Interactive Combat Rolls
This is a little system I use for narrating attacks that miss. There is nothing explicitly stated on how an attack might miss, and it can be a bit confusing to narrate at times, so this is how I match up mechanics and narration of hits.
If an attack roll is:
1 - Attackers hand slips, drops weapon, trips over, etc. Attack is negated and/or the attacker hurts them self. 2-10 - Attack is made, but misses the target 10+ Dex Mod (if not in heavy armor) - the defender dodges out of the way. This can be from a sidestep, duck, etc. 10+ Armor Bonus - the attack connects, but the defenders armor / shield protects them from the blow Each of these thresholds can be explained in a narrative way. 1-10 can be a comical failure, dex can seem like a Matrix Dodge moment, and armor bonus can seem like a very tense crashing of metal.
There are also some edge cases, and while I think there are a lot of ways to go about them, here is how I deal with a couple of them:
Unarmored bonus / natural armor - Blow glances off or hits but is absorbed like metal. The latter is especially cool for Barbarians Magic Bonus to AC - Light shows surrounding the defender and mitigating the blow or deflecting it, think energy shields from movies of Halo Cover - Attacks hit cover, or the smaller target makes it harder to aim and the blow sails just past the target, possibly sending debris or small shards of the cover everywhere Size Bonus - Attack seems like it would normally hit, but the smaller creature has just enough space to manuever around the attack Above AC - Target doesnt get out of the way, hit manages to penetrate armor, scratch them, hit an exposed spot, etc. Temporary HP - Either magic shields target but cracks under force or the blow is taken and felt, but doesnt cut, bruise, etc.
