I just got this deck today. I was interested in how bad the effects of a fumble would be in the cards. They are rough. I don't think everyone will want to use these but if you do make sure your players know it ahead of time and I would allow them to read them first.

The only problem I have with them physically is that the print on the instruction cards is very fine. If you have vision issues you won't like it.

I personally like fumbles because they can add tension and drama to a fight when done right, but can turn an epic fight into slapstick comedy if down wrong. I bought this to have a tool for more creative fumbles, because I'm tired of the usual 'drop prone' or 'your weapon flies out of your hand.'

Unfortunately, that's precisely the type of fumble effects you see in this deck. Most of them are damage or ability score damage.

Some are silly (create a stink cloud around you).
Some are harsh (your weapon is instantly destroyed).
Some are deadly (you critical threat an ally).
Some punish the defender more than the assailant (you take minor damage but the defender's armor is destroyed).
Some are repeated over several cards

Several, particularly the mage fumbles, are easily character-ending. Such as teleporting next to an enemy or immediately taking heavy damage.

Some GMs might still find this useful. However, I highly advise you exercise creativity and judgment when integrating this with your game.

Overall, I looked for a convenient tool for coming up with creative ways to add suspense and drama to a fight. Instead, I got a deck of ways to clown my players to death. I was excited to get this deck, but now I'm not sure if I really want to use it.

So good at providing another dimension of gameplay and helps to string visual descriptions together much easier.

Anyone who thinks this product isn't worth a 4 star review fumbles too much.

I have had the pleasure of both being the GM and at another time the Player using this tool. As a GM and a Player (even when it was my fumble) thought this tool is insanely fun! I always used fumbles (even for skill checks!) and it has always put a strain on me to come up with a funny, harmful, but not too harmful consequence. This takes a lot the strain off me. Mostly I love if the Players don’t like the results of the fumble, I get to hide behind “Don’t look at me! It’s the Critical Fumble Deck’s fault!”

I’d like to start off by saying that I personally think fumbles are lame; they harm PCs more than enemies, don’t scale well with levels (becoming more common the more experienced the character becomes), and they make PCs seem more like bumbling buffoons than heroes. This deck takes that nonsense to the next level. While the Critical Hit Deck merely suffered from poor execution of a good idea there is very little positive that I can say about this product.

After wanting to give the product a fair chance to impress me, I used it in two campaigns (once as a player and once as a GM). In both games I was disappointed to not even find a single merit to the cards. The fumble themselves are poorly thought out. Many do ability damage, which can hardly hinder a villain for several round, but can cause serious problems for a PC who must suffer the condition until it is repaired. Others rely on the fumbler fall into a specific set of circumstances to have any affect at all, such as flying via use of wings, or specifically attacking with a bow, and don’t mean anything other than a miss for the opposition. One card popped up time and time again: “Your attack hits but deals minimum damage.” When a PC dies because their enemy fumbles there is a serious problem.

With no real flavor or artwork, this could have been a d% table as opposed to a more than $10 product which is only a thinly veiled gimmick to get money.

After the campaigns involving this deck concluded I gave it away, although I should have trashed it or let the cards collect spiderwebs in a closet somewhere and not burdened someone else with them. They are a blight to the game and a GM should only use them if they truly hate their friends.