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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fanaelialae" data-source="post: 7150277" data-attributes="member: 53980">FWIW, my table has been using the four Crit/Fumble/Luck decks from Nord Games, and everyone really seems enjoy them. They're basically the one house rule that all 3 DMs at the table agree on. <a href="https://nordgamesllc.com/product/critical-fail-deck/" target="_blank">https://nordgamesllc.com/product/critical-fail-deck/</a>There is a separate crit deck for DMs and players, IMO because things like horrific dismemberment are less impacting for NPCs than PCs. The decks have crits for bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, and magic effects. (Particularly for magic, not all effects apply but the simple rule is to just keep drawing if that happens).The fumble deck is shared by DMs and players. It also has four categories: melee, ranged, natural attack, and magic.All three of the decks above have their effects categorized by tier of play, if you don't want to introduce the deadliest possibilities at low levels.The luck deck is half natural 1 and half natural 20 cards (meant to be used as 2 separate decks). When a player rolls a natural 1, the DM gets a nat 1 (bad luck) card that he can use against the PCs (they have different effects, such as adding 1d6 to a monster's attack roll or dropping a PC to the bottom of the initiative order). A player who rolls a natural 20, on the other hand, gets a nat 20 (good luck) card that he can play at a later time for a positive effect, such as improving an outcome or adding 1d6 to a saving throw. Each card has a different effect (though I think there are a few duplicates).The way I avoid the predicament of high level fighters being masters of fumbling is to give players a choice between a fumble card or a bad luck card on a nat 1. As such, the player is in control of the rate at which he fumbles. If he never wants to fumble, the DM may accumulate a significant number of bad luck cards on a night when the dice are cold (which the players are likely to rue at some point), but the PC's skill in battle is untarnished. Plus, such a player can amass a significant number of good luck cards to help cancel out the bad. (Similarly, I give them the choice between a crit card and a good luck card on a nat 20, which negates the annoyance of wasting a crit on a goblin with 1 hp.)I also ruled that any unused cards are returned to the deck at the end of a session, because my players will hoard their resources whenever possible and this forces them to use it or lose it (otherwise there might not be any good luck cards left in the deck by the end of the campaign).</blockquote>

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