Swords & Wizardry House Rules: Critical Hits

Swords & Wizardry Complete discusses the possibility of critical hits (see page 40). Traditionally, I have allowed double damage when characters and monsters roll a natural 20. But the rulebook disfavors that rule as "too powerful," and an across-the-board double-damage rule may well be a detriment to the players, depending on how many monsters are encountered and how many attacks they have. Below are two potential variants.

Variant A. The rulebook suggests that fighters may be underpowered compared to paladins and rangers (see page 25). This variant addresses that concern. Fighters, and only fighters, always hit their target on a roll of a natural 20, even if they would otherwise miss based on their THAC0 score, and do double damage (twice the number of dice and double any bonuses).

Variant B. All characters and monsters score a critical hit on a roll of a natural 20. They hit their target, even of they otherwise would miss based on their THAC0 score, and do the maximum amount of damage possible based on the attack made (e.g., 8 damage if using a long sword, which does 1d8 damage, plus any applicable strength or other bonuses).