Recent Posts
A quick question for those who own this (or from the staff): are there any instant death outcomes?
Thanks,
Greg
There is one effect, out of 208, that causes death. It does, however, give a save.
That is not to say that there are not some other cards that make death very likely (most of these are also mitigated with a save as well).
Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager
There is one effect, out of 208, that causes death. It does, however, give a save.
That is not to say that there are not some other cards that make death very likely (most of these are also mitigated with a save as well).
Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager
Thanks for responding, Jason (and everyone else, too). I will probably be buying this, but I want to use option 3 (all NPCs/opponents use the deck) - I'm very much in the "what's good for the goose is good for the gander" category of gaming. But I will probably extract all the death/near death cards before use.
Thanks again,
Greg
How about a spell deck? Something to keep track of known/memorized spells. Maybe some blanks to make your own spells. They could release decks for each school of magic maybe?
Just thinkin out loud...
We've thought about this, but the amount of information you need to cover doesn't work on the playing-size cards very well. And the pricing we were able to get on larger cards made the product too expensive. So we are still looking around to figure out how to make this product, but for now, it can't be done because of price.
-Lisa
How about a spell deck? Something to keep track of known/memorized spells. Maybe some blanks to make your own spells. They could release decks for each school of magic maybe?
Just thinkin out loud...
We've thought about this, but the amount of information you need to cover doesn't work on the playing-size cards very well. And the pricing we were able to get on larger cards made the product too expensive. So we are still looking around to figure out how to make this product, but for now, it can't be done because of price.
-Lisa
That does make sense. There are TONS of spells you would have to do with a crap load of info to get on a card.
At the moment I use 3x5 index cards. I have one for every spell my PC knows. I just keep the ones I have memorized in my hand and the others stashed safely away. I also use markers like Pente Stones to keep track of the number of spells I can cast etc.
I plan on using my Crit Deck for the first time this weekend. My players are VERY apprehensive about using it. They agreed to test it out but it seems they would rather just do the traditional normal damage. I think they are afraid of having cards pulled on them. I've had a rather lucky streak of Crits with the NPC's as of late and I think this is why they are nervous. Personally I think it only fair that we use the cards all the way round.
Anybody have any ideas on how I can introduce the cards and make them less intimidating to my group? I've told them that you do get saves against many of the effects so it's not a done deal. I've tried to illustrate for them that it will add a more cinematic feel to combat rather than just stand there, wack for double damage and move on. Just curious if anybody has had similar issues. I'm actually suprised. Normally I would think that my group would be more into this.
I plan on using my Crit Deck for the first time this weekend. My players are VERY apprehensive about using it. They agreed to test it out but it seems they would rather just do the traditional normal damage. I think they are afraid of having cards pulled on them. I've had a rather lucky streak of Crits with the NPC's as of late and I think this is why they are nervous. Personally I think it only fair that we use the cards all the way round.
Anybody have any ideas on how I can introduce the cards and make them less intimidating to my group? I've told them that you do get saves against many of the effects so it's not a done deal. I've tried to illustrate for them that it will add a more cinematic feel to combat rather than just stand there, wack for double damage and move on. Just curious if anybody has had similar issues. I'm actually suprised. Normally I would think that my group would be more into this.
I only use the cards with major NPCs and Boss villain types. Of course, when we first get to try them out, they're fighting seven boss villains in a row. HAHAHAHA. Good times.
I will be using the critical hit deck for the first time in thursday's game- and it is DEFINETLY going to be a surprise! I have a new card capsule for them and everything. Along with my shiny new gamemastery combat pad(I LOVE IT), and my dungeon counters(from Sword and Sorcery Studios- I own collection two, but have yet to pick up collection one), my game is ready to toe the line between tactical and roleplaying. I plan to use these cards for ALL critical hits in the first game and then see how my players like them. I'm not worried- everyone has had plenty of time to rest and regain HPs as we just finished a downtime. Let's see if they're ready to rock!
Someone suggested in another Crit Deck thread that you keep a cup and some counters (pennies, or something) near-by. Each time a PC chooses to use the crit deck against an opponent, put a counter in the cup. Whenever an opponent scores a crit against a PC, if there is a counter, the opponent can remove it to use a crit deck card, if there are no counters, no crit deck cards. It was likened to karma.
Alternately, someone else suggested that if you are using Action Points (as I am in my group) allow the PCs to spend an action point to turn the crit deck card into a regular crit damage roll instead.
Hey there all,
A good way to keep the deck from being too intimidating to players is to only allow the main bad guys in an adventure draw from the deck. Regular monsters and henchmen do not get to draw. Alternatively, you can force the bad guys to spend a feat to use the deck. This also helps to mitigate its power against the PCs.
There have been a number of other suggestions on these boards as well. Some here and some in the GameMastery folder. We tried to make sure that you can use the deck in a way that best suits your group. Please post stories about how it works out.
Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager
HEAR HEAR!Ok. Now the obvious question:
WHEN IS THE FUMBLE DECK COMING OUT?
Yes this Crit deck just is awesome, will be using this for the first time in my Age of Worms campaign that we have been doing since October 2005. I was using a crit system from 2nd edition- modified. Was a lot of work for crits, but loved it.
We really would love to see a FUMBLE DECK. I think there are others out there think the same way. Your Crit deck is selling like wildfire, would it not be the same for the Fumble deck.
SO is there any future for a Fumble Deck in the works???
Fred Victor
The 'Bleed' rule to me is vague...
There is a definition for bleed occuring at the end of the character's turn unless they get healed or DC of 15. Then, there is a definition for affect until healed.
Does bleed just happen once, or for successive turns if unable to heal or DC check of 15, or only if 'until healed' is stated on the card.
Thanks
JT
The 'Bleed' rule to me is vague...
There is a definition for bleed occuring at the end of the character's turn unless they get healed or DC of 15. Then, there is a definition for affect until healed.
Does bleed just happen once, or for successive turns if unable to heal or DC check of 15, or only if 'until healed' is stated on the card.
Thanks
JT
Bleed occurs on the end of the affected creature's turn, every turn, until healed.
The definition for "until healed" refers to cards that have additional effects. These effects linger until the other damage dealt by the crit (not the base weapon damage or bleed) is healed.
Hope that helps.
Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager
We've have four or five criticals since I got the deck. Two of them were "no effect" as the creature died with the 2x damage the card called for, so the extra effect was not used.
The other two were worse. Once was a 3x weapon, and both cards pulled had only 1x damage with an effect that wasn't very serious. I think I may just have 3x dmg weapons do 1x more dmg than the card says. So a card saying "does 2x dmg and 1 pt bleed" would be 3x dmg, or a card with "1x dmg plus 2 con" would do 2x dmg.
They've added a great flavor that I'm looking forward to seeing more of.
As for fumbles. I have the fumbler roll a DC10 Dex check. That way it's more common than having to roll two 1's in a row, not as common as just rolling a 1 (which is an automatic miss). It also scales well as characters go up in level. They always have a chance of fumbling, but characters with high dex get a bonus, but a relatively small one.
A Thought for using the Crit deck would be to give each player a like 3+ tokens that act like action points. they could be crit points. Whenever they score a crit they can use one to draw from the deck and apply the result (or they could decide to refuse the crit card and go with the standard effect if they dont like the card, but they still spend the point). They can earn additional crit points whenvever they are critically hit or rendered unconscious or at the GM's whim that they survived something nasty.
Bought it at my flgs and used it yesterday for the first time.
My players were instantly thrilled, they almost fought for the right to shuffle and serve the cards to the lucky first player who drew a card.
First card resulted in a hobgoblin being sickened while being reduced to less than zero hps (at the same time), but this didn't reduce enthusiasm at all. My players fever even more for critical hits than they did before.
"Verdict":
- adds new drive to fights
- very easy to apply, no complicated expansion rules to D&D
=> Absolutely recommendable, you can't do anything wrong with these cards.
Greetings,
Günther
We've thought about this, but the amount of information you need to cover doesn't work on the playing-size cards very well. And the pricing we were able to get on larger cards made the product too expensive. So we are still looking around to figure out how to make this product, but for now, it can't be done because of price.
-Lisa
Hey Lisa. Remember the 3x5 cards from 2nd edition? I still have those, and they're great.
Hey Lisa. Remember the 3x5 cards from 2nd edition? I still have those, and they're great.We've thought about this, but the amount of information you need to cover doesn't work on the playing-size cards very well. And the pricing we were able to get on larger cards made the product too expensive. So we are still looking around to figure out how to make this product, but for now, it can't be done because of price.
-Lisa
Yep, I have all 4 packs. I actually think that they were 1st edition, but who really cares? :)
-Lisa
Yep, I have all 4 packs. I actually think that they were 1st edition, but who really cares? :)
Yeah, really! Couldn't you use something like those for a spell deck? I know what you mean by how expensive it can be to make cards for some new concept. A friend and I came up with an idea once involving cards similar to the Gamemastery cards idea, and after checking around with a few manufacturers, one of them in Everett wanted $60k for a set of them. 60k! So much for that idea.... ;)
I have one question that wasn't covered by the Rules card:
Some weapons, such as the dagger and morningstar (both very popular in my group), deal multiple damage types. If such a weapon scores a crit, and we're using the Critical Hit Deck, should we:
A) Apply both results from the card?
B) Roll randomly to see which result is applied?
C) Allow the attacker to pick the reseult they like?
D) Something I haven't already covered above?
Thanks for your advice.
I have one question that wasn't covered by the Rules card:
Some weapons, such as the dagger and morningstar (both very popular in my group), deal multiple damage types. If such a weapon scores a crit, and we're using the Critical Hit Deck, should we:
A) Apply both results from the card?
B) Roll randomly to see which result is applied?
C) Allow the attacker to pick the reseult they like?
D) Something I haven't already covered above?Thanks for your advice.
If the weapon is an "or" scenario, such as "slashing or piercing", the player must pick one before drawing a card. If the weapon is an "and" scenario, the player may pick after drawing the card. Mind you, you (or your GM) may decide to do it differently. B and C above could both work. A is perhaps a bit too good.
Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager
These things are the best!!! We used them for the first time in our AoW campaign the other night and it added a whole new angle to the game. Let's just say that we all cheered when the Ranger drew "blown back" and knocked the colossal mother worm prone, giving the group that ever so precious extra round to clean house while she tried to get up. My whole group highly suggests adding this element to your games!
Added this to Sunday's game and the party was not impressed when the first card was 'cut straps' (or something close) since the opponent was not in armor (dragon). However when the slashing weapon took the hand off the next opponent, a big burly boar--so actually it was a hoof--they were surprised to see the hoof revert to a human hand. *grin* They knew the opponent had DR, but did not realize it was a wereboar until that moment. Having both been gored the cleric and the monk-one ashen, one angry-- almost simultaneously asked, "Oh crap, am I going to be sick now?" BuYah! I will definitely be taking these to the 'Free RPG day at my FLGS!
Definitely second the motion on a Critical Fumble Deck. I would buy this in a heartbeat.
Cigarman
I would also be interested in a fumble deck. I just ordered the critical hit deck this weekend and hope to employ it in my next game. Unfortunately for my group, fumbles seem to happen far more often than critical hits.
A word of warning to the production staff: Don't overburden the fumble deck (if you make one) with fumbles that involve striking yourself or your allies. Dropping weapons, damaging weapons, falling prone, damaging your armor, unexpected mystical backlashes, and the like would all be more interesting and fun (not to mention less devastating) than striking yourself and your allies. With that said, there SHOULD be a few fumbles which do strike friendly targets. After all, that's a big part of the risk.
Hmm... 'unexpected mystical backlashes.' That'll be a cool one to work on for the spellcasters. You screw up a couple of key syllables in your casting and summon a hostile evil outsider with half your HD that attacks the caster and anyone who tries to harm it.
Hmm... 'unexpected mystical backlashes.' That'll be a cool one to work on for the spellcasters. You screw up a couple of key syllables in your casting and summon a hostile evil outsider with half your HD that attacks the caster and anyone who tries to harm it.
At the Pathfinder/GameMastery IRC chat, I made the suggestion of a "wild surge" deck. :D
At the Pathfinder/GameMastery IRC chat, I made the suggestion of a "wild surge" deck. :D
While it's definitely a cool idea, I would say that the following demographics apply (bear in mind that these estimates have no research whatsoever put into them):
- 100% of d20 gamers use critical hit rules (they're in the RAW).
- 60% of d20 gamers use critical fumble rules (they're an option in the DMG).
- <10% of d20 gamers use 'wild surge' rules (they're an obscure element from 2nd Edition that has seen only minimal translation into 3rd Ed. via Forgotten Realms' wild magic zones and a few 3rd party sources).
So yeah, cool idea, but probably not worth investing the capital necessary to produce them from a business standpoint. Perhaps releasing them in a downloadable "print-your-own" format could be lucrative?
You screw up a couple of key syllables in your casting and summon a hostile evil outsider with half your HD that attacks the caster and anyone who tries to harm it.
Me likey. Abra-Pokus! Bim! Bam! Zango Bango!
My group's been using the deck for a few weeks now and overall a lot of the effects are fun but when it comes to someone using a x3 or x4 weapon the option of using the deck is not quite as thrilling.
Another downside we've noticed in the deck are the Slashing criticals seem to be much weaker than Piercing or Bludgeoning. And the Slashing crits are the only ones in the Deck where you could lose you own weapon which my group things is a pretty crappy. You lose your weapon for hitting extremely well?!?! Of 52 there are only 20 really good Slashing crits compared to 34 or 38 good pirecing or bludgeoning effects.
I just bought the desk from my local gaming store. I wanted to clarify something.
In the definitions it explains that "Bleed can be ended by any magical cure spell or a DC 15 Heal check made as a standard action." This seems to imply that bleeding damage continues into the rounds following the one in which the critical hit was landed. While this makes sense logically — if you're cut, you bleed for awhile — it seems like it can be a little bit unbalancing by being automatic damage each round.
For those that have been using this deck, has the bleed damage unbalanced the game any or am I worrying too much about it?
I have found that PC bleeding rarely tends to be a big deal, as the PC usually gets some healing the next round. NPC bleeding can be bad for them, but more often than not, this just adds a cinematic air to the fight. We had one big bad guy crit and kill a PC only to be dropped by the bleeding that same round, caused by a crit from the PC the round before... fun.
Of course, if it does not work for you, you can always assign a duration to it, like 1d4 rounds.
Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager
DitheringFool
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules, GameMastery Cards Subscriber)
Although we haven't had the opportunity to use the deck yet, I like the threat Bleed offers.
Anyone over about level 1 or 2 pretty much has no problem continuing to fight even though their hit points are running out. "I'll get all healed up afterwards."
Bleeding, even a little, makes it a bit more risky to neglect your health!
I love the idea of this deck, but I keep having the "what about x3 crit weapons" thought. From what it sounds like, even getting to draw twice may not be enough incentive to get a person with a x3 weapon to fall in love with the deck, and given one of the most common of these is an axe, axes are slashing weapons, which sound like they have the least impressive criticals in the deck.
I really would love to use the deck, and I'm thinking if I get it I might allow a character, after they confirm, but before they roll damage, to choose the damage multiple or the crit deck, which would sooth people with x3 weapons that might not want to chance things, but I'm not sure if this would be too much to allow. Also, it sounds like it would almost always be a better option for the x2 player to pick the deck and the x3 player to choose the damage.
Anyone else with these concerns have them laid to rest after you gave the deck a go in your campaign?