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 consequen...