What happens if you pass the 99 skill check roll against The Absolute | Baldur's Gate 3

Gather your party and return to the Forgotten Realms in a tale of fellowship and betrayal, sacrifice and survival, and the lure of absolute power.
Mysterious abilities are awakening inside you, drawn from a mind flayer parasite planted in your brain. Resist, and turn darkness against itself. Or embrace corruption, and become ultimate evil.
From the creators of Divinity: Original Sin 2 comes a next-generation RPG, set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons.
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Baldurs gate 3 bg3 early access Gameplay Walkthrough PS5 steam xbox No Commentary HD let's play playthrough guide side missions upgrades companions

[@Hadrows]

Saving the game is like: "Dormammu, I've Come to Bargain"

[@Funktastic_Official]

LMAO

[@AsirSCicek]

You bastard LMFAOOO

[@andregregory1663]

True, but I still do it anyway.

[@driftwolf]

... and there's nothing wrong with that. :)

[@TheLaluciDaniel]

"Its a simple trick, yet very effective"

[@shadowknight1990o]

When the DM still says no.

[@Chopstorm.]

Larian has a habit of commiting major DM sins. They did it a lot in DOS2. They're still good games though.

[@maikbaumann1250]

😂 you made my day shadowknight

[@dpetersz]

​@@Chopstorm. How is this a DM sin?

[@mitchelltyner5670]

@@Chopstorm. That is not a DM sin. smh

[@Chopstorm.]

@@mitchelltyner5670 When you succeed in a roll but still lose because it's needed for the plot? Sounds like a sin to me. It wasn't even so much this example that I was referring to, it happened a lot more in DOS2. Prime example would be in regards to the ship battle with Dallas.

[@Diresilence]

When the DM points out that a critical skill success does not equal an automatic success.

[@Istius]

yup, cause in tabletop by the book 20 is always hit only in combat, not in skillckeck BUUT everyone always does it their way so :D

[@pul0y]

still kind of them to let it have some effect though in the form of softening up the enemy for the future revenge fight

[@goji253]

Except it does for everything else in the game (which is a hilariously stupid ruling I might add. There's a reason it never made it into 5e and was voted out of OneDnD). The DM is overruling their own rules at a whim.

[@Bigotsandwich1995]

That's bullcrap,a critical failure is an automatic fail,dm is cheating

[@Faelivri]

@@goji253 Rule 0 comes to mind. Or Railroading, in some cases.

[@ivanf3973]

You missed something. When you fight the elder brain again the game rewards you a status called "Against all odds", which directly reduce the elder brain hp by about 10%. You can check it when you examine the elder brain

[@RogueCrocodile]

I didn’t know that’s why it had that

[@Norinia]

@@RogueCrocodilebecause natural 20 is critical success, so they need to reward you in some way for it. 🤷🏻

[@saveborg1091]

@@Norinia wrong, natural 20 exists and it's not critical success. critical success is more of a percentage luck. i can get 20 and not have any critical success.

[@Norinia]

@@saveborg1091 every single natural 20 I’ve got has been ‘critical success’ in game, I think maybe you blinked on a lower roll before the bonuses were added into the score.

[@phoenixgaming4185]

​@saveborg1091 a "Natural 20" refers to the number on the dice before modifiers, and would be considered a "Critical Success" in any scenario where the roll CAN actually crit (which is in all scenarios from my understanding of BG3). IF you get a 20 after applying modifier, that is typically referred to as a "Dirty 20" which is just a normal roll, that happened to be a 20.

[@Stickweasel91]

If you Nat 20 this check, the final boss gets a debuff that cuts a huge chunk of HP off of it.

[@Blckviper]

"Huge" is subjective. It's 10 percent. Which is a chunk, but tbh I kind of expected something more. As it was I was able to have my main character (Who did the thing with Orpheus, iykyk) and Karlach 2-man the final boss while the rest of the party and all my summons dealt with the reinforcements outside. Honestly kind of disappointed in the fight, the penultimate battle on the way to the final boss was much tougher.

[@Stickweasel91]

@@Blckviper Your mileage may vary With 300 HP on normal difficulty, and even more on Tactician, 10% is a significant amount of HP. That's 30HP on normal, and, iirc, 40HP on Tactician. Basically giving you a free hit in before the fight even starts. And I agree it isn't the toughest fight in the game, (I think that is probably Raphael), it's certainly not an easy fight if you're unprepared.

[@Blckviper]

@@Stickweasel91 Raph was tough, especially since I couldn't convince Orthon to turn on him, but even so I was able to do that fight first try. The fight leading up to the brain though...See, I played a Open Hand Monk 9 and Thief Rogue 3 multiclass focusing on unarmed strikes. Well, turns out, if you make the sacrifice yourself and let Orpheus do the thing to YOU after/if you free him, your unarmed strikes stop getting bonuses from gear. They still work with Dex as a Monk but the unarmed strikes gear I had stopped giving their bonuses. I went from being able to do 100 damage a round without my buffs (Almost 200 with all buffs) to doing 2-9 damage per unarmed strikes, so even with all buffs my max damage was only 81. That was MAX. Significant decrease in damage potential and the worst part was even though I had a save directly before the Orpheus choice, narratively it didn't make any sense to me to choose any other option. So while I'm sure Raph WOULD have been harder than the penultimate fight in other scenarios, in my specific one it was much easier comparitively.

[@bligh1156]

@@Stickweasel91 That(optional, I suppose) fight against Raphael was crazy, fun design though... I'll be friends with Raphael next time haha Edit: 666 HP, of course.

[@bligh1156]

Complete Spoiler: I saved Hope and she died in that battle, not sure what I would get if she survived, but I wasn't up for doing that battle again. Likely an additional buff in the final battles.

[@minben7300]

I got three nat 20s in a row during this whole section and I thought that the nat 20s were scripted to show us just how helpless we were against the netherbrain. Turns out I just got extremely lucky with my rolls lmao

[@JaysusWhoKnows]

That's a one in 8000 chance! :O

[@CyberPunkBadGuy]

Played atcuall dnd and have me or friends rolled 5 nat 20a in rows more than once now , and also nat 1s in the same fashion. Sometimes same other dices i once roll 9 17s in a row and was like wtf, started rolling over and over at the 6th 17 just to get it out.

[@loko1944]

I saw on one of very long rpg campaign warhammer 3 (over 80h) - player got two times 100 (critical failure) in a row while brawling with friend. Broke 2 arms

[@spikem5950]

​@@loko1944Damn, getting crit fails in WFRP always feels like a massive gut punch.

[@violet999ab]

@@CyberPunkBadGuyIf those are physical dice, there’s likely an air pocket somewhere in there causing it to roll unevenly. From my understanding, it’s not an uncommon problem with cheap dice.

[@Mongaloose]

There should be a secret ending for wild magic sorcerers, where you just polymorph The Absolute into a potted plant. You just take the plant home and nurture it to the best of your abilities. For if the little succulent ever suffers harm, it will unleash The Absolute upon the realm once again.

[@aRandomFox00]

The Absolute: "Oh no, not again..."

[@Kmosely42]

@@aRandomFox00 Many people have speculated that if we had known exactly why The Absolute was thinking that, we would know a lot more about the universe than we do now.

[@CaptainFirespitter]

You magnificent bastards!!! 😂

[@riotguards]

Sadly the ending was super rushed and i doubt they'll patch a different ending in.

[@sunidaze]

Oh reddit someone posted a wild magic ending where all the main characters were cats and dogs - even through the ending cutscenes.

[@conchbubbies9767]

This was such an epic moment for my bro and I. We saw the 99, failed the role but decided to use an inspiration roll anyway and got our nat 20. A nice touch though is that even though you still have to retreat, beating the odds and actually succeeding the role still has an effect later on.

[@SmokeDrake]

What effect is that?

[@xXShAdOwChRiSXx]

Nether brain loses 25% of its hp in the last push

[@Arcessitor]

I thought it was anything but a nice touch. I thought it was cheap and felt insulting to the player.

[@jacksonmcmillen3209]

@@Arcessitorhuh???

[@conchbubbies9767]

@@Arcessitor to each their own, while negligible in the grand scheme of things. For me it was nice that they added a little something for a nat 20 role in what was essentially a scripted loss. Narratively you aren't able to overcome the brain but your exceptional will in the moment had an effect

[@S0URCH33KS]

Just to let you all know that this DOES do something. The Brain has less HP when you fight it if you get a nat 20 here.

[@bluesnake4626]

Honestly thats pretty cool

[@Zangelin]

Kinda useless as you easily kill it in one turn anyway. It doesnt have much HP to begin with.

[@yoursonisold8743]

@@Zangelin That depends on many factors. Which difficulty are you playing on? How many of your allies can you actually get through the portal to attack it? If it is just the specific Mind Flayer then the damage output is not that great and you would be glad for any percentage of health that's gone beforehand.

[@tomaszpstragowski6057]

I rolled 20 here. Brain not only had -20%HP but also was surprised by my attack, so I had first two rounds of attacks for free.

[@kirkgriff5117]

I thought that too? but i saved my rune powder bomb from the gnomes and like 40 smokepowder arrows.... the fight didnt last long, also on top of the brain.

[@docholiday4129]

Love how every single check is aggressively saying “DOMINATE THE BRAIN.”

[@TheOneMiffy92]

TIL The Absolute is a massive sub

[@USicilianu91]

First time seeing this difficulty class: "... I'm gonna cast Guidance"

[@sooneyd4039]

I was the mf’er who did that…

[@ladyalicent705]

The amount of save scumming I had to do to get this was _unbelievable. . ._ I pushed through it by telling myself my struggle was akin to actual mental warfare with such a powerful being and resisting against all odds would actually be like. You can imagine how frustrated I was when the DM still said no and I didn’t get my ‘Power of Friendship’ anime moment after all that work!

[@bengunn9670]

With enchance ability and 4 inspiration you need to roll 20 jnce out of 10 rolls, which is about 40% chance. Not that bad.

[@jayrogan1835]

No, it’s just 1/20 each time

[@mnmnrt]

Good. 20s don't do anything special for skill checks.

[@techwizsmith7963]

You rolled a 26, not a 99. It was a good effort though

[@ladyalicent705]

@@techwizsmith7963 If you roll a natural 20, you will ALWAYS succeed, regardless of skill bonuses/penalties. Same as how when you roll a Nat 1 you’ll ALWAYS miss!

[@kzxkzxkzx]

that 99 check is so funny, was able to roll a 20 without save scumming, that was epic

[@Naxthural]

I got that first try and thought it was scripted

[@buberbuster3365]

@@Naxthural Same. I had to look it up. The most main character shit I've ever experienced.

[@noblebork7444]

Ah yes, the scariest type of critical success: you don't die immediately.

[@pennyrq9454]

When the dm says "you can certainly try" but railroads you anyways

[@EmptyBrewsky]

This actually happened to me today. Rolled Nat 20 first try, no save reload. I was hyped, then I failed anyway and was very…very annoyed. 😂

[@hinkelstein1494]

The Endboss starts with 25% less.

[@Phantomvalthus]

following normal 5e rules, nat 20 skill checks does not constitute auto success

[@jonstanton1219]

@@Phantomvalthusokay- but where else in Baulder’s Gate does that happen? If a dm did this out of nowhere it’d be annoying as hell.

[@youdontknowme5980]

@@jonstanton1219 I mean it is the final boss

[@hypnogri5457]

@@jonstanton1219if the dm did this and said that you managed to weaken the boss with a permanent debuff it would be fine. Just like what happened here

[@Knight_Marshal]

The screen should have popped up, Legendary Resistance as the Brain's action.

[@poseidon_god_of_the_sea4165]

I’m pretty sure that’s not how legendary resistance works

[@Knight_Marshal]

If I remeber correctly, it allows a monster with it to succeed a failed save which is what it looked like happened.@@poseidon_god_of_the_sea4165

[@DOneClub]

@@poseidon_god_of_the_sea4165 That's exactly how it works

[@poseidon_god_of_the_sea4165]

@@DOneClub No, Legendary Resistance is If a legendary creature fails a save, they can choose to succeed on that save instead. That was a check made Against the creature, not a saving throw made BY the creature.

[@luisapisacar9252]

@@DOneClub Legendary resistances only work against spells and effects that require a saving throw

[@harrisonpayne50]

This is why I like Degrees of Success systems a lot. You'll always get something better out of that nat 20, but your proficiencies, modifiers, and the overall situation still matter a ton. It also means that a nat 1 can only be so bad if you are specialized in a certain area. In this case, you still fail your overall objective, but the crit basically turns it into a minor success as it does slightly weaken the boss. (In a normal ttrpg though, the DC would likely be no higher than 40-50 even in the most outlandish cases, so in the event of systems like pf2e, you could avoid starting from an automatic crit fail with the +/- 10 system. Otherwise, allowing a roll seems kind of pointless on the DM's end.)

[@zyncra3965]

I heavily dislike this system. When I roll a nat 1 on an attack roll with let's say a crossbow in our TT campaigns, depending on the DM I might just fall over (and lay prone) and whoot myself in the foot for half damage of the damage roll. I love that, it creates hilarious situations. Once our rogue wanted to climb down a cavern on a rope, rolled a Dex 1 check and hung himself in the process. (this was a game with 4 revives per character, so 16 in total, so it wasn't super frustrating) Everyone had a hearty laugh at that process being described by our DM

[@surelylune]

​@@zyncra3965youre liteeally the only person ive ever heard of that likes it when their dm does that

[@elalexsantos3150]

@@zyncra3965thats such a funny way to die lmao i have to try dnd someday

[@ozpin8329]

Our DM uses this system and it makes his games a lot better for it.

[@rushi5638]

I could go either way on this. Sure, it's wildly implausible that someone extremely proficient could fuck something they're proficient at up so monumentally, so it makes sense for things to still go relatively smoothly. But also treating it as a "that's just how reality works here: fate and the gods are cruel" thing is funny. You can be a master locksmith but you rolled a nat one trying to open that chest and now you have a tension wrench lodged in your eye. Life is hard. RP it out.

[@Trailerparked345]

The Elder Brain was so pissed off it skipped that villain speech.

[@pkminpkmon]

I got a Nat 20 first try, and assumed it was by design, given the huge 99 needed. Didn’t realise you can fail it.

[@Sarkhan69]

dumb take. why make a auto-win skill check instead of just not having any skill check?

[@pkminpkmon]

@@Sarkhan69 Thought it might have been for dramatic effect. Pretty sure I’ve played some games that had something similar.

[@artemislove2941]

saving before a dice roll is the realest thing ever

[@TheSylveonSurfer]

I failed it initially, watched the scenes play out, but was aggressively curious what would happen if i succeeded. The scenes play put pretty much the same, BUT the benefit doesn't rear its head till the final battle. When you enter the portal to kill the Netherbrain, if you succeed, it'll have reduced HP. Now that I know that, I don't think I'll bother next time. I had more than enough damage to kill it in a turn and a half with reduced HP, I'm confident that I could've killed it with full HP.

[@mario166488]

The first time I got this check, I rolled a 1 💀

[@sarou3457]

1:12 my reaction to that information

[@puthimdown3976]

Was honestly so suprised when I made that roll without inspiration or quick save that I thought it was supposed to happen

[@11Condensation]

Same, I thought it was scripted lol

[@ravell2854]

sadly the outcome of a nat 20 on that case is underwhelming

[@brainflash1]

SO HE JUST LEFT KARLACH THERE!?!

[@Marethyuu]

Right?!

[@brenicillin]

best of luck 👋🏻

[@sirrealgaming6913]

She's about to blow and save us all

[@darktiger0]

I was so hype when i got the nat 20 on that skill check and was devastated when the game said "20 plus what". GG game. you got me.

[@jacobjericho1]

ahh look the final Boss , Balders gate 3 be like "Nah .. all apart of my grand design." then throws Act 3.5 at you Achievement unlocked * u don fcked up*

[@CaptainFirespitter]

Anyone else love the little facial expression when the thing fails? Underrated comedy gold here!!! 😂

[@SrChr778]

But the DM's plot says, "not yet".

[@thedarkness125]

your argument would be valid if this were a failure. This has an appriciable effect on the boss which works toward your goal which is what a skill check does. Success does not mean you automatically complete a task, it means you make headway toward doing so and this is put on display many times during a normal playthrough of BG3 with the number of different things that require multiple skill checks or saving throws to complete. Its not the game's fault you dont understand it.

[@Dead_Goat]

the result is a failure. If you cannot see it as a failure do not insult and belittle other people due to your poor comprehension skills. @@thedarkness125​

[@shirothefish9688]

​@@Dead_Goat the result is that you weaken the brain, which is a pretty big success knowing what you're going up against. hell, the fact he didn't damn near die by trying that would be a success. Failure is both relative and not a boolean, and belittling people or insulting them because they understand a specific failure differently than you does not make you the better person.

[@DemonicAdj]

"I will not make train noises when the DM is railroading us"

[@BlueLightningSky]

Larian made the dice roll UI because they wanted to end the game with this. They could have done it like every other CRPG but they knew people's reaction when they see the DC of 99

[@HoldMyPan]

***Critical Success*** Elder Brain: I changed my mind. You go on and dilly-dally on your day.

[@Nonexistility]

"Nah man, I don't feel like it anymore."

[@thegamingwolf371]

to quote warhammer 40k a bit: the F8 button broke before the party did

[@HeatyWeaty]

I rolled a nat 20 my first try and it went to 96/99 I was so confused I had to look it up

[@TheaussieNoonga]

one of the most hilarious things is the emperor saying this is not over and then in about 5 minutes going back to the elder brain if you chose to free orpheus and being on their side

[@joemama114]

And this is why critical success on skill checks is an OPTIONAL rule. Crits really are only supposed to matter on attack rolls in 5E that's it.

[@NightSterling]

Technically it did matter because it lowers the brains max hp in the later fight

[@dpetersz]

Why though? Crit 20 means he got the best possible outcome. That's not necessarily the same as what he wanted to achieve.

[@TheFoxYoukai]

@@dpetersz He's referring to the fact that skill checks in 5e don't have a critical success by default rules. Rolling a 20 on a skill check means the same as any other number, you treat it as Roll + Modifier vs DC/Opposing Roll as normal (meaning even with a 20 you can absolutely still fail against a high enough DC or opposed check). Crits only apply to attack rolls and nothing else.

[@dpetersz]

@@TheFoxYoukai yeah I know, and nobody plays like that.

[@bakatsugu]

@@dpetersz weird, because every table i've ever been at has played like that

[@spambaconeggspamspam]

When the DM really doesn't want you going into the final fight with rerolls.

[@VolkanKucukemre]

This works to show it's pretty much impossible, because we can see the DC. On tabletop, DMs will either give some sort of partial success or not roll at all. If people roll the dice, they expect to succeed on a 20, or at least something happens... Also, in official rules, 20 is not auto success, it's just 20. You'll still fail if you can't beat the DC. I have a rule that 20 (and only 20) is actually 30, so i can invent dramatic stuff that can only be succeeded on a critical roll, or if there's a measure of success, it helps there too. edit: Apparently there's some sort of reward here too, cool stuff.

[@DolusVulpes]

DMs for this be like: "You still failed, but you looked pretty cool doing it"

[@sweett3253]

Love the little quicksave before just getting a nat 20 on your first try

[@mr.e822]

I’ve been playing with a no save reloading rule, except for game overs (for obvious reasons). I spent all my inspiration to pass the second check, then failed the third because it was impossible to stack enough bonuses. But then I got a Nat 20 on the last one and was really excited until it failed anyway.

[@CyborG73rus]

This looks like a job for Divinationwizardman!

[@thunderthunderstorms8828]

It does nothing now but your utter defiance of the odds has an effect later on when you fight this thing later on at the climax of everything.

[@NyJoanzy]

I half expected it to just role credits on the spot.

[@ProduccionesPaquito]

I actually got this, it looks like the DM says “no”, but in the final fight the boss has around 70 hp less than normal

[@ipeeontheworld]

i rolled 20 and i assumed that this is scripted to roll 20 no matter what lol , it's pretty hilarious if i got 20 in the first try without any reloads

[@Hirotoro4692]

I mean it's not that rare lol 5%

[@BoredDoc]

Same. I was actually a bit disappointed because I thought it was an auto success but with a bit of drama and felt cheated out of a roll. Today I learned that I just got lucky and feel a bit silly.

[@remrad4315]

Same, still love this game to bits though.

[@CREDLACE]

This is one of those "For a total of?" DM moments. Gotta love'em.

[@harper3579]

as far as i know...this is the only time the game actively tells you NO

[@renegadeforlife5782]

When the DM reminds you that a natural 20 is only a critical success when it’s a critical hit. Sure you can get away with some cool stuff with a natural 20, but if the check is a 26 and you got nat 20 plus 5, you didn’t pass the check, but you did something right. It’s like what Woody said about Buzz’s “flying”, “That wasn’t flying, it was falling… with style.”

[@anna-flora999]

When the Player reminds you that you yourself Instituted the house rule that a nat 20 auto succeeds on skill checks too

[@icarus-wings]

So why is a nat 1 an automatic failure without modifiers added to it? Stop talking out your ass.

[@grondhero]

@@anna-flora999 Yeah, no player is reminding BG3 that's what they agreed on. 😆

[@coolboy9979]

Not in Baldurs gate 3, there a nat 20 is a auto success.

[@exantiuse497]

As many have poimted out in the comment section, succeeding in the checks means the boss starts out with some of its HP lost in the final encounter. So getting a natural 20 in this check doesn't mean you failed, you succeeded in damaging the boss

[@caskaronn]

Well you forgot to add the part where the Elder Brain has less HP when you fight it if you do get a Nat 20

[@TheNerdForAllSeasons]

The music when the Emperor teleports in is so fucking cool.

[@cultbf]

this is me when the DM has a personal vendetta against me

[@elijahfrancis8845]

my brother hit two NAT 20's one when you try and control the brain. the first time he did it we both started laughing. the second time he literally was screaming so loud out of laughter our mom was like "wtf is going on" and relized we were playing bg3 and walk away.

[@THEO00900]

A nat 20 doesn't mean a success, just the best possible outcome. This means, no matter what, the character would never be able to dominate the brain.

[@luisapisacar9252]

That nat 20 reduces the max hp of the brain in the final fight

[@Dead_Goat]

Ahh so you prefer to railroad your players and remove the possibility of having fun. Boring. Could at least ask the mto roll again so they need to get back to back nat 20s for success.

[@THEO00900]

@@Dead_Goat by all means, kill a tarrasque with a single eldritch blast, because you rolled a 5% chance. The game in my opinion was not meant to be always beatable by force of nat 20. And trying to guilt trip me, because your table didn't let you do something, is quite uncouth honestly.

[@Xfushion2]

Except the game implemented the "auto success/failure rule" for every check in the game. Even the tutorial states that both criticals are either an automatic failure or an automatic success ignoring the check's DC and the players modifiers. So it feels cheap and inconsistent for the game to suddenly change it's own rules just for one check. So the player is not supposed to dominate the Elder brain? fair enough, then simply *don't ask for a roll in the first place* if the result is not gonna change the outcome of the check anyway why even bother giving false expectations. And yes, succeeding actually does something: it nerfs the brain Hp by 10% it's still a disappointing outcome compared to the check's premise.

[@aidandixon6028]

This happened to me first try, it was so cool!

[@luqmanghazi3104]

Man I had nat 20 also, but when I saw this dc my jaw dropped😂

[@Walker-eh9hi]

fun fact, if you hit this roll, the elder brain will actually be weakened in the final fight.

[@alexsolomon7991]

One should remember that this is a game that ends in the mid levels of the D&D not the upper levels ....they need to save something for the DLC or sequel.

[@phugindomas]

They also set expectation saying that dlc probably won't happen, may very far in to the future but they feel that it isn't worth the trouble to implement given the effects of high lvl spells.

[@soruseek]

@@phugindomas IMO, with some work, I think they could have the characters go up to lvl 14 in a DLC, since 7th lvl spells aren't THAT crazy. But yeah, any more than that and things get real complicated. 8th lvl and higher spells can be nuts.

[@shmeebs387]

They set the level cap to 12 because a lot of higher level spells in D&D would be incredibly difficult to implement into a video game. Like True Resurrection can bring back anyone from any time, and you don't even need to have the body. Just say any dead person ever's name and they pop into existence 10 feet away. That spell can absolutely derail the story, which is fine for tabletop D&D when the DM can switch stuff up on the fly, but you can only script so many possibilities into a video game.

[@Andyman269]

​@phugindomas ummm no they didn't they said only going to lvl 12 leaves room for dlc but they probably won't go to lvl 20 it'll just be a while before we'd see any dlc

[@alexsolomon7991]

@@Andyman269 then it's entirely possible there will eventually be a baldur's gate 4. And other games have managed to implement high-level spells just fine.

[@Nikkidafox]

I actually rolled a nat20 on the very first roll, and I thought that maybe it was a predetermined 20. But now that I know it's not guaranteed it's even better!

[@jkjack0742]

So nat 20 here essentially lets you strike a chunk of health off right away. Unexpected but neat

[@raewsyadrs4645]

Imagine if the elder brain could change your nat20 die using its psychic powers. Imo that wouldve cool

[@literallyalois2966]

Yooo haven't played the game but this Emperor one seems to be one of the real ones, gotta respect him showing up just to say "No." And leave with you.

[@Jmcshay]

"Lol you shoulda rolled low on this one bro." "What?"

[@AshleyBeby]

idk why I'm watching this as I've already load save this exact point 100s of times to find out

[@JageshemashFTW]

Yeah, sad to say it, but this would be me as a DM. I always tell my players, straight up, that a Nat 20 is not an automatic success regardless of circumstances, but the best possible outcome given the circumstances.

[@reversedperspective2584]

Side note getting a nat 20 in this reduces the final fight with the elder brain by a chunk! If I recall properly the effects called Against All Odds

[@lastresort554]

You sound like a trash dm then lmfao

[@Zangelin]

lame DM considering rule of cool.

[@JageshemashFTW]

@@Zangelin Hey, my method still allows for plenty of Rule of Cool. ‘The best possible outcome given the circumstances’ has a lot of leeway when those circumstances include gods and magic.

[@anna-flora999]

​@@JageshemashFTWthe thing is that bg3 tells you in the beginning that a nat20 is an auto success. So this is more like if you stapled a note "NAT 20 AUTO SUCCEEDS SKILL CHECKS" on your DM screen and then later said "no"

[@WazKoOL]

A natural 20 in a skill check =/= gurantee success. If so, all dwarves in Heavy Armor can fly with using any spells or magical items.

[@anna-flora999]

It is though if the table agrees to it as a house rule. Which bg3 does

[@Robbin-Hood]

I was so happy when i got a nat 20 first try, then dissapointed that it wouldnt even matter 😭😭

[@fruitymario3742]

When the DM was up till 4am writing this fight scene and doesn't want the player to just end it right away and ruin everything.

[@jonaske0075]

I had also a critical 20 on this check in my walkthrough, I was very dissapointed with the outcome... Was hoping for a secret ending here where you could revert all mind flayers to humans and destroy the brain afterwards. Now the actual ending has still a sad aspect in my opinion no matter what you choose;

[@StrigoiVampire]

I don't know how it ended, but in mine I had two options: I could subdue the brain or make it destroy all the larvae in the world.

[@MortSalazar]

It does debuff the brain for the final fight There's another 99dc check in the counting house vault I scored a nat20 on that one in the first attempt and on one hand that was awesome but on the other i'm disappointed that no one made a comment on Astarion just casually picking a near-impossible vault.

[@dieguy3080]

Which vault was that? Pretty sure I got all of them but I don't remember any 99s

[@TaurusTheCrazyBull]

@@dieguy3080 I think that's the door you need to Input a code for with the floor keyboard

[@MortSalazar]

@TaurusTheCrazyBull yeah It just skips the code

[@natalieperilli1703]

I had one inspiration roll left to get this I also had advantage on it and I got double nat 20s lmao I almost had a panic attack 😂 so glad I got it on film too

[@_Karuna_]

I literally thought you had to pass this skill check to progress. Wouldn’t know since I got it first try with an advantage roll

[@TheMorrogoth]

So... Your Critical Success was still a Critical Failure! Lol

[@rileyevans2989]

not quite, it lowers the brains HP in the final fight

[@TheMorrogoth]

​@@rileyevans2989 That's legit STILL a critical fail - With a different flavor! When you have to beat a 99 skill check (which requires a critical success) and that is all you get... Yep... Crit failure! I've beat him twice so far in the 4 playthroughs I've done... And let me tell you - That 10% is meaningless...

[@anonymousxaela761]

@@TheMorrogoth Bruh do you think a 20 is higher than 99?

[@TheMorrogoth]

@@anonymousxaela761What? No one is talking about 20 being higher... In fact - No one even stated 20 to start with... You have to roll a Critical Success (which is a Nat 20) to beat the check. Its not that its "higher" (nor did I hint at that). Its that when you roll a Nat 20 - You auto pass... Am... Am I being trolled?

[@AzureKyle]

It's not a crit fail, it's just a fail. Crit fail is if you roll a nat 1.

[@vanitasv2298]

Critical success can also be used as an epic moment instead of an actual success. For instance yes, you hurt the brain for later on, congrats it’s super helpful!!

[@baltosstrupelos302]

I got this on my honor run, where I wasn't about to use inspiration, but naturaled into it anyway!

[@impp6570]

And here I am, reloading ten times intimidation check on a squirrel.

[@skle2300]

A swift kick from the DM to remind you that a nat 20 only means the best possible outcome, not an automatic win. 😢

[@jabadahut50]

They should have telegraphed the weakening this causes of the final boss better, so it actually feels different from just failing the check.

[@Sarkhan69]

nah cuz then everyone would just save scum it even on the first playthrough.

[@fallenhw]

U become the dungeon master!

[@the_dapper_stormtrooper9302]

I like how this actually nerfs the boss later on. That's how a good dm makes use of impossible rolls. Keep your players grounded and on rails, but rewarded and happy.

[@Buenomars]

1:12 🙄

[@TheEmolano]

A nat 20 means you get the best possible outcome, not necessarilly the one you want.

[@stephenherrera9711]

Pretty sure thats a gauranteed success, ive never not passed it

[@clockworkdeity]

When your GM really wants to move the adventure's story along:

[@DarkGunn22]

Does the dialogue change when The Emperor speaks to you after being portal'd out of there? Or is it the same if you failed the 99 check?

[@OmynysFence]

No. He still says "This isn't over"

[@Itama22]

I thought that roll must be rigged. Did anyone ever not roll a 20 on that check? I'm curious, because I did a 20 aswell first try.

[@FeralSheWolf]

I rolled low iirc?

[@Frosty-kz4om]

Karmic dice, probably. Gotta turn that off.

[@Itama22]

@@Frosty-kz4om I had that turned off. Maybe they just increased the chance on that roll by default?

[@_Aarius_]

I savescummed this for like half an hour to get a Nat 20 to see what happens lol

[@Shrooman_]

looked like you were going to save scum it and then got it first try lmao

[@Darth-_-Maul]

I finished game 2 time and I Only Quick Save in dialogue when it have Attack and in battle now I am on my 3 playthrough and now I abuse Quick save they should patch it somehow

[@jonbaxter2254]

I shat when i saw the big "99" in front of me. I thought I was screwed.

[@Lashrath]

I love it how a natural 20 is a RELATIVE success. A netherbrain focuses on you and you try to dominate it? it is a miraculous success that you leave with your mind intact. Its like you knkow walking toa king and trying to persuade him that he gives you his throne. a Nat 20 shouldn't mean he will give you the throne but that he will take ita s a joke and wont have you beheaded on the spot by the palace guard. I am glad the game didn't treat the roll like a "you won" option.

[@Mr_wisk]

what happens if you get a 99 or more? does it do something different?

[@lordorion5776]

i don't think that's possible

[@Mr_wisk]

@@lordorion5776 normally yeah sure but modding the game to be able to do that, do you think it will do something or just repeat this cutscene?

[@lordorion5776]

@@Mr_wisk i doubt they made a cutscene for it sense it's impossible so you'd need to make one

[@Cruddyhorse]

​@@Mr_wisk A critical success is no different from a regular success, even if you passed it with mods it would play the same scene shown here.

[@Mr_wisk]

@@Cruddyhorse hmm ok

[@TinMan445]

I actually rolled a 20 here and was so excited for a second.

[@SorcererVtuber]

DORMAMU! I'VE COME TO BARGAIN!

[@SignoftheMagi]

In D&D, a natural 20 is normally considered an automatic success. However, there are limits. No matter what you roll, you cannot just do something impossible, nor can you gain abilities you simply do not have. In this case, it was the near-impossible task of giving The Absolute a thumb to the eye. There was no way you could have ever taken control or killed it at that point. It was a near-miracle that you got to punch it in the mouth once, just to let it know it had been kissed...and that was it. Nat 20s are not the hand of God. There are the best you could do at the time, nothing more.

[@knightartorias4487]

While it is RAW in 5e that Nat 20 doesn't mean automatic success, there's a personal homebrew rule I prefer. "If the character can't do it, don't let them roll for it."

[@Hirotoro4692]

That's a silly homebrew imo because there are situations where the characters going to try even if it's futile because of the high stakes. It's literally part of the plot that it's revealed to you after your failure with the DC99 that your brain isn't strong enough, but by having the opportunity TO roll, it allows the narrative to give the player hope before dashing it. Sometimes it's clever to give players an impossible skill check. And rolling 20 still has an impact as it reduces the endboss HP by 10%

[@AlyssMa7rin]

@@Hirotoro4692 Respectfully disagree. If you let them roll, then there is a chance they can succeed. Otherwise, you as the DM should simply narrate the outcome of their 'attempted action'. This skill check isn't technically an impossible skillcheck, as a favorable outcome is garnered by a natural 20 which in BG3 means 'success'. You just don't succeed in the way you might want.

[@Korksbebig]

​@Hirotoro4692 It's far more player friendly, is all, sure if you love making people displeased and truly feel bad you can make them still fail but if they will fail anyway you can avoid it all and just state you can't win against it. The general player doesn't like wasting their time nor does it make it an enjoyable experience for the player, just the DM which in a game sense is a failing mechanic. It would be better to create a roll about weakening it directly as the result of the roll, to each their own in how they play but I wager most would not favor your method, since it isn't a popular thing to begin with.

[@darthzayexeet3653]

Dude rolled a nat 20 and still got denied 😂

[@Kaaruma]

Dude I did this in my playthough it felt so cool

[@bazyl3357]

Nothing happens lol. They should've just had the balls to just end the game right there, your fault for rolling so good.

[@spicydong317]

The brain has less HP when you fight it

[@zacharyjackson1829]

for real though. cmon give us an ending where we dominate the brain and use it to either bend Faerun to our will or use it to destroy everything.

[@bazyl3357]

@@spicydong317 ah, that is why it was wounded? Cool.

[@spicydong317]

⁠@@zacharyjackson1829There literally is an ending where you dominate it

[@bazyl3357]

@@zacharyjackson1829 you can bend the brain to your will.

[@clivedoe9674]

When you realize you aren't playing a good version of D&D, that would allow you to roll again to confirm the crit and pull off something amazing.

[@Hirotoro4692]

Are you high? You literally can get up to 4 inspiration in the game

[@Nightylion]

@@Hirotoro4692 He probably means how crits work in 3.5e. When you roll 20 it just means that you hit no matter what. You will still need to roll another d20 to check if you actually crit.

[@adriansantangelo6234]

In my first game I got a critical of 20, I didn't think it was a "real" throw, I thought the 99 was to scare the player

[@peterplful6342]

Glad to see Larian follows the good'ol tradition of scripted loss boss encounters.

[@thedarkness125]

your argument would be valid if this were a failure. This has an appriciable effect on the boss which works toward your goal which is what a skill check does. Success does not mean you automatically complete a task, it means you make headway toward doing so and this is put on display many times during a normal playthrough of BG3 with the number of different things that require multiple skill checks or saving throws to complete. Its not the game's fault you dont understand it.