Sacrosanct
Legend
Remember those homebrew crit tables that showed up almost immediately after the game came out?
I've been toying with some ideas for GEAS (a game I'm working on) to make critical successes cool again. And not just for attacks. Some ideas:
Critical Success and Failure
If you beat your TCN (Target Challenge Number) by 5 or more, you have accomplished a critical success. For skill checks, you may have done it better than you anticipated or hoped for—jumping extra far, additional persuasion impact, etc. For forced resistance checks, you may also gain immunity to that same type of status for up to a minute. For defense, you may gain resistance to the damage type of the attempted attack until the end of your next turn. It’s really up to you and what sounds cool at your table.
For attacks, this is where it can really get neat or cool. The below are just some of the options you can choose from when you score a critical success with an attack roll, and you are encouraged to come up with your own!
Definitions:
TCN = Target Challenge number. This is a dice pool system, where you compare your highest dice result against your opponent's. Let's say your dice pool includes 3d10 and your opponents has 2d12. You roll a 4, 5, and 9. They roll a 2 and 4. Your 9 beats their 4 by 5, making this a critical success.
WD = Weapon die.
AP = Action Point. This is an action point system, where you have a pool and everything you want to do costs AP points.
I've been toying with some ideas for GEAS (a game I'm working on) to make critical successes cool again. And not just for attacks. Some ideas:
Critical Success and Failure
If you beat your TCN (Target Challenge Number) by 5 or more, you have accomplished a critical success. For skill checks, you may have done it better than you anticipated or hoped for—jumping extra far, additional persuasion impact, etc. For forced resistance checks, you may also gain immunity to that same type of status for up to a minute. For defense, you may gain resistance to the damage type of the attempted attack until the end of your next turn. It’s really up to you and what sounds cool at your table.
For attacks, this is where it can really get neat or cool. The below are just some of the options you can choose from when you score a critical success with an attack roll, and you are encouraged to come up with your own!
- Inflict +1 WD per chapter level.
- Hamstring the opponent, reducing it’s AP by 1 for the duration of the encounter.
- Inflict a debilitating strike, removing one special ability of the creature for the duration of the battle. Perhaps you cut the dragon’s neck, preventing it from further using it’s breath weapon? Or clipped it’s wing, preventing it from flying?
- Stun the creature until the end of its next turn.
- Inflicted such an impressive strike that the creature an all of its allies that could see it suffer a -1 PD penalty on their attack challenge rolls until the end of their next turn.
Definitions:
TCN = Target Challenge number. This is a dice pool system, where you compare your highest dice result against your opponent's. Let's say your dice pool includes 3d10 and your opponents has 2d12. You roll a 4, 5, and 9. They roll a 2 and 4. Your 9 beats their 4 by 5, making this a critical success.
WD = Weapon die.
AP = Action Point. This is an action point system, where you have a pool and everything you want to do costs AP points.
Last edited: