[RPG] Does the Temple of the Gods spell nullify critical hits

critical-hitdnd-5espells

I am already aware of this other question "Can a Lore bard's Cutting Words feature cancel a critical hit?" And do not believe it answers my question as this spell specifically mentions the d20.

The Temple of the Gods spell description states:

Whenever it makes an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw inside the temple, it must roll a d4 and subtract the number rolled from the d20 roll.

Can this ability change critical hits into normal hits or even misses?

Best Answer

Temple of the Gods modifies the d20 roll, and modifiers don't cancel critical hits

The steps for making an attack are described as follows (emphasis added):

Whether you're striking with a melee weapon, firing a weapon at range, or making an attack roll as part of a spell, an attack has a simple structure.

  1. Choose a target. Pick a target within your attack's range: a creature, an object, or a location.

  2. Determine modifiers. The DM determines whether the target has cover and whether you have advantage or disadvantage against the target. In addition, spells, special abilities, and other effects can apply penalties or bonuses to your attack roll.

  3. Resolve the attack. You make the attack roll. On a hit, you roll damage, unless the particular attack has rules that specify otherwise. Some attacks cause special effects in addition to or instead of damage.

Temple of the Gods says to "subtract the number rolled from the d20 roll"; Bane says to "subtract the number rolled from the attack roll or saving throw"; and Cutting Words says "subtracting the number rolled from the creature's roll". Regardless of the minor variations in wording, all of these effects, including Temple of the Gods, are describing penalties or bonuses to the d20 roll, which are covered above in the bold-face text in step 2. Notably, these modifiers are all determined before the d20 roll, which happens in step 3. This means that, somewhat counterintuitively, the technically correct order of operations is to roll the d4 first, incorporate it into the attack modifier, and then roll the d20 and add the modifier you determined in step 2. (Obviously, the order in which the dice are rolled doesn't actually affect the result, and I don't know anyone who rolls this way in practice.)

As the answers to the linked questions have adequately covered, modifiers can't turn a critical hit into a regular hit. The relevant phrase from the rules is (in bold):

If the d20 roll for an attack is a 20, the attack hits regardless of any modifiers or the target's AC. This is called a critical hit, which is explained later in this section.