Critical Break

A **Critical Break** is a special ability unique to each party member executable by filling their Critical Break gauge.

## Mechanics

Critical Breaks are powerful outcomes available when a character's Critical Break bar is full. Each character has a Critical Break skillset specific to their personal abilities. An individual party member's Critical Break is considered physical or magical depending on the action they choose to use it for, which is naturally influenced by their character class. A Critical Break's power cannot be boosted by temporary ability score increases, but an attack-based Critical Break effectively ignores the armor class of the targeted enemy or enemies.

When a party member uses a Critical Break, they can activate it offensively or defensively in order to turn the tide of combat. However, only one party member may use their Critical Break during a given combat encounter, since the character must rely on the magical energy inherent to their environment in order to attempt a Critical Break. In addition, because of the exhausting focus necessary for a successful Critical Break, the character may only use their Critical Break once per encounter.

### Critical Break Types

For an offensive Critical Break, the character's next attack (whether melee, ranged, or spell) automatically hits its target or targets, provided that the target is not immune to the type of damage that the attack deals. The attack is also considered a critical hit, meaning the character rolls twice the amount of damage dice when determining how much damage the attack inflicts.

For a defensive Critical Break, the character's next non-attack action or bonus action is automatically successful and takes an upgraded effect. When a defensive spell is cast (that is, one that does not cause direct damage to a target), the spell caster may freely cast the chosen spell at their maximum available spell tier while expending a lower tier spell slot of their choice. Furthermore, the caster gains advantage on Constitution checks to concentrate on the spell if necessary. If the spell causes a target to regain HP, the maximum amount of HP (from a dice roll or otherwise) is automatically regained and affects all allies within 10 feet of the target or targets.

### Class Effects

Each character class has a specified action type for which they may choose to add an additional effect. Should the party member elect to add this outcome to their action, the player rolls a D6, to determine the randomized effect. On a 1 or 2, the negative effect is added to the action outcome; on a 3 or higher, the positive effect is added. Note that some of the effects are beneficial to the party member or their allies, while others are harmful. This choice is optional, and a player may choose to forgo rolling for the effect.

Note that, in order to gain the additional effect, the party member must use their class attack type for their Critical Break action. For example, a Barbarian must use a melee attack, a Ranger must use a ranged attack, and a Wizard must use a spell attack for their respective Critical Breaks in order to gain the potential effect. The action types and additional effects are listed for each available class on the table below. Note that the additional effect of the attack may not take effect against a particular target.

 Ranged Attack
 Spell Attack
 Defensive Spell

## Modes

The modes of filling the Critical Break bar can be chosen by each party member and can be changed after each long rest. For example, a character prone to physically damaging enemies might choose "Warrior," which lets them fill their Critical Break gauge by striking target in melee combat; a character prone to using healing spells might choose "Healer," which boosts the Critical Break gauge when the character heals allies during combat.

Each character must learn each Critical Break mode separately by fulfilling its condition a certain number of times. The number of turns required to learn the Critical Break mode, as well as the number of turns required to fully charge the Critical Break, is listed in the table below. Only one mode can be set at a time for any given character. Each party member has the option to change their Critical Break mode after using the ability in combat.