Critical Strikes Sometimes, a spell or a special attack strikes with such devastating effect that even the toughest opponent can be crippled or killed by a single blow. Critical strikes reflect this capability; even a lowly magic missile might strike the cyclops in his eye, while a lightning bolt that strikes a warrior dead-on can kill him in an instant.

Critical strikes add flavor and pseudo-realism to the AD&D game by increasing the likelihood that the use of a spell will decide a fight one way or the other. An AD&D combat can be reduced to a simple process of attrition, but the use of magic should create the potential for a battle-ending injury. Even if the evil giant has 90 hit points, and the wizard’s fireball won’t do more than 42 points of damage at its very best, a critical strike may allow that spell to severely wound or incapacitate the giant. After all, it’s not very heroic to throw six volleys of magic missiles into the same evil high priest; it denigrates the value of magic.

Critical strikes can also represent special attack forms common among monsters. Creatures that spit acid, breathe fire, or exhale poison gas are just as likely to kill a hero as a creature that rends him limb from limb with fang and claw. A hell hound may only inflict 4 to 7 points of damage with its fiery breath, but that doesn’t mean that a 60-hit point fighter should not be threatened by the monster’s attack! Critical strikes help to keep characters honest since any attack could result in severe injury or death.

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