Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Starfinder: "Critical Hit Deck" [RPG]

 I know not every gamer likes them, but I always find critical hit tables/decks add a fun element of randomness to an encounter.  The Starfinder Critical Hit Deck is 50+ cards, each of which has a special effect depending on if the attack is an energy attack, a kinetic attack, or a spell (all crits still do double damage as normal--this is something special in addition to the extra damage).  The special effects are listed as either "crit effects" (which means the player gets to choose to use the card or a special crit effect the weapon might already have) or "bonus effects" (which means the card special effect happens *in addition* to the weapon's special crit effect).  It's a smart way of ensuring that a player doesn't feel disadvantaged by drawing a card.  In addition, each card has an "Extreme" category that only applies if the damage type of the attack matches the listed damage type (like electricity), providing a further option the player can use.  The cards have a lot of fun and interesting special effects.  I've used the deck in a long campaign, and though I wish the text was laid out differently (for quicker reading), I think they're a pretty cool addition to the game.  The instructions also give three different options for how GMs want to treat NPCs/bad guys using the deck, and this is of course a choice the GM should announce to the players at the beginning of the campaign.

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