Posts Tagged ‘RPG’

Critical-Hit Deck

Shawn | November 28, 2007 in Dorktalk | Comments (1)

This 52 card deck from Game Mastery is proving to be a really fun addition to our group’s gaming night. It seems Paizo, former Dragon and Dungeon magazines publishers, have used their connections and made a smart move into the open source D20 accessory market. Game Mastery has been releasing modules, maps, and item cards that correspond to their release which are pretty cool too. This is a stand alone accessory that can be used in any game.

So how it works is simple, when a player confirms a critical hit, they get to draw a card. On the back of each card there are 4 results, one for each damage type (bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, and magic). The cards are fun and easy to implement in battle and provide for some interesting combat situations.

The deck introduces one mechanic called Bleed. Bleed is the loss of life or ability points each round after the crit until the character is magically healed or takes a round to perform a DC 15 heal check. I like the bleed rule, it adds another element of realism to combat. The directions included suggest a few ways to use these cards, I will be letting PC’s draw but only “bosses” and significant monsters and NPC’s can draw from the deck as far as antagonists go. The deck can have some pretty nasty outcomes so best to use it in moderation with the PC’s as the focus I find.

The cards are attractively illustrated and laid out, the freshly severed orc head splashing across the card side-up is perfect! I’m also very excited for the January release of Game Mastery’s Critical Fumble Deck, though I doubt my players are! *evil cackle*

Munchkin

Shawn | November 27, 2007 in Dorktalk | Comments (2)

Tags: D&D, games, Munchkin, RPG

I’m a little late on this one, but if you do any fantasy role-playing and don’t take it too seriously, you gotta play this game. I had a great time playing Munchkin over the Thanksgiving weekend with fellow gamer nerds Earl and Amy.

Yes Brydon, I know you’ve been screaming about this for months, you were right ok. Anyway, I plan on purchasing the basic (fantasy in this case, there are several genres) and corresponding expansion over the holiday months. My gaming group plays 3 Dragon Ante and Inn-fighting when a night runs short or we need a break, Munchkin will make another fine downtime addition.