When I first started my journey in becoming a Dungeon Master (DM) for Dungeons & Dragons games, I remember reading somewhere online about a mechanic called Critical Fumbles. If you’re not familiar with this idea, a Critical Fumble is something extra that happens when you roll a Natural 1. So in addition to automatically failing your attack roll, something detrimental or consequential also happens, like a nearby ally taking damage from an attack or your weapon breaking in half.

Now, technically this is not an official rule for Dungeons & Dragons and Natural 1’s only matter with Attack Rolls, but I thought this was a really cool idea and so I wanted to try it out. I talked to some people about this idea of Critical Fumbles and there were a lot of people that love this idea and even used it in their games. But other people said that they hated this idea and thought it was discouraging that something else happens when you’ve already failed an attack roll.

Fair enough. I get that.

But I thought, “What if there is a way to do this where players can opt into a Critical Fumble so that it’s not automatic?” Now, the issue here is… who wants to just have more bad things happen to them?

So my next thought was, “What if opting into Critical Fumbles provided some sort of benefit as well?” So I came up with a mechanic gave my players agency on when these Critical Fumbles occurred to them as a way to “Fail Forward,” as many people say that also provides a benefit for not just them but the entire table.

So far, all of my tables have loved this mechanic I created, and even have one player that said they are planning to use it in their own games. So if you’re a Dungeon Master who is looking for a way to use Critical Fumbles that your players may enjoy and get behind, this is for you.

If you rather watch me yap about this, check out my YouTube video on this topic.

Adding A Consequence To The Natural 1

At my tables, I present to my players that anytime they roll a Natural 1 on a D20 Test (I do include Skill Checks, Saving Throws, etc. in these Tests), then they have two options: They can either take the Natural 1 and automatically fail, then just move on.

Or, they can take the second option, which is to add a consequence to the roll. Consequences will obviously be contingent on the situation, but idea behind this is that it is significant. So the consequence can’t just be “not only did I miss, but I pout or get angry.” Because that was probably going to happen anyways.

If a player decides to add a consequence to their roll, there are two ways they can do this. The first option is they can work with me as their Dungeon Master to come up with something creatively that adds to the consequence. This gives the player a chance to not only have agency over how they fail, but allows them to have a moment to add to the narrative and collaborative storytelling. Now as the DM, I work with them to make sure it fits the narrative and have enough of a consequence to make this meaningful, but when a player takes this option, I let them take the lead and I try to get it to connect as much as possible.

The second option is that I can create a consequence for them. Sometimes I may use a Roll Table for this (games like Dragonbane and Shadowdark has some great examples that I use). Other times I’ll improvise based off of the situations and the stakes involved. What I usually do first is come up with the consequence and make sure the player is okay with this. If they’re not, then they always have the option to opt out of the Critical Fumble instead.

Consequences tend to be easy to come up with. A good trick is that they have Disadvantage on their next type of roll that they make (e.g. if they rolled a natural 1 on an attack roll, then their next attack roll has Disadvantage). It also has to be a meaningful roll so they can’t try to force a roll safely to cancel it out. I also make sure that the consequence isn’t permanent, either. Worst case, their weapon or tool may break and they have Disadvantage on that tool until it gets fixed, which they usually can do this with the Mending cantrip or if someone has the right tools and proficiencies for it.

Once the player approves this consequence, then I narratively describe how this happens.

I love how there’s a lot of player agency in this process because the player can decide to opt out of adding a consequence, but if they opt in, then they can decide if they come up with the consequence or if the DM decides it. That way, they know what they’re getting themselves into and they have full control (to an extent) over what’s happening here.

Pool Of Heroic Inspiration

Okay so this is great and all, but why would my players buy into this idea? Because if they opt into taking the Critical Fumble, then they get to add a token to what I call the Pool Of Heroic Inspiration. This pool is a pool of tokens that anyone in the party can use and expend to use as Heroic Inspiration. Now there are some rules with using this:

• Rules regarding Heroic Inspiration applies to this pool.
• When a token is added to the pool by a player, then it cannot be used in the same player’s turn when it was added. This includes any token that was already in the pool or if a player has their own Heroic Inspiration to use.
• The pool is capped at the number of players in the campaign.
• This is separate than player’s own instance of Heroic Inspiration.

Having this Pool of Heroic Inspiration serves two purposes now: It rewards players who want to take the risk of adding a detrimental effect to their natural 1, but it also allows players another way to gain Inspiration that doesn’t rely on me as the DM to give it out in a subjective way. Having this mechanic benefits everyone when someone opts into the Critical Fumble.

Maybe you feel like this may be too much Heroic Inspiration that someone can have at the table. Keep in mind that this only occurs when someone rolls a Natural 1 and they have to opt into a Critical Fumble. But you don’t need the pool to give out Heroic Inspiration if you don’t want to. Maybe they can use it another way, such as a free Skill action during combat, adding their Proficiency Bonus to a damage roll, or maybe it can be a Pool of Healing, where they can expend it as a way to gain healing. The possibilities are up to you and it still works well this way.

Don’t Just Implement – Get Player Buy-In

Hopefully this is an idea that you want to use in your own games. If so, great! But I encourage you to present this to your table and ask your players if they want this in their game. When you get player buy-in, it’s that more meaningful because not only is this something that they may enjoy, but you’re giving them a voice in how the game will be played. You can do this in a Session 0 or if you have already started your campaign, you can spend about 15 minutes at the beginning of your next session to ask them if they want to implement this idea.

Recap

So a quick reference for how this mechanic works:

• If a player rolls a Natural 1 on a d20 Test, they have two options: They can take the auto fail and continue, or they can take the auto fail and add on a Critical Fumble.
• If the player wants to add a Critical Fumble, they and the Dungeon Master work together to come up with a meaningful and narrative consequence that they agree upon. The player can come up with something or the DM can use a roll table of their choice. If a Critical Fumble can’t be agreed upon, then the player still has the choice to opt out of the Critical Fumble.
• If a Critical Fumble occurs, then the player can add a token to the Pool of Heroic Inspiration that can be used by anyone in the party. When a token is added to the pool, then a token cannot be used during the same turn, even if a token was already in the pool.
• The cap on the Pool of Heroic Inspiration is equal to the number of players in the party for the campaign.
• The pool is a separate source from the individual player’s Heroic Inspiration (e.g. characters who are Humans).

I hope this is something you use in your games. Feel free to take it, use it, change it up, and share it out.