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Putting the Use of Critical Hit/Fumble Decks in Player’s Hands
Lots of game systems have Critical Hit and Critical Fumble decks. Pathfinder 1e and Starfinder are two well-known examples (and, full disclosure, I wrote the ones for Starfinder).
Many groups find them hysterical, chaotic fun, Others find them hateful, swingy, and absolutely no fun at all.
But what if the PLAYERS got to decide when they came into play? That introduces the rules and their funny, unexpected effects into a game, but doesn’t force them on anyone who doesn’t want to deal with them.
Here’s a simple set of example rules for doing that.
When an attack against a PC is a success, the player can earn one Crit Point by deciding the attack draws from the Critical Hit Deck.
When an attack by a PC is a failure , the player can earn one Crit Point by deciding the attack draws from the Critical Failure Deck.
When an attack by PC is a success, the player can spend two Crit Points to cause the attack to draw from the Critical Hit Deck. If the player has 3 or more Crit Points, they can spend additional Crit Points before any cards are drawn to increase the number of cards they draw on a 1-1 basis (spending 4 extra Crit Points means you draw 4 extra Critical Hit cards). You select one Critical hit effect from one drawn card to apply to the attack.
(As an alternate rule, you can also allow a player to earn Crit Points when they use these rules, by having GM draw 3 critical hit cards for an attack against the PC, or by drawing 3 Critical Failure cards for an attack made by the PC).
All Crit Points are reset to 0 at the end of each game session.
The reason a PC has to suffer more card effects than they get to inflict is that players can be quite cunning about timing and resources, accepting critical hits and critical failures that go against them when they can afford the hit and saving up the Crit Points to turn the tides when they need it. However, by making it a 2-1 ratio, and not letting players save points between games, this tactical use of the rules is balanced out.
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Sigil Scions (for Pathfinder 1st Ed)
I’ve been meaning to finish this for more than two years, as I began it back when I worked at Paizo. I meant to put it up yesterday, but it took longer than the time I had allotted for blogging, so you get a triple-sized post today instead!
Tithain kept her eyes open and one hand resting easily on the longsword at her hip as she walked alongside Queen Aerigold, who was clearly keeping her attention on the crowds that had gathered to welcome their new monarch. The Queen had insisted she get a new tabard—a bright green silken thing with gold thread and the shining sun-and-tree symbol of the Queen’s Trusted on it—but beneath that Tithain had on the same utilitarian plate armor she’d worn at the Battle of Seven Crowns, all those years ago.
A glint caught Tithain’s eye, and she instinctive stepped between its source and her beloved lady. As a bolt shot out of the crowd, Tithain raised a gauntleted hand and felt the power of her family’s Sigil flow through her, its bright blue lines visible even through the steel protecting her. The arrow slammed into her and shattered, the majority of its force expended against her defensive ward.
A dozen pale-skinned men in the crowd threw off cloaks, reveling the red-and-black garb of Kakkain cultists, and drew weapons as the cityfolk began to cry out and flee from them.
One of the broadest of the men, his eyes glittering with the flickering light of a Fel Embraced, pointed a thorned mace at her and cried out in the echoing voice of those with one foot already firmly planted in Hell.
“She’s a Scion of the Shield Sigil! Kill her first, then the peace-lover queen will fall!”
Sometimes, you want to add something to a campaign that isn’t anchored in class, background, ancestry, or other standard game categories. Sometimes, you just want to be able to slap a whole new power source on characters, and see what fun evolves from it.
Sigil Scions are such a concept.
Sigil Scions have a powerful, mystic source of capability. That might be from their position within an organization, the mark of a god, the collective will of those they defend, an asteroid radiating them with runic power–whatever. The easiest way to add Sigil Scions to a game is to just decide on a narrative framework (anything from ancient heroes reincarnated or cheat codes given to modern characters when they are sent to a fantasy world), and let each player build their own sigil from there. Sigil scions are a pure power-up for characters (especially monks… ), but not as much as being gestalt characters.
Sigil Power
Select any one bloodrager bloodline, cleric domain, inquisitor inquisition, sorcerer bloodline, warpriest blessing, or wizard specialization. You cannot select a specific option you already have, nor later take the specific option you select here if you gain the appropriate class feature to do so (for example, if you select the cleric healing domain, and later gain cleric domains through some other class, you could not take the healing domain again.)
You gain the abilities of the selected class feature, using your total character level as your level in the relevant class. You do not gain any ability not expressly granted by the selection (so taking the abjuration wizard specialist schools does not give you the ability to prepare spells just because the resistance ability is tied to when you prepare spells). However, you can apply any option from the selected class feature to relevant options gained from other classes (so if you are a druid, and you select the healing domain, you can apply the healer’s blessing ability to your druidic cure spells).
When you first gain sigil power, select one ability modifier. Any time your sigil powers refer to an ability score or modifier (such as to determine save DCs or uses per day), you use the selected ability.
Sigil Spells
Sigil Scions gain spells as they grow in power.
At 1st level, you select three specific class spell lists, which you note down. When you gain Sigil Spells, they must come from these three spell lists. You cannot select spells lists from a prestige class, or a class that gains multiple spell lists (ie you cannot select the hunter class spell list, as it is made of the druid and ranger class spell lists). If a spell list comes from a class with requirements for alignment, background, or armor/equipment restrictions (such as druid or paladin), you must meet those restrictions.
Each Sigil Spell you select is noted as being from one of these three lists (even if it on multiple class lists, you must assign it to just one of your three), and follows the general rules for spellcasting from that class (such as Arcane Spell Failure), though you never need to prepare spells in advance (see below). When you cast these spells you do so as if you were a member of the selected class (Sigil Spells are normal spells, not spell-like abilities).
When you first choose Sigil Spells, You may choose to gain Eschew Materials as a bonus feat, and for all of your Sigil Spells to automatically be Still Spells (thus ignoring Arcane Spell Failure). If you do this, your Sigil Spell caster level is equal to half your character level (at 1st level, your CL is 0.5 – all CL-influenced values are halved, rounding down).
Sigil Spells can be used to meet prerequisites for feats and item creation, but not archetypes or prestige classes.
When you first gain Sigil Spells, you select three 0-level spells known. In addition to 0-level spells from your three class spell lists, you may also choose from the following 0-level spells: detect magic, guidance, light, mage hand, read magic, stabilize. You can assign these to any of your three class lists, even if they do not normally have these spell on that list.
At 2nd level, your total spells known increases to four, and the maximum spell level you can select from goes from 0-level to 1st level. You can select any one 1st level spell from the three spell lists you choose as your Sigil Spell lists to bring you spells known up to your new maximum. You also gain one spell slot you can use to cast any 1st-level or higher spell you know. Your spell slots are restored once per day at a set time (normally dawn) as long as you are not fatigued or exhausted.
As you gain in character level, you gain additional spells known and can select higher-level spells. You spell slots are used to cast any of your 1st-level or higher spells. Thus a 6th level Sigil Scion knows five spells (three of which are 0 level, one 1st-level, and one 1st or 2nd level) and has two spells slots (which can be used to cast any 1st or 2nd level spell the Scion knows). Each time you gain a new level, you can change one spell known to another spell of the same level from one of your three class lists.
When you first gain sigil power, select one ability modifier. Any time your sigil powers refer to an ability score or modifier (such as to determine save DCs or uses per day), you use the selected ability. If a spell references an ability score of yours to determine how it works (such as spiritual weapon allowing you to add your Wisdom bonus to attack rolls with it), you can also switch that to your selected ability.
As you gain levels, your total spells known and the maximum level of the spells you know increase, as shown on Table: Sigil Spells, below.
Table: Sigil Spells
1st Three spells known (max level 0), Zero slots
2nd-3rd Four spells known (max level 1), One slot
4th-5th Four spells known (max level 1), Two slots
6th-7th Five spells known (max level 2), Two slots
8th-9th Five spells known (max level 2), Three slots
10th-11th Six spells known (max level 3), Three slots
12th-13th Six spells known (max level 3), Four slots
14th-15th Seven spells known (max level 3), Four slots
16th-17th Eight spells known (max level 3), Four slots
18th-19th Nine spells known (max level 4), Five slots
20th Ten spells known (max level 4), Five slots
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Ablative for Pathfinder 1st edition
Ablative is a creature ability you can add to monsters to make them shrink as they take damage. It’s designed for use with elementals, constructs, and slimes, but could apply to other creatures as well. If applies to creatures that primarily do weapons or natural weapon damage, it’s reduced damage output heavily counters its increased AC and accuracy. For creatures that use offenses not modified by the reduced size, it generally becomes more dangerous as it’s injured.
When an ablative creature has lost 1/3 or more of its HP, it becomes one size smaller until its HP total is healed to be over that threshold. This otherwise functions as reduce person.
When an ablative creature has lost 2/3 or more of its HP, it becomes one size smaller until its HP total is healed to be over that threshold. This also otherwise functions as reduce person, with the modifiers stacking with the first application.
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Barbaric Axe Fighting, for Pathfinder 1st edition
Jacob Blackmon noted yesterday that there are a LOT of illustrations of barbaric characters fighting with two axes. He’s right, and I also noticed that often that art shows them using 2-handed axes in each hand.
I thought it was a shame it’s not something the 1st edition Pathfinder RPG supports well as a character concept.
And then, this idea hit me.
BARBARIC AXE FIGHTING (Combat)
You have mastered a vicious axe-fighting technique.
Prerequisites: Martial weapon proficiency, rage class feature, Str 13.
Benefit: You can fight with two weapons you are proficient with from the axes weapon group, one in each hand. You can do this even if one or both is a two-handed weapon (you can use each 1-handed, without taking any special penalty for doing so, otherwise using 1-handed weapon rules). You are not considered to be two-weapon fighting, and do not gain any extra attacks of benefits of two-weapon fighting. If you gain multiple attacks per round from a high base attack bonus or haste effect, you can choose which weapon to make each attack with.
Additionally, when you make an attack roll where the d20 show a result 1 or 2 less than your threat range, your attack is a lesser critical threat. Roll to confirm the lesser critical threat, just as if it was a normal critical threat. If your lesser critical threat confirms, your attack does double damage. You do not gain any other benefit you would normally gain with a critical hit, and any effect that would prevent a critical hit from being effect also negates your lesser critical hit.
Special: A character that gains rage powers may select this as a rage power if they meet the prerequisites. It functions exactly as noted above, even when the character is not raging.
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A rage-themed warpriest archetype for PF1
I got asked if I would be willing to write up something like this, and it leaped into my head nearly fully-formed.
RETRIBUTOR
Some gods have warpriests that call on divinely inspired fury to strike down the god’s foes.
Special: A retributor must be chaotic in alignment.
Divine Fury (Ex): At 1st level, you gain the ability to enter a state similar to (but less powerful than) a bloodrager‘s bloodrage. You can enter this lesser bloodrage twice per day. The combined total duration of both your bloodrages each day cannot exceed 3 + your warpriest level. During this lesser bloodrage, you gain a +2 morale bonus to Strength and Constitution, and no morale bonus on Will saving throws. If you have the fervor class feature, you can cast spells on yourself while bloodraging when using fervor to do so. You can also cast these spells defensively and can make concentration checks for these spells while bloodraging. Otherwise, this benefit is the same as the bloodrage class feature.
Beginning at 11th level, your lesser bloodrage grants you a +4 morale bonus to Strength and Constitution, a +2 morale bonus on Will saving throws, and can cast any of your warpriest spells while bloodraging.
This replaces focus weapon, sacred weapon, channel energy, and one of the two blessings (and major blessings) gained by the warpriest, and reduces the number of times per day the warpriest can use his remaining blessing to 1/2 his level (minimum once per day).
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New Talents for the PF1 Wolfshead Pathfinder Class
I had ideas for a few new wolfshead class talents, presented below.
New Wolfshead Talents
These talents follow the normal rules for wolfshead talents.
Ambuscade (Ex): When you attack a creature that could not perceive you just prior to the attack (such as from using the stalk class feature), you attack deals +1d6 damage and, if it is a critical threat, you gain a +4 bonus to the confirmation roll for the threat.
Set Up And Strike (Ex): When in bedlam, if you are wielding two melee weapons but only attack with one of them, the first time in the round you deal damage with the weapon you may roll the damage twice and take the better of the two results.
New Advanced Wolfshead Talents
These talents follow the normal rules for advanced wolfshead talents.
Improved Set Up And Strike (Ex): When in bedlam, if you are wielding two melee weapons, the first time each round you deal damage with the weapon on an attack of opportunity, you may roll the damage twice and take the better of the two results.
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