Uhm....I don't mean to come across as harsh here, truly I don't.
That stated, uhm, can someone explain to me how the use of D&D rolls, even SUCCESSFUL rolls still kill the character?
For example, one location has you, as I understand it, setting up an explosion to take out the Big Bad Guy.
Well, the roll was 12 + 12 (Dex) = 12. Call me crazy, but NO, that's not how it works folks.
A basic roll is 1d20 (one twenty sided dice) as the overall "how you did naturally" then you add in any potential extra 'oomph' (positive or negative) to the attempt, which results in your final result. THAT is then compared to whatever arbitrary number the DM (or in this game developer) chooses as a threshold.
A natural 1 is a catastrophic failure (ie, you try to swing a random <something> you found, and crack yourself in the head)
A natural 20 is a spectacular success on whatever you're attempting to do (you fling the throwing knife with such perfect aim it slips into the eye-slit of the helmet, and actually penetrates the brain, killing the enemy instantly)
Again, maybe I'm being cluess here, but these numbers don't seem to add up.