GameMastery Critical Hit Deck


Product Discussion


Does anybody know if they have options for characters who use x3 or x4 damage on critical hit weapons?

If not, do you guys think that having the player draw 2 cards on a x3 or 3 cards on a x4 and getting to pick between the results would be fair?

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32

Clive wrote:

Does anybody know if they have options for characters who use x3 or x4 damage on critical hit weapons?

If not, do you guys think that having the player draw 2 cards on a x3 or 3 cards on a x4 and getting to pick between the results would be fair?

Personally, our group just changes it so that if a card says "Double damage" you apply the normal crit multiplier, if it says "Triple damage" you increase the multiplier by one, and if it says "Normal damage" you reduce the multiplier by one. You still only draw one card, regardless of the multiplier.

Sczarni

Fatespinner wrote:
[Personally, our group just changes it so that if a card says "Double damage" you apply the normal crit multiplier, if it says "Triple damage" you increase the multiplier by one, and if it says "Normal damage" you reduce the multiplier by one. You still only draw one card, regardless of the multiplier.

YEAH, Thats what we do too the card takes the place of the last multiplier, so a x3 becomes a X2+card and a X4 becomes a X3+card ect (of course there hasn't been a confirmed crit since I got the deck in 3 sessions ago)


On the card labelled "The Rules", it suggests drawing two cards for 3x and three cards for 4x.

Sczarni

Alchemyguy wrote:
On the card labelled "The Rules", it suggests drawing two cards for 3x and three cards for 4x.

yeah, but its hard to fit some of those together when they use specific anatomy parts - like pierce the tongue and a peircing that 1/2s the target's movement... if I hit you in the tongue, I'm not hitting your legs...

Paizo Employee Director of Sales

Cpt_kirstov wrote:
yeah, but its hard to fit some of those together when they use specific anatomy parts - like pierce the tongue and a peircing that 1/2s the target's movement... if I hit you in the tongue, I'm not hitting your legs...

An arrow goes through the tongue and out the back of the neck, thereby damaging (but not severing) the spinal cord causing a slight paralysis which is exacerbated by the fact that the victim has to walk and move gingerly because of the arrow through his neck?

Just sayin'...

: )

Dark Archive RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32

Cpt_kirstov wrote:
Alchemyguy wrote:
On the card labelled "The Rules", it suggests drawing two cards for 3x and three cards for 4x.
yeah, but its hard to fit some of those together when they use specific anatomy parts - like pierce the tongue and a peircing that 1/2s the target's movement... if I hit you in the tongue, I'm not hitting your legs...

Actually, I don't think you're supposed to apply multiple cards, you just get to draw that many and choose the one you like. That's how I understood it, anyway.


Fatespinner wrote:
Actually, I don't think you're supposed to apply multiple cards, you just get to draw that many and choose the one you like. That's how I understood it, anyway.

Yepyep.


I find it ironic that after I introduced the Critical Hit Deck, the ratio of critical hits in my campaign has decreased drastically. It's funny, but we've only used the deck once or twice in the last month. (Well, they have been fighting a lot of plant creatures, so...) Here's hoping it's true charm shines soon. It's really an awesome product.


Also looks like they're taking pre-orders for the critical fumbles deck. One of my players has secured the Critical Hit Deck, so when the next fight against crittable foes comes along, I'll break it out and give it a whirl. From a brief glimpse at the crit-hit deck though, it looks like a lot of fun.


For the x3 and x4 etc, the rule says that for each mod you have over x2 you draw an extra card, and then pick just one of them. You basically give up extra damage to have more control over the extra effect.


Just got this deck in the mail on Friday and we used it during our game today. Our fighter type managed to get a crit on a pretty tough beastie with Multiattack. He dealt it normal damage plus Paper Cut (-4 to attacks and some other penalties) for two rounds. Saved a lot of PC injury with his hit (because he was suddenly missing the front line folks with all four of his attacks) - double damage alone wouldn't have removed the creature so the card had a real effect in-game. Fun! Thanks Paizo. Looking forward to the crit fumble deck.
M


We used this deck for the first time on Friday and actually saved one of my characters from dying.

One character confirmed a critical hit on the enemy. He drew the card that causes normal damage, but 1d6 dex and 1d6 str. The next round, the enemy attacked a different character, who was at a very low amount of life. The enemy scored a natural 20. However, he failed the confirm by 1, due to the 1d6 str loss. The crit would have killed his character, the normal hit only did enough to bring him to -2.

I'm having a blast with the deck though and cannot recommend it enough to people who have not bought it. It makes critical hits much more interesting. Really looking forward to the fumble deck.

Sovereign Court

First time one of players got a crit, he drew the card that blinded his opponenent: a grimlock. He he.

Liberty's Edge Contributor

I'm interested in introducing the deck to the game I GM for. Most of my players are open to the idea, but they are very concerned about the frequency of "insta-kill" results in the deck.

I don't want to force an unfair situation on my players, but I'm intrigued by the storytelling elements introduced by some of the deck's outcomes. The I'd appreciate more input from both GMs and players who have experience using the deck.

Thanks.


Paris Crenshaw wrote:

I'm interested in introducing the deck to the game I GM for. Most of my players are open to the idea, but they are very concerned about the frequency of "insta-kill" results in the deck.

I don't want to force an unfair situation on my players, but I'm intrigued by the storytelling elements introduced by some of the deck's outcomes. The I'd appreciate more input from both GMs and players who have experience using the deck.

Thanks.

I haven´t used it yet, but judging from reading the cards, there seem to be no "insta-kill" effects. They are more like special effects than killer effects.

And it is recommended that only main antagonists get to use them, not every run-of-the-mill orc (or whatever happens to be your swordfodder). If every enemy would get a card for a crit, this might indeed spell trouble, especially if you have many enemies - more enemies, more crits.

Stefan


Paris Crenshaw wrote:

I'm interested in introducing the deck to the game I GM for. Most of my players are open to the idea, but they are very concerned about the frequency of "insta-kill" results in the deck.

I don't want to force an unfair situation on my players, but I'm intrigued by the storytelling elements introduced by some of the deck's outcomes. The I'd appreciate more input from both GMs and players who have experience using the deck.

Thanks.

I started GMing a new campaign 3 weeks ago and really wanted to use the Critical Hit Deck. Before we started, I pulled out the deck and explained how it worked and let the players thumb through some of the cards. The group liked it and agreed it would be a good addition. I then gave them the 3 options:

1 - Only PC criticals use the cards.
2 - PC's and major named villains use the cards
3 - Everyone uses the cards.

The players decided to go with option 2.

Next I asked if they wanted to draw their own cards or if they preferred that I keep the deck behind by GM screen and draw a card and just describe the effects that happen. To my surprise they went for having me draw the cards.

So far in our campaign, in 3 game sessions, we have only had 3 confirmed critical hits. (Sigh, darn constructs and undead . . .) But so far they have been fun and entertaining. The best one so far was this past Saturday. The group was fighting a very tough Worg. The knight made an attack with his longsword and confirmed the critical. I drew the card and the game effect was something to the effect of a gaping wound which caused double damage and all critical threats automatically confirm for the next 3 rounds. I described it something to the effect that "Your sword cleaves the side of the wolf. There is a huge gaping wound with a large flap of skin dangling from the side of the creature. A large pool of blood is forming at the foot of the creature. It looks like your blow has done twice the damage that you expected." During the next round the party was excited to find that when the druid swing with her weapon and rolled a natural 20, I announced that her weapon plunged into the gaping wound on the wolf's side and that her critical threat automatically confirms and told her to roll damage while I drew another card from the Critical Hit Deck . . .

Lots of fun. I definitely recommend using the deck, just let your players know what to expect.


We haven't had an instakill yet. There aren't that many in the deck that I've seen. I do remember one 'decapitated' result but that's the only one I recall off the top of my head - I'm sure there are some more though. It's usually normal or double damage plus some effect (that has, so far, tied in with the combat 'storytelling' pretty nicely).
M

Sczarni

mearrin69 wrote:

We haven't had an instakill yet. There aren't that many in the deck that I've seen. I do remember one 'decapitated' result but that's the only one I recall off the top of my head - I'm sure there are some more though. It's usually normal or double damage plus some effect (that has, so far, tied in with the combat 'storytelling' pretty nicely).

M

I beleive that is the only insta-kill I can remember, if you don't want insta kills, just take that one card out and play on


So far the group loves them and it was a nice way for me to make my campaign different than the usual DMs. Only one crit this weekend and it was a actually a coup d grace, but they still wanted to draw the card, just to see what would happen. I take that as a positive sign.

In game (as I posted elsewhere) there was a crit during a random encounter and the card said that a 'hand was severed' the critter in question was a boar so I interpreted this as hoof, but the severed member turned back into a hand. Prior to that time, the party had not figured out that it was a were-boar so the cards were a great revelation in game and out. yeah collective oohs and aahhs 'round the table!

It only just dawned on me, after one card has been used for a crit, to use the three other descriptors to add some flavor (not mechanics) for non-crit attacks. It will be years before we get through all the cards and it is fun to just read them.

So yeah, I recommend them.

Shadow Lodge

My players love the critical hit deck. To keep fears of "insta-kills" down, I allow players to draw from the deck on any crit but only use the deck against the players when they face what I determine to be a "boss monster". We have used about half the deck with excellent results and the "boss fights" are always more dramatic when there is a potential crit. I also have used the crit deck when a player fights another player through confusion or dominate effects, leading to much more drama as the players fight it out.

The critical hit deck has another effect. My party is now 10th level and criticals for double or triple damage do not really scare the fighter types in the group given their high HP and the ready healing spells of a cleric. However, the thought that they may suffer ability loss, stun, bleed or other nasty effect does worry them, maintaining their respect for every combat they enter.

Liberty's Edge Contributor

Thanks for all the feedback, folks. I had planned on using the "PCs and MAJOR NPCs only" option, so it looks like my instincts were pretty good on that one.

I think the main thing the players are concerned about is the prevalence of high-damange and bleed results. The need to make a DC 15 Heal check or cast a healing spell to stop bleed seems to make some of them nervous. However, it doesn't sound like there've been too many issues with the deck hurting PCs.

Thanks again!

Sczarni

Paris Crenshaw wrote:


I think the main thing the players are concerned about is the prevalence of high-damange and bleed results. The need to make a DC 15 Heal check or cast a healing spell to stop bleed seems to make some of them nervous. However, it doesn't sound like there've been too many issues with the deck hurting PCs.

I use it with all bad guys too... when the effects hurt the most, in the lower levels, the non-named bad guys almost never confirm a critical, or if they do the double damage usually will knock a PC out anyway, and then they'd be spending the heal spell either way... and the group cheered when the Kender got his jaw broken so he couldn't talk until it was healed.


We use it, when a weapon has a greater than X2 the play pulls and additional card and picks the effect they want, rather than combining them. We used them as soon as I bought them, and when we finished a D&D game we played star wars and the group was a little bummed we did not have crit cards... So in my group they were a big hit (pardon the pun)

Dark Archive

I used it for the first time last session and there were three criticals in 3 hours (Crusader with a scimitar). The best was the decapitation pull on one of the big bads.

Can't wait for the Fumble deck though because we also had 3 "1's" rolled that evening as well.

Later,

Greg Volz


I used it wednesday in my group, and I liked it. One result of a crit was that everybody in melee got a AoO on the enemy, two AoO hit the poor displacer beast, and it was dropped in a mere 3 rounds (its displacing ability failing miserably, only coming into play once, with 8 attacks or so). The crits enliven the game, I think. I would recommend them.

Stefan

Sovereign Court

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Oh boy! We used the deck three times in our last session...unfortunately, two of them were against my character.

One time a Troglodyte bite me and scored a critical. I drew the effect (can't recall the name) where I only took normal damage but was then sickened for 1d6 rounds (and of course the DM rolled a 6) - made sense given that the buggers smelled so nasty!

During the same session our melee guy rolled a 1 twice! We fear the upcoming Critical Fumble Deck.

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