Natural 1s

In Dungeons and Dragons, a natural 1 occurs when a 1 is rolled on a d20 for an ability check, attack roll, or a saving throw. It is generally treated as a failure no matter the bonuses that can be applied to the score. It's a pretty straight forward concept that guarantees no matter how skilled a character might be they can still make a mistake--sort of like real life. That's all well and good, but a little dull because many times mistakes have both short term and long term consequences that go beyond simple failure.

Because of that, and because as a DM I'm a bit of a sadist, I like to use natural 1s as an opportunity to inject a little chaos into the story. The goal in doing so is never to kill or punish the characters but instead to heighten the stakes, ratchet up the tension, and have a little fun. This, of course, applies to NPCs and creatures as well. No one or no thing is immune to the evil whims of a natural 1.

The following describes a few kinds of consequences I use in my games when a natural 1 shows its nasty little face. Each consequence provides a short description as well as examples for failed ability checks, attacks, and saving throws. (Note that in my Initiative Thoughts blog I discuss applying natural 1s to initiative rolls as well.)

I cannot stress enough that these are not to be used as an excuse to pull off a total party kill. Nor are they permission for the DM to cheat. Moreover, a DM must be sure to apply the same level of severity for similar kinds of failures. A DM cannot, for example, have a PC fall into a pool of lava because of a natural 1 on their Dexterity save and have an NPC stub their toe for the same failure.

Complication

Following the critical failure, an event occurs (dramatic, comedic or somewhere in between) that introduces a new disruptive element to the scene. This potentially affects anyone in the vicinity for the duration of the scene or until the complication is resolved. Of course, the element must be logically consistent with the setting and the scene.

• Ability Check - A character who was tracking an enemy finds themselves in a low-lying field filled with fog. This presents the obvious visual challenges.
• Attack Roll - A character wielding a war hammer in a brewery smashes a support beam, spilling loose kegs across the room. These must be avoided and can become new obstacles to maneuver around.
• Saving Throw - A character attempting to evade an area affect in a library crashes in a shelf, toppling it along with a few other shelves and scattering their contents across the floor. As a result, the room is now treated as difficult terrain and the shelves present a few new obstacles.

Temporary Side Effect

As a result of the critical failure, an unexpected side effect (dramatic, comedic or somewhere in between) dogs the character for a brief time. This is subtly different from the complication in that the side effect generally affects only the character that failed the save. The effect remains in place until a logical point, until the end of the scene, or until the side effect is overcome. The side effect should be related to the failed roll in some way.

• Ability Check - An NPC that a character is trying to sweet talk immediately dislike or distrust that character for some reason, such as because of their tone, appearance, or body language. All further checks against this NPC are at disadvantage until the end of the scene or until the character can find a way to turn around the NPC's reaction.
• Attack Roll - The string on a bow that the character is using snaps. The bow cannot be used again until it is restrung. 
• Saving Throw - A character attempting to resist the affects of poisonous gas falls into a coughing fit. This puts them at disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks until they can overcome the fit or until the end of the scene.

Delayed Failure

The character doesn't experience the true results of the critical failure until a short while after the failure occurred. The character might even believe they succeeded only to discover later that they actually failed fairly miserably. This works best for ability but can be useful with attack rolls and saving throws given a bit of creativity.

• Ability Check - The character is utterly convinced that they remember the password to gain access into the thieves den only to discover upon attempting to use that password that they were wrong.
• Attack Roll - A character fires a crossbow bolt at an enemy in a crowded market. The enemy falls and so the character believes that they have wounded their target. Only after they try to find the body do they find the bolt embedded in a nearby post instead.
• Saving Throw - The character believes they've managed to hold onto the rock ledge, only to become painfully aware that they are clinging to crumbling rock and are now falling.

Jinxed Success

Despite the critical failure, the character actually succeeds at their intended task. However, in so doing, they experience a complication, temporary side effect, or delayed failure of some sort as well. This is one of my favorite sort of consequences as it can be used to create interesting and entertaining plot twists.

• Ability Check - A character searching a desk drawer accidentally dumps its contents on the floor, causing a loud and unexpected noise. The character does, however, find what they were looking for among the bits on the floor.
• Attack Roll - A character successfully shoots an enemy with a bow but the arrow passes through their target and also strikes one of their friends. The damage is split evenly between both victims
• Saving Throw - A character succeeds at leaping out of the way of a cave-in but tumbles into a pit from which they must now escape.

I'm sure there are other ways to spin interesting results from a natural 1. I'd love to hear from you on some of the things you do in your games. In an upcoming blog, I'll be writing on creative results with natural 20s, so don't miss it.

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