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I will be filling in as G.M. for two upcoming Palladium Fantasy games in Roll 20. The regular G.M. believes in and uses Critical Fumble tables whenever a player rolls a Natural 1. Personally I'm not a fan of these sorts of tables (isn't a Natural 1 punishment enough?) but the players are all used to it so I don't want to "rock the boat" too much. Also, it's a great opportunity for me to see what the fuss is all about - have I been missing out all these years? The G.M.'s given me some leeway here I did a little searching around the internet to try and find some pre-existing tables. Ultimately I didn't find anything I particularly liked, but what I did find provided me some inspiration to create my own. I generic'd them up a bit and came up with this:

• 01-20% No additional penalty. Sometimes a natural one is punishment enough.
• 21-35% Stumble but catch yourself. Halve all combat bonuses until next action.
• 36-48% Wardrobe malfunction. Something slipped or came lose; halve all combat bonuses until 1D4+1 actions are spent fixing the issue (can defend but not attack while fixing).
• 49-60% Stumble and fall. Lose next action getting up. Character retains weapon.
• 61-71% Weapon slips from the character's hand with minimal force (if weapon cannot be lost treat as previous result). Roll 1d10 to determine direction (1-8 clockwise around the square, 9 & 0 are same square).
• 72-81% Weapon slips from the character's hand with full force (if weapon cannot be lost treat as next result). Determine direction as above. If there's a target in that direction roll an unmodified 1D20 to see if the weapon hits for normal damage.
• 82-90% Weapon strikes random character in range. Randomly select the target from among all that are eligible (friend, foe, and self). Roll an unmodified 1D20 to see if the weapon hits for normal damage.
• 91-95% Hey! That smarts! The character hurts themselves for half damage.
• 96-98% Ouch! That hurts! The character hurts themselves for full damage.
• 99-00% Yow! That's not fair! The character hurts themselves for double damage.

This is a first pass, and since I don't normally use tables like this I thought I'd open a discussion to collect feedback and opinions from others who either do use such tables or enjoy them when used by their G.M.'s. Feedback and constructive criticism would be appreciated.

My problem with critical fumbles is that take a look at a rifle for example, if 1 in 20 shots hurts the user or drops the mag or does somethung terrible no army would field it.
Same goes with a sword, in a battle if 1 in 20 swings from a sword resulted in self harm or droping the blade on the field it would be crazy.
A 1 in a 1000 rounds from a gun is a minor error like a jam or a failure to eject. Thats acceptable.
Same with spells if 1 in 20 times you cast lightning bolt you zap yourself, it would become an act of desperation.

I suppose if you have to have it for the table though do minor things like
Chip your blade....IE 1 sdc damage to the weapon or shield, over swing so minus 1 to strike/parry/dodge for a turn...... real minor stuff.

Yes, where is the option for breaking your blade or being knocked into someone else? This table seems limiting.

Stone Gargoyle wrote:Yes, where is the option for breaking your blade or being knocked into someone else? This table seems limiting.

Ah, great feedback! As I said, I don't normally use these sorts of things so I didn't really know what was "expected." I can certainly admit this table is lacking in calling out specific options like those you mentioned. From a narrative standpoint, I could see the "being knocked into someone else" as falling under the "you stumble" category, but I certainly didn't include a section for breaking weapons. I'll see where that may fit in and then what an appropriate result should be if the weapon fails to break (such as a rune weapon, for example). Thanks for the feedback!

Glistam wrote:

Stone Gargoyle wrote:Yes, where is the option for breaking your blade or being knocked into someone else? This table seems limiting.

Ah, great feedback! As I said, I don't normally use these sorts of things so I didn't really know what was "expected." I can certainly admit this table is lacking in calling out specific options like those you mentioned. From a narrative standpoint, I could see the "being knocked into someone else" as falling under the "you stumble" category, but I certainly didn't include a section for breaking weapons. I'll see where that may fit in and then what an appropriate result should be if the weapon fails to break (such as a rune weapon, for example). Thanks for the feedback!

If you have earned/purchased a rune weapon, maybe they are just immue to that little problem, they are as rare as it comes and the only "unbreakable " thing in the megaverse

Glistam wrote:

Stone Gargoyle wrote:Yes, where is the option for breaking your blade or being knocked into someone else? This table seems limiting.

Ah, great feedback! As I said, I don't normally use these sorts of things so I didn't really know what was "expected." I can certainly admit this table is lacking in calling out specific options like those you mentioned. From a narrative standpoint, I could see the "being knocked into someone else" as falling under the "you stumble" category, but I certainly didn't include a section for breaking weapons. I'll see where that may fit in and then what an appropriate result should be if the weapon fails to break (such as a rune weapon, for example). Thanks for the feedback!

Weapons jamming or exploding might also be considered. Depending on your weapon of course.

Critical fumbles should be narrative rather than randomly determined, with feedback from the player taken into account.

Though if you want to use a table, why isn't there a spot for "accidentally hits intended target after all, but for minimum damage in a silly location and drops weapon. it is obvious to everyone that dumb luck has occurred."

because honestly, that's the fumble that slaps your pride, which is the worst of all.

I'm running a Heroes Unlimited game now and I'm revisiting a Critical Fumble table. We've got other things in play to balance out the need for a critical success table (we use Luck Points and Drama Cards). I understand a lot of people don't like Critical Fumble tables. I get it. But for those who do like and use them, I'd like to get some honest feedback on this table in a heroic setting.

• 01-10%: Just a miss. Sometimes a natural 1 is it's own penalty.
• 11-20%: Everybody saw! Could your face be any redder? Ridiculous. Stop embarrassing yourself.
• 21-30%: Stumble but catch yourself. It was almost pretty bad, but you recovered at the last second. Halve all combat bonuses until completion of next action.
• 31-40%: Stumble and fall. Luckily that faceplant only hurt your pride. If you were flying or swimming, you're instead knocked away somehow. Either way, lose your next action to recover.
• 41-50%: Minor malfunction. A weapon misfires or is dropped, or natural weapons are somehow impeded. You cannot use that weapon/attack again until you've spent an action to fix the problem.
• 51-55%: Major malfunction. Yeah, it's done. Your weapon/attack won't work again until you can take some time and an appropriate action out of combat in order to fix it.
• 56-70%: Collateral damage. Boy, you're in it now. Your miss managed to cause some expensive damage to the scene.
• 71-75%: A danger to others. Chance to strike a random target in range. Roll a straight d20 with no bonuses (nat 1, injure yourself; nat 20, choose to crit target or yourself).
• 76-80%: A danger to others. Chance to strike a random enemy in range. Roll a straight d20 with no bonuses (nat 1, injure yourself; nat 20, choose to crit target or yourself).
• 81-85%: A danger to others. Chance to strike a random ally in range. Roll a straight d20 with no bonuses (nat 1, injure yourself; nat 20, choose to crit target or yourself).
• 86-90%: A danger to others. Chance to strike a random bystander in range. Roll a straight d20 with no bonuses (nat 1, injure yourself; nat 20, choose to crit target or yourself).
• 91-95%: A danger to yourself. You manage to injure yourself. Roll your attack damage against yourself. Roll a straight d20 to see if it bypasses A.R. (ignore misses or criticals).
• 96-98%: So bad you're... good? Somehow you impossibly hit the original target! Roll your attack damage. Roll a straight d20 to see if it bypasses A.R. (ignore misses or criticals).
• 99-00%: Public menace! You not only managed to cause collateral damage, but that damage has also placed innocents in imminent mortal peril!

I had made a few critical miss tables long before I joined the boards. I had broken it down into energy weapons, firearms, melee weapons, and missiles. At the time each was just a d6 roll but if I were to use it now I'd likely have them be d% rolls with the overwhelming majority of the results just be a plain miss.

I also had one for electrical skills and one for mechanical skills that were both d% based.