More Tools of the Trade

I like some kinds of manipulatable accessories in my RPGs as long as they don't become too cumbersome nor are absolutely necessary. I like them simple and helpful but dispensable for times when I don't feel like using them. 4e power cards are a bit too indispensable for me to like them much. I bristle at them because I can't avoid the encumbrance.

But there are currently two sets of accessory cards I use when running Pathfinder - critical cards and condition cards, both of which are available from Paizo.

We've been using the critical cards longer of the two sets. When a PC or significant NPC confirms a critical hit, they can draw one or more crit cards from the deck. Each card lists an effect for slashing, piercing, bludgeoning, and spell-based weapons. Most do at least double damage, some do more including imposing penalties on the target or inflicting minor ability damage. Characters wielding heavy crit weapons (x3 or better) get to draw an extra card for each multiple higher than 2. Then they get to pick the one they like best.

The system for the cards is easy to use and not too outlandish in effects, however, not everybody likes critical hit systems in principle. If you don't mind them, this could be a worthwhile product for the extra little effects that critical hits can generate.

The condition cards are a lot newer so I haven't used them much yet. They can come in pretty handy though. Pathfinder, like D&D 3.5 before it, has a lot of conditions that can affect a character in specific ways. Some are fairly complicated like grappled, others simple like shaken. These cards summarize the condition's rules. I can hand the card to the player whose PC is affected and we then have an easy reference to remember the effect the condition has on the PC.

The deck includes 2-sided cards, illustrated with goblins, describing the conditions - one to a side. Most are related and mutually exclusive. Shaken appears on one side, frightened (the next step up from shaken) on the other, for example. And there are 4 copies of each card for when multiple PCs are affected by conditions.

To make matters even better, on the horizon (estimated in May), Paizo will be coming out with buff cards that detail the various enhancements a PC (or NPC) might temporarily have on them so that I don't have to whip out the rulebook to summarize it every time. That's going to be a useful accessory that I will buy and use.