Pathfinder 1E Critical hit damage calculation?

[DarkLord Of DForce]

Hey gang. We've only been playing Pathfinder for a while (seems awesome though),
and we're a bit confused about how to roll up damage when there is a confirmed
critical hit.

We're using the core rulebook and it seems to say that you do double damage with
a weapon with a 2x multiplier. So using an example, if my battle cleric had critted
with his bastard sword, and a strength mod of 5, rolling max damage to keep it
simple, we came up with this:

1d10 + 5str = 15, then doubling that, for a total of 30 points of damage.

However, looking at page 179-180 of the core rule book says this:

"Note: When you multiply damage more than once, each
multiplier works off the original, unmultiplied damage.
So if you are asked to double the damage twice, the end
result is three times the normal damage."

So now it looks like it would be:

1d10 + 5str, then doubling that, for a sum of 30, then added back to
the original amount for a total of 45.

So which way is it supposed to be done?

Thanks for any help guys!

 

[N'raac]

The rules quote applies when you double damage twice. On the critical you note, you are doubling the damage once (15 x 2 = 30). Where are you seeing a second doubling?

 

[DarkLord Of DForce]

I'm confused. I guess I'm just not reading it right but it looks like 2 contradicting passages there.

Hmm, lets make this easier - given a Bastard sword which does 1d10 damage (assume you roll max
damage +10, for simplicity's sake), a crit modifier of 2x, and a strength mod of 5, what would be the
total damage on a confirmed critical hit? Thanks!

 

[Thotas]

2d10+10. Since you've already specified that one of the d10s is actually a 10, it would be 1d10+20 from there.

The rule you're looking at applies to rare situations where you doubling for one reason and doubling again for another reason, and saying you only triple in that case.

Say you're fighting the dreaded Bread Demon, which slices easily and takes double damage from slashing weapons. You crit with the weapon you've just described. 1d10+5 doubles from the crit to 2d10+10, then it doubles again because of the vulnerability, so that would be 4d10+40 right? No, only 3d10+15.

 

[billd91]

It's important to recognize that getting a x2 crit is basically rolling damage twice, not actually multiplying. So if the bastard sword crits, it's 2d10+10 and not (1d10+5)x2.

There are a variety of caveats. Any bonus damage that is rolled does not get rolled again. So sneak attacks and elemental-damage weapons like flaming weapons do not get rolled twice. Just the base weapon damage and any constant modifiers.

If the crit is a x3 crit, like with a dwarves waraxe, the crit damage is 3d10+15.

And now crit stacking. This is a little weird to wrap your brain around but it's important. Suppose you have spirited charge (x3 damage with lances on a charge) and manage to roll a crit (lances are x3). You don't do x9 damage or 9d8+45 (assuming a +5 strength bonus). Rather, you just add the amount of extra damage you would do. x3 adds 2d8 + 2x modifiers to the normal 1d8 + mods that a lance would do. In fact both x3 multipliers (the crit and the spirited charge) add that very same amount. So your damage would be 1d8+5 +2d8+10 (for the spirited charge) + 2d8+10 for the x3 crit, for a net total of 5d8+25.

 

[DarkLord Of DForce]

Okay gang, I think I've got my head wrapped around it now.

Thanks for all the help and the great examples!