Way back at the start of the campaign, we introduced some House Rules to make the game more interesting (ie give more of a thrill by increasing the chance of character death). One of these was the 20/20 critical rule.
Basically, this states that if a To Hit roll is a natural 20, and the subsequent roll to validate is a second natural 20 and this is a successful hit in itself, the result is an instant kill. Some players were very nervous about this one, and throughout the campaign we watched out for one with eager anticipation that was never satisfied.
And so we came to the Last Battle, the Big One, the all-nighter. What with all the preparations, by the time Varkar breathed his flames it was nearly midnight, and we were starting to say things like, "we'll have to finish this next week."
And then Gordon came to make his attack. Gordon is Hildraft's player, and
dice hate Gordon. One of the reasons he took a cleric of Kord was for
the granted power that allows him to re-roll any one dice roll in an evening's
play - and boy, has he needed it from time to time. Gord is a watchword for
bad luck with dice.
So when he made his attack on Varkar, having had most of his protection burned away by fire damage he knew would kill him next time, it was one of those "really need a good one" situations that normally result in a 4 on the dice from Gord. So the appearance of a natural 20 was something of a surprise. Not nearly as much as the second one that followed it...
None of us could believe it. A double natural. First one of the campaign and at this point.
There are times when a DM has to give up with a good grace, and this was one of them. The Gods had spoken. Varkar, his massive breath dice, his spells, his human shape-changing, his multiple building-smashing attacks, his regenerative powers, was a thousand tons of warm pot-roast, and the Alair campaign was effectively over.
Only one word was appropriate, really. Bugger, said Dougal :)
Never mind. I'll get 'em next time. Maybe he'll fall off his horse on the way home.