Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[SavageGamerGirl]

This is something I knocked out on a whim.

Sometimes, it's difficult to adjudicate what happens on a Critical Failure, and to be fair when applying a penalty. This (hopefully) FFF technique will help a GM spontaneously describe what happens to a hapless hero that rolls double 1s.

When you roll a Critical Failure, draw a card!

Club: Major disaster! The worst possible thing happens. You lose the remainder of your actions this round, if applicable, and suffer an additional effect that is difficult to recover from. Examples hitting yourself or an ally with a raise, your weapon is damaged or destroyed, or so profoundly insulting the person you’re talking to that they refuse to have anything further to do with you.

Diamond: Disaster! Something bad happens. You lose the remainder of your actions this round, if applicable, and must spend the next round recovering. Examples include hitting yourself or an ally with an attack, having picking up a dropped weapon, clearing a jammed gun, standing up after tripping, apologizing for offending the person you’re talking to, and so on.

Heart: Failure! Make an immediate Trait roll of the same type with an additional −2 penalty. On a success, treat it at as a Mishap, below. On a failure, treat it as a Disaster, above. If this roll is also a Critical Failure, treat it as a Major Disaster.

Spade: Mishap! You’re in luck. Your failure wasn’t as bad as it could have been. You still suffer any side effect of rolling a 1 on your Trait die (if any), but your roll was just a normal failure.

Joker: Redo! Reroll your Trait test and take that result instead. Fate is smiling upon you.
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[tigerguy786]

[Wibbs]

I've had a player roll three critical fails in a row. Lets just say we never saw those dice again

[Yuritau]

[Lysander]

I like it and will snag that for my campaigns.

As an alternative:
Since I play on a Virtual Table Top (Fantasy Grounds, Woot!) I may ask each player not affected directly to send me a GM only message on what the crit fail should be. Whichever one I like the best as appropriate for the victim, I will give them a bennie (if I think the best one is good enough result for the situation.)
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There is no problem in this Universe that can't be solved with the application of roasted porcine flesh...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSReSGe200A

[Virgobrown72]

[SavageGamerGirl]

Any other comments or suggestions?
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[Rohan]

We're pretty religious about our intiative deck being solidly for iniative only, but I could see fitting something like this into the Wellstone City Encounter Deck really easily...
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Current WIP: Wellstone City Chronicles, Puppets, and One-liners

[SavageGamerGirl]

SWD uses cards for a great many things, such as Weird Science malfunctions, Dramatic Interludes, Chases, random encounters... it's not just for initiative anymore!
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[jasales]

Ok, you said cards and you have FFF mechanic for critical failures.

Hmm...maybe we need something like this! http://paizo.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Store.woa/wa/browse?path=store%2Fv5748btpy89mn

But for savage worlds? Kinda gimicky?

I suggest it as we get alot of questions of ideas for critical failures on the forum.

[SavageGamerGirl]

Nah, not a special deck of cards like those. That's too much.

I was looking for critiques of my idea in the OP to use cards to help a GM decide what happens on a critical failure.
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[Zadmar]

I like the idea, although I'd be tempted to tie the meaning to the symbol of the suit, and base the intensity on the rank, eg:

Clubs: The failure involves damage of some sort. In combat this generally means you hit yourself or an ally, other situations might involve slipping and hurting yourself, striking your thumb, or a social encounter coming to blows. Face cards also cause an injury which cannot be soaked, and must be healed normally.

Diamonds: The failure comes at a financial price. Perhaps your weapon or tool break, or you tear your clothes, or an action results in a lawsuit. Generally speaking, the higher the rank of the card, the greater the expense. Face cards result in a hefty price, often from collateral damage.

Hearts: The failure has a social impact. Perhaps you do something embarrassing and make a fool of yourself, or maybe you cause someone great offence. In combat your opponents might receive a morale bonus for the scene, or you might suffer a significant penalty (such as your trousers falling down and becoming caught around your ankles). Outside of combat you might receive a Charisma penalty when dealing with people who witnessed your actions, or suffer a lasting penalty due to lack of confidence. Face cards can give a longer-lasting hindrance, such as Ugly, Wanted or Enemy.

Spades: The failure involves some sort of loss. The higher the rank of the card, the greater the loss, although the value is more frequently sentimental or utility-based rather than financial - you might lose your favourite hat, for example, or your car keys, or a shoe. Face cards result in significant loss, and could include pets or even people.

Joker: Your action succeeds, but at a price. Draw another card to determine what sort of price you pay. If you draw a second Joker then the success becomes a raise, but you must then draw a third card to determine the price. For example you might wound (or even kill) your opponent but break your sword in the process, or charm the queen while mortally insulting the king.

[SavageGamerGirl]

That's a cool idea, too! Thanks!
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[SavageGamerGirl]

Here's an idea... instead of drawing a new card for the critical failure, your initiative card suite determines the failure type?
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[BlackJaw]

[warrenss2]

Do you ever have weapons break on a Crit fail? (swords and other bladed types are what I'm mainly thinking about here)

You might want to have very rare and very valuable and very costly steels that are immune to that type of failure. Maybe it's enchanted elvish or dwarvish made weapon?
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