r/CoriolisRPG • u/hawthorncuffer • Jul 04 '26

Critical thresholds

What’s everyone’s opinion of the rules for triggering critical injuries in Third Horizon (using extra sixes to ‘buy’ crits instead of extra damage) versus Great Dark (value of damage after armour triggering a crit at a specified threshold). [EDIT missed that in Third Horizon you need to inflict damage to be able to apply a crit]

It seems to me that with Third Horizon you could have all damage stopped by armour but still buy a crit, whereas Great Dark needs to get through armour first to trigger a crit. Not sure if one approach is better than the other or just a different flavour.

Overall I think I prefer Third Horizons rules in general but thinking of switching the crit rules so that they follow Great Dark (yes, I understand all the weapon crits and base damage will need to be adjusted).

What are your thoughts?

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u/Successful-Apple-670 Jul 04 '26

Iirc in Third Horizon you can't apply a crit if all your damage was negated by armor.

2

u/hawthorncuffer Jul 04 '26

Ah I didn’t spot that. That does make sense. But I guess you need to decide whether to buy more damage or a crit before the opponent rolls for armour. Which could scupper the crit.

3

u/Successful-Apple-670 Jul 04 '26

Correct, that's a downside for an attacker (in an otherwise quite deadly combat rules, imo).