So a level 15 Nightblade, (think magic-user crossed with assassin) is playing in a fairly high magic game. He’s got a Presence of 103 due to a nice starting roll, several background picks, a lucky stat gain, and expenditure of an exorbitant amount of treasure on a +1. Along with his x3 PP multiplier, he’s normally rolling in spell points. (I think it approached 100, but I can’t remember exactly how many it was.)

There’s a second level spell ‘Leaving’, which is basically a very short range teleport that can’t cross barriers. He wanted to blip behind some guys that had covering fire on an open area. But somehow the previous (insane) firefight had dropped him down to exactly one PP.

Trying to cast a spell for which you don’t have the points switches what the penalties are for fumbling. A lot. There were some other considerations that the haze of memory has fuzzed, but the final result was a _negative_ 329 result on the Ritual Magic Spell Failure table.

Thats _way_ off the bottom of that table. The lowest result is paraphrased from memory: Hole ripped in space time continuum. Everyone within 10 miles is just gone. Intervention of minor deity required to save the plane. Major deity to repair.

Because of one flipping point.

I don’t overcast spells anymore

1. In this scenario I was the DM and the players were marauding their way through a dungeon on a quest to destroy a powerful artifact. I don’t recall the specifics but the players kept doing things without thinking them through and I figured it was about time to jar them to their senses.

So, I selected the creature for the purposeful DM punishment–A greater Barghest (with pumped up HD) that was going to be part of a trap to teach the PCs to be more careful. But, as the Barghest jumped out to tangle with the party the Ranger/Arcane Archer of the group got one shot off…Nat20(through the eyeball), Nat20(through the brain), Nat20(out the other side)…needless to say I don’t think the PCs learned the lesson I had meant to teach them. :p

During a Call of Cthulhu game, one of my players rolled five consecutive 00s (critical fumbles) in combat. He got away relatively unscathed—I just felt so sorry for him. The dice gods hated this guy.

On a similar note, the last time I went to a con (a couple of years now), I failed to roll anything over a 7 on a d20 roll for three days of d20 events—and I changed dice often. Several times, I had consistent runs of 1s and 2s.

Now, I heap affection on my dice every chance I get. #%o)

Getting to brag to thousands of people about your awesome roll last night: Priceless.

I don’t laugh out loud at comments that often, but this one got me — I’m glad I wasn’t drinking anything!

(Frank Filz) I’ve certainly had other GM rolls that left us all in shock.

I hadn’t thought about this question from the perspective of the whole group — in other words, in terms of GM rolls that the whole table took notice of.

Looking back, I can think of a few — but somehow, they’re still a lot less memorable than amazing PC rolls.

In thinking about this topic some more, I remembered three anecdotes from back when I first started gaming. My best friend growing up was the most amazing die roller I’ve ever seen.

His very first roll as a gamer was his AD&D 2e fighter’s Strength — and he rolled an 18 on 3d6, and then 100 on percentiles.

When I bought a d100 (the Zocchihedron, not 2d10), he gave it a test roll…and got 100.

In our solo Shadowrun campaign, I once gave him a ridiculously high DC for a climbing check. In SR (1st Edition, at least), 6s explode, allowing you to roll again. He was only rolling 1d6, but he manage to get six 6s in a row, and blew the DC out of the water.

As a GM, I recently had good character planning and great rolls add together to wipe out two plot NPCs at the same time. During the combat, a catman ninja-type was getting his rear kicked, and he’s supposed to be one of the best swordsmen in the region. After a devastating attack roll, he had to make three consecutive saves, and I was extremely happy to throw three great rolls. Unfortunately, I boasted that he was unstoppable, and he was felled the next round…

As a GM I really can’t peg a memorable roll… Just lots of amazing players and their characters…

Regards,
Walt

The best roll *I* ever made as a player — certainly the most critical — came back in the 1st Edition days, playing G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. The big fight with Nosnra and his entourage is a killer. My wizard spider climbed to the ceiling and summoned an earth elemental. A few rounds later, he took some damage, and lost control of the elemental.

By this point, everyone else — party and monsters alike — was down. I only had a handful of hit points, and no spells. My only prayer: a dagger of throwing, which does double damage if thrown. This is not an easy attack for a wizard, and obviously, if I miss, that’s it.

But I rolled a 20. With the critical hit system our DM used, I did just enough damage to finish it and end the battle.

Mind you, in G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King, I witnessed the most devastating attack I’ve EVER seen. My brother’s rogue, equipped with boots of striding & springing and a sword +2, giant slayer(+3 and x2 damage to giants), backstabbed (x4) a fire giant — and landed a critical hit for x3 damage.

Our group just rolled 1 die and multiplied the result, modifiers and all. Needless to say, my brother rolled a 12.

([([12+3]x2) x4] x3) meant 360 points of damage to a creature with maybe 50 hit points.

That same rogue was responsible for setting off 20 20d6 fireballs in I9 Day of Al’Akbar, but we didn’t bother rolling that damage. Pity…

All in all it had many memorable moments, including the die rolling.

As for interesting dice-rolling stories, my brother’s has to top my experience. In a single round of combat, he rolled two separate attacks for the same monster. Each came up 20 (threat for a crit), rerolled to another 20 (confirmed crit; threat for instant kill), and finally a hit (confirmed instant kill). The players even insisted that he switch out dice in the middle, but he kept tossing 20’s. This, of course, led to the instant deaths of two PCs in the same round without the need for damage dice even being rolled. Needless to say, my brother was apologetic and the players were flabergasted. Chance is a funny thing sometimes.

Yes, but I let it go. One of my jobs as GM is to apply stress to the characters. One of those stresses is the possibility of character death. The last entry in my House Rules doc:

Finally: I will not set out to kill the party. However, they will be playing with sharp objects and powerful energies. During their adventures, Darwin and Death be there to ensure the quality of the gene pool and punish them for mistakes. On the plus side, Death is not what it used to be, and a Raise Dead spell can be had for zero down, low monthly payments, and a binding contract (signed in blood) for future quests, along with tax, title, and license…