morale goes into the negative (by events, enemy spells or abilities, or having too many town alignments in your army) you have a chance of getting bad luck, halving your damage dealt, or bad morale, causing your creature stack to freeze in place and lose its turn. |
| 191 | * In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' game ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', you can interrupt most of the Elite Mooks' super attacks (the ones where they glow blue and white with wisps of energy surrounding them) by using the correct subweapon (Bombs for Moblins, Boomerang for Darknuts and Stalmasters, Hookshot for Aeralfos & Fiery Aeralfos, Hammer for Blins, Bow for everything else) on them during their windup. This will result in a Magic Misfire, when involving either actual spells or fire-breathing. It will hit surrounding enemies and leave the enemy captain stunned with its weakpoint exposed for an extended period of time. |
| 192 | * ''VideoGame/InvisibleInc'': Unusually, [[InvertedTrope it's the enemy corporations suffering the fail]] instead of the player. Mainframe daemons, normally bad, have a small chance to be "Reversed" when activated and give the Operator a major benefit instead. |
| 193 | * Every weapon has a chance of critical failure in ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'', which it calls a Fumble. Fumbles cause the character to drop their weapon on (insert body part here) and hurt themselves. Some weapons, such as the AwesomeButImpractical [[http://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/Ridiculously_overelaborate_ninja_weapon Ridiculously overelaborate ninja weapon]] have a 3x chance of CriticalHit but a 3x chance of fumble. If you assemble the Cyborg Armor, made of ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'''s coat, pants, and fedora, fumbles become positive side effects. Fumbles are especially bad for moxie-based classes; these classes tend to spend many turns chipping away at the enemy's health while avoiding all damage. This means that fumbles will happen a lot simply because of the large number of attack rolls being made, and moxie-classes usually can't take a lot of damage. |
| 194 | * Similarly to ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' makes traps go off in your face if you fail badly enough at disarming them. However, since you are allowed to 'take 20' when out of combat (in other words, being able to devote your full attention to it rather than to avoiding a severe stabbing), this only applies if someone gives you a nasty shock or otherwise tries to beat on you while you're distracted. |
| 195 | * Just try to do anything in ''VideoGame/NetHack'' with your luck negative, your alignment negative, and your god furious at you. |
| 196 | * In ''[=PangYa=]'', there are two versions of the Lucky Pangya and Control Pill items. One version requires currency that is bought with real money, and is guaranteed to work. The other version, which costs Pang (a currency that can be obtained through playing the game), has a 30% chance of failing. And no, you can't simply use another of the same item; you can only use one item per shot. |
| 197 | ** Missing Pangya while using super shot (Tomahawk, Cobra, Spike) used to make the super shot fail to activate, now it causes the shot to arc wildly (and randomly). With a Tomahawk or Cobra, the shot generally lands close to the target anyhow, with a spike however, expect 30-70 yards of deviation, usually OB and in All cases there's a good chance that any [=PPICed=] power shot will hit a tree trunk or other impassable obstacle on the way to the target. |
| 198 | * ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' from a rare JRPG example; rarely, when going for a regular attack, there is a chance of the character overshooting their attack and stumbling, causing themselves to fall over and either lose their next turn (in vanilla ''3'' and FES) or be vulnerable to extra damage (in ''4'' and [[UpdatedRerelease Persona 3 Portable]]). In ''3'', ranged weapons wouldn't cause this, giving them a small extra benefit. Of particular note is the animation for [[spoiler:Shinjiro Aragaki]]'s critical failure: rather than tripping or pratfalling like the others, [[spoiler:he falls to his knees in a coughing fit]], one of the clues that [[spoiler:he is secretly dying]]. |
| 199 | * In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', while many basic attack moves (Scratch, etc.) have 100% accuracy, many high-powered moves have accuracies in the 80-90% range, making them occasionally fail to inflict damage. The "Jump Kick" family of moves in particular will backfire and damage the user if the attack misses (for any reason). |
| 200 | ** Funnily enough, the Jump Kick family has continuously had this aspect played up. The crash damage was 1 in the first gen, then increased to a fraction of the damage it would have dealt in the second, then 50% max HP in the fifth. |
| 201 | ** Due to a programming oversight, moves with 100% accuracy actually had a 1/256 chance of missing in the [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue first generation games]]. This was clumsily patched in the sequels - now moves that have a 100% side effect in addition to damage will have a 1/256 chance of the side effect not occurring. |
| 202 | * ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'': Pawns with a low skill level have a chance of completely botching a job that requires proficiency in said skill, wasting time and resources in the process, although at higher skill levels this chance can no longer occur. The exception is surgery, where "catastrophic failure" can always occur, no matter the skill level of the doctor, the quality of the medicine used, and the impressiveness of the hospital its being performed. This can potentially lead to a "Legendary Master" doctor with utopian "glitterworld" medicine in a "wondrously impressive" hospital room [[ComicallyIneptHealing somehow decapitating their patient trying to install a peg leg]]. |
| 203 | * ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' |
| 204 | ** ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' had the tripping mechanic. Some attacks and the Banana Peel item would cause characters to trip. However there was also a random chance of tripping every time you started dashing. It quickly became the ScrappyMechanic and was one of the first mechanics confirmed to not be returning in ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and [=3DS=]''. |
| 205 | ** Following ''Brawl'''s penchant for Critical Failure, some items introduced there have a chance to backfire on use and continue to do so in following installments: |
| 206 | *** The Timer will slow all fighters down except for the user, but occasionally it will do the opposite and just slow the ''user'' down. And sometimes it'll just slow ''everybody'' down, including the user! |
| 207 | *** The Lightning Bolt will shrink all fighters except for the one who touched it. Again, it'll occasionally do the opposite, but in ''both'' ways: Make only the user shrink, or ''make all opponents huge!'' |
| 208 | *** The Assist Trophy occasionally summons an assist whose contribution will also hinder the summoner. One more straight example is Tingle, who'll either hinder everyone or fly off with his balloons, contributing absolutely nothing. |
| 209 | *** The Smart Bomb when thrown sometimes ends up being a [[WheresTheKaboom dud]]. And sometimes that dud [[DelayedExplosion just ends up exploding a bit later]]. |
| 210 | *** All container items (e.g. crates, barrels, capsules, etc.) have a small chance to just explode instead of releasing an item, potentially harming the user. The Party Ball also has this chance but also has a chance to drop nothing but [[ActionBomb Bob-ombs]], which can also potentially backfire horribly on a reckless user. |
| 211 | ** The Hammer item since ''Melee'' has a 1/8 chance to have its head fly off when grabbed, leaving the user harmlessly swinging the stick during the item's duration and leaving them completely open to attack. Worse still, the head can be picked up and thrown for massive damage, giving the hammer user's opponents further advantage. The Golden Hammer--[[RunningGag also introduced in]] ''Brawl''--suffers the same probability for failure, having a chance to be a Squeaky Golden Hammer that does absolutely no damage or knockback. At least the head doesn't fly off that one. |
| 212 | ** [[Platform/GameAndWatch Mr. Game & Watch]] has a hammer attack that has nine different effects. If he holds up a one, he damages himself and inflicts ScratchDamage on his target (who won't even flinch). |
| 213 | ** Subverted with Luigi's Green Missile. Its chance to explosively fire Luigi forward is referred to in-game as a "misfire", despite it being a very fast and very powerful attack compared to how it functions normally. This was more of the case in ''Melee'', as the misfire fired Luigi so far, it was easy to RingOut yourself with it. |
| 214 | ** Getting a Goldeen from a Poke Ball, as all it does is flop around uselessly. [[note]]Goldeen is a somewhat odd choice for this, as it's a perfectly respectable Pokemon in its home games; the other Gen 1 fish Pokemon, Magikarp, would have been a more logical choice, as it really is completely useless (at least [[MagikarpPower until it levels up]]).[[/note]] |
| 215 | ** Like the Smart Bomb, the Pokemon Electrode sometimes fails to explode on cue, even looking particularly disappointed when this happens. It ''will'' explode eventually though, especially if a [[FastballSpecial particularly resourceful player elects to pick up and throw the "dud" Electrode at some poor sap]]. |
| 216 | * In the [=PS3=] version of ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', many of Patty Fleur's arts have a chance of backfiring instead of causing good effects. The results include hitting herself with her own attack, [=KOing=] herself instantly, completely emptying the Overlimit gauge, or cutting the entire party's HP and TP in half while also applying an array of bad status effects to them. |
| 217 | * In ''VideoGame/Wizard101'' this is known as "fizzling", where your spell fails to cast. Storm wizards are known to have higher fizzle rates than the other schools, but it's possible to cut down on your chances of this happening by upping your accuracy stat or casting an accuracy buff on yourself during battle. |
| 218 | * In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', engineer-made gadgets have a slim chance of critically malfunctioning whenever they are used. This ranges from not working, to doing the opposite result expected, to outright [[MadeOfExplodium exploding on the spot]]. Anything with the words 'Safe' or (worse) [[BlatantLies 'Ultrasafe']] in its name is all the more likely to do so. |
| 219 | ** The Ultrasafe Transporters are the epitome of this, having a high probability of critical failures, including (but not limited to) transporting you [[NotTheFallThatKillsYou a hundred yards in the air]] over your expected arrival point, [[{{Animorphism}} turning you into a chicken or a gnoll]], [[GenderBender changing your sex]] or race, summoning your EvilTwin or setting you on fire. Many engineers use these for the specific thrill of seeing those failures happen. Parodied by [[http://www.darklegacycomics.com/47.html this]] ''Webcomic/DarkLegacyComics'' strip. |
| 220 | * ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'': It is entirely possible (with a few minor debuffs) to run up to an enemy, point a shotgun directly at the back of his head, and MISS. In the sequel, there is a tiny possibility that grenades and rockets will be misfired, causing their trajectory to move a few tiles away from a maximized-efficiency target area. |
| 221 | * Elly from ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' has a 1 in 5 chance of having her ether spells fail. She is the only character whose ether attacks have such a property, which would make her a bit of a LowTierLetdown... if it weren't for the fact that she's arguably already the game's biggest GameBreaker [[spoiler:at least while you have her.]] |
| 222 | * In ''VideoGame/YuGiOhMonsterCapsuleGB'', rolling a 95 or above will make your monster attack itself. |
| 223 | [[/folder]] |
| 224 | |
| 225 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 226 | * One ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'' special had the Imperial Palace bigwigs playing ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'', in which critical failures played a big part. |
| 227 | ** In the starting scenario, with the party escorting a noble at the Imperial Zoo, the Emperor's character critically misses an assassin and so hits the noble instead, breaking his leg, Wamuudes critically ''hits'' the assassin with a thrown barrel of oil that splashes flammable liquid everywhere, including the now-crippled noble, and then Dorn critically fails his attempt to reinforce a damaged cage, allowing the dragon inside to stick its head out. The result: one deep-fried VIP. |
| 228 | ** After the party is {{Mistaken For Murderer}}s, the Emperor's character crit-fails an attempt to persuade an NPC to let them hide in his caravan, so that another party member decides to kill the NPC instead. |
| 229 | ** In a fight against an ogre, Wamuudes fails to reach his target with a charge, so the Emperor targets his ally with a spell to try to propel him into melee range. Instead he rolls a miscast, so Magnus as the DM rules that the Emperor's character mutates to have a freakishly long arm. |
| 230 | [[/folder]] |
| 231 | |
| 232 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 233 | * In ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', Black Mage makes an attempt (well, one of many) to kill his allies by [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/06/15/episode-429-several-birds-one-hadoken blowing up a volcano they're standing next to]]. Too bad [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/06/17/episode-430-very-long-range/ he misses completely.]] Yes, he misses [[EpicFail a friggin']] ''[[EpicFail mountain]]''. Lampshaded by Red Mage in the latter comic. |
| 234 | -->'''Thief:''' Not that I'm complaining, but... '''HOW DO YOU MISS A VOLCANO?''' |
| 235 | * [[http://biggercheese.com/index.php?comic=605 The cops find]] Thanatos in ''Webcomic/BiggerThanCheeses'' with a red smear of chunky slops all over his face and hands, elbow deep in a used tampon disposal. "Critical" fumble indeed. |
| 236 | * ''Closet Gamers'' includes a few examples: |
| 237 | ** A -1 result on [[http://www.closetgamers.com/comic.php?id=6 Bardic Lore regarding Purple Worms]] |
| 238 | ** A [[TabletopGame/MageTheAscension Mage]] botches multiple rolls including a joke one to get up from the couch. |
| 239 | ** The side effects of a botch when attempting to use one's magic to cook marshmallows. |
| 240 | * ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'': |
| 241 | ** Rolling a 1 is how [[Franchise/StarWars Qui-Gon]] bites it. Then when Jim tries to heal himself, and [[{{Munchkin}} Pete]] gives him a die [[RandomNumberGod with the 1's]] [[ArtisticLicenseStatistics "pre-rolled out"]], Jim rolls a 1 from that. |
| 242 | ** Earlier, in [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0099.html the episode]] that introduces the concept of pre-rolled dice to [[DefiedTrope minimize the chances of another miss]], Annie rolls to see how quickly her Podracer accelerates off the starting line. A 1 causes a stall, and she has to make another roll to see if the engines explode. |
| 243 | ** Later, during the Coruscant battle from ''Revenge of the Sith'', Pete is told that [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0414.html "the sky is so full of ships that you don't need to worry about finding targets."]] [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0415.html When he fires,]] he rolls a 1 and ''[[EpicFail misses everything in the entire battle.]]'' |
| 244 | ** During the climactic battle of Episode 3, [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0616.html a 1 causes Obi-Wan to slice up the magmashield regulator panel,]] resulting in the entire facility falling into the lava. Pete, being Pete, appreciates the resulting mayhem. |
| 245 | ** While fleeing Imperials in Episode 5, [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0991.html Jim rolls a 1 on a dexterity check while trying to win a coin toss.]] He fumbles the coin which ends up shorting out some of the cockpit's wiring. |
| 246 | ** While fleeing to the ''Falcon'' in Cloud City, Annie rolls a 1 on her save against the [[ItMakesSenseInContext alcoholic atmosphere]]. [[IntoxicationEnsues Her following lines are barely comprehensible]]. |
| 247 | ** At one point, an enemy NPC (a deathtrooper) gets a critical failure that [[AchievementsInIgnorance manages to kill one of Pete's characters]]; [[spoiler:while Chirrut is activating a fuel pump, the DM fumbles a roll and rules that a trooper shooting at him misses and hits an allied target adjacent to Chirrut. Except there aren't any troopers near Chirrut. The only allied target near him is the pump he's using. [[OhCrap Which is now full of highly flammable fuel]]. Cue [[StuffBlowingUp explosion]].]] As if that wasn't humiliating enough, [[spoiler:Chirrut's PsychicLink with his familiar Baze means he dies with him, meaning that trooper technically killed two [=PCs=] with one bad roll.]] |
| 248 | ** During the Kamino arc, Corey makes the near-fatal mistake of trying to ''quick''-draw his lightsaber instead of just pulling it out like normal. Because quick-drawing is a specific skill, he has to make a roll for it... and, naturally, that Corey rolls a 1 and the DM rules that Luke accidentally ''left his lightsaber back on the ship''. |
| 249 | * ''Webcomic/DMOfTheRings'': |
| 250 | ** Gimli rolls a 1 on his diplomacy roll when meeting Éomer and his riders. As the only [[TheRoleplayer real roleplayer]] in the group, his [[http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=850 interpretation of this]] is legendary. |
| 251 | ** In [[http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=1017 another comic,]] Aragorn rolls a 1 when the DM makes him roll for dismounting a Warg, which the DM interprets as a failure to dismount, sending the Warg flying off a cliff with Aragorn firmly on its back (although the DM had been plotting to arrange this for the entire battle). |
| 252 | ** Legolas also rolls a 1 when attempting to shoot Saruman. [[SchrodingersGun He hits Grima instead]]. The best part is that the DM already went off describing Saruman's death, before knowing what Legolas rolled on the dice, forcing the DM to awkwardly backpedal and make up the Grima kill on the spot. |
| 253 | * A side story of ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' in which Ellen hosts her first [=DnD=]-type tabletop game results in Nanase [[https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/wie-063 jokingly rolling]] to determine how well her character descends a flight of stairs, having previously established that she's careful around stairs. [[TemptingFate Naturally]], she rolls a 1, and falls down them. In defiance of probability, the rolls that the other players make in reaction to this (whether attempting to catch Nanase's character or to ''do nothing at all'') [[https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/wie-064 also come up as 1s.]] Justin, being employed by the game shop where this campaign is taking place, maintains that their dice are probably not cursed. |
| 254 | * [[BigBad HamaEstra]] in ''Webcomic/FuzzyKnights'' rolls one of these [[spoiler:while in-game as the GameMaster against Ben. Unfortunately for him (thus fortunate for our heroes), he completely forgot that Critical Failures are always failures, regardless of +infinity modifiers. [=HamaEstra=] then shortly goes into VillainousBreakdown.]] |
| 255 | * In ''Loaded Dice'', Steve rolls a one on behalf of one of the barbarians during what would otherwise be an easy "player kill" moment. His [[http://www.rdinn.com/comic.php?comicid=58 reaction]] is epic. |
| 256 | * ''Webcomic/KnightsOfBuenaVista'' is a CampaignComic covering ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'', and the EndlessWinter is due to Adriana rolling a 1 when she tries to melt the ice bridge she made to cross the fjord. |
| 257 | * ''Webcomic/OnePieceGrandLine3Point5'': |
| 258 | ** [[IdiotHero Luffy's]] player has a special die he uses for when he has to make diplomacy checks. It's covered entirely in ones. |
| 259 | ** Later, in the Baratie arc, a fight starts with navy officer Fullbody. Because Fullbody gets the first attack, he goes for the waiter NPC (who just so happens to be [[ChefOfIron Sanji]]). Not only does the GM roll a one for Fullbody's attack, it gives Sanji an Attack of Opportunity, at which point the GM rolls ''three'' natural twenties in a row, an InstantWinCondition. |
| 260 | * The ''Webcomic/ParadoxSpace'' comic "Critical Miss" sees Eridan and Vriska {{LARP}}ing with magical dice, and in his attempts to defeat Vriska, Eridan manages to roll a whale who's only function is to loudly criticize him. |
| 261 | * In ''Webcomic/SequentialArt'', when Art, Kat, and Pip play a ''Dungeons & Dragons''-esque tabletop game, [[DungeonmastersGirlfriend Hillary]] joins in despite not really grasping what the game is about. Her centaur character gets stuck in a narrow secret passage (which she attempted to enter upon being told that it contained treasure). Pip reassures her that she'll get an opportunity to roll to wriggle free every time it's her turn. [[https://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=1216 Of course, she rolls a 1.]] Pip has a treasure vault collapse in on top of her as a result of this roll, and the others convinced Hillary to leave by making her think that this meant she won the game. |
| 262 | * ''Webcomic/TheWorldIsFlat'' depicts this [[http://theworldisflatcomics.tumblr.com/post/131238432368/dungeons-and-dating here.]] |
| 263 | [[/folder]] |
| 264 | |
| 265 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 266 | * A discussion that occasionally surfaces on tabletop gaming forums is an ''[[InvertedTrope inversion]]'' of this in the form of "Bad 20s", essentially making it where rolling a 20 makes something [[GoneHorriblyRight go horribly right.]] For example, rolling a 20 when attempting to jump over a fence causes you to ''launch yourself into the stratosphere'' by mistake. |
| 267 | [[/folder]] |
| 268 | |
| 269 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 270 | * ''WebVideo/{{Aventures}}'' uses a D100 for checks, with anything between 96 and 100 being a Critical Fail (so the odds are still 1 out of 20). While the results vary (losing all one's mana while failing to cast a spell, losing one's eye, killing a little girl by {{Shield Bash}}ing her, [[note]][[RunningGag "She's not dead!"]] claims the one responsible[[/note]] etc.), they are rarely lasting consequences to rolling one. |
| 271 | * The ''WebVideo/CounterMonkey'' episode "Botchmania" has [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment The Spoony One]] relating the tale of the worst series of rolls he had ever seen. |
| 272 | * ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', a D&D series, the DM Matt Mercer has used critical failures on occasion, such as making a character drop her weapon on a roll of 1. |
| 273 | * ''Podcast/DiceFunk'': Anne only exists because of a mathematically improbable triple (!) botch during character creation, which left her with a 3 in Intelligence. As a result, she is literally dumber than a severed zombie hand, in game-terms. |
| 274 | * ''WebVideo/DoorMonster'''s video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b47zsPzTLI "D&D: Bad Dice"]] has Kyle roll a ''very'' [[OverlyLongGag long string of these]], eventually filling the "Dice Jail" [[RandomNumberGod with the dice that had rolled them]]. |
| 275 | * Syrg, the DM of ''LetsPlay/SomethingAwfulDungeonsAndDragons'' podcast, plays by the "roll a 1 and terrible things happen" rule. For example, a failed arcana check turns apparently magical jewels into sugar. The results of bad rolls in combat tend to be even more disastrous for the party. That's not to say it's never worked in their favor though. Several enemies have hurt themselves or their allies after Syrg rolled a 1. |
| 276 | * ''WebVideo/TFSAtTheTable'''s main party came to be known as The Natural One-ders for their high propensity of these. Worth noting, Game Master Chris Zito had an additional layer to this: if a player rolled a Natural 1, they would then have to roll percentile dice to determine the severity of their failure. However, this came back to bite Zito in one particular episode where he kicked off a boss battle by rolling two Natural 1s followed by a 1 for severity, which lead to the boss slipping on ball bearings, breaking through the bottom of the ship, and sinking to the bottom of the ocean. |
| 277 | [[/folder]] |
| 278 | ---- |
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