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Player > Class > Weapons > Critical Hit Effects

Critical Hit Effects

If your attack roll is a natural 20 and your attack total is equal to or greater than your target’s AC, your attack is a critical hit. A critical hit means that you roll your damage twice (adding to each roll all your usual bonuses, including any additional damage from special abilities) and then add the rolls together to determine the damage dealt.
Some weapons have an additional critical effect that applies when you score a critical hit. These effects are as follows.

Arc

The attack's energy leaps to a second creature. This secondary target must be within 10 feet of your original target and must be the creature closest to the original target (you choose if multiple creatures are equidistant). Roll the amount of damage listed in the weapon's arc–the secondary target takes this damage (not multiplied by the critical hit), of whatever type the weapon deals.


Bind

The target is entangled, as if the weapon had the entangle weapon special property.

Entangle

A creature hit by an entangle weapon becomes entangled until it escapes with an Acrobatics check (DC = 10 + weapon's item level + the attacker's Dexterity modifier) or a Strength check (DC = 15 + weapon's item level + the attacker's Dexterity modifier). An entangled creature can attempt such a check as a move action. Some weapons (such as stickybomb grenades) have a maximum duration for this effect. See page 275 for information about the entangled condition.


Bleed

The target gains the bleeding condition.

Bleeding

You take the listed amount of damage at the beginning of your turn each round until this condition ends. Your bleeding can be stopped with a successful DC 15 Medicine check as a standard action, or through the application of any ability that restores Hit Points. If you take two or more bleed effects, you take only the damage from the worst effect.


Blind

The target must succeed at a Reflex saving throw or gain the blinded condition for 1d3 rounds.

Blinded

You cannot see. You are flat-footed and take a –4 penalty to most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks and to opposed Perception skill checks. All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Perception checks based on sight) automatically fail. You can't observe other creatures, which means (among other things) that you treat all creatures as having total concealment (50% miss chance; see page 253). You must succeed at a DC 10 Acrobatics skill check to move faster than half speed. If you fail this check, you fall prone. Characters who remain blinded for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them. Creatures that become blinded but that have a precise sense (see page 260) other than vision still automatically fail all checks and activities relying on vision, but they suffer none of the other effects.


Burn

The target gains the burning condition.

Burning

You are on fire. As long as you have this condition, at the start of your turn each round before you take any actions (or attempt the Reflex saving throw described below), you take the listed amount of damage as fire damage (or 1d6 fire damage, if no amount is listed in the effect that causes burning). Fire damage from multiple sources that inflict the burning condition is cumulative.
At the end of each round you are burning, you can attempt a Reflex saving throw to remove this condition. The DC of this saving throw is equal to 10 + the amount of fire damage you took this round from the burning condition. If you succeed at this saving throw, you lose the burning condition. You can attempt a new saving throw each round you have this condition, and you receive a +2 bonus for each previous saving throw you've attempted in consecutive rounds.
You can also automatically end this condition by jumping into enough water to douse yourself. If you don't have enough water on hand, you can spend a full action to roll on the ground or otherwise smother the fire to attempt a new saving throw with a +4 bonus (plus any bonuses from previously failed consecutive attempts) to end the condition.


Confuse

The target must succeed at a Will saving throw or gain the confused condition for 1 round.

Confused

You are mentally befuddled and can't act normally. You can't tell the difference between ally and foe, and thus you treat all creatures as enemies, even your closest friends and family, if applicable. An ally who wishes to cast a beneficial spell on you with a range of touch must succeed at an attack roll against your Energy Armor Class, since you cannot be considered a willing target. If you are attacked while you're confused, you always attack the creature that last attacked you until that creature is dead or out of sight, unless it is otherwise impossible for you to attack it that round. While confused, you can't make attacks of opportunity against any creature or thing that you aren't already committed to attacking.
If you are not devoted to attacking a target, roll on the following table at the beginning of your turn each round to see what you do in that round.

D%BEHAVIOR
1–25Act normally.
26–50Do nothing but babble incoherently.
51–75Deal 1d8 + Str modifier damage to self with item in hand.
76–100Attack nearest creature.
If you can't carry out the indicated action, you do nothing but babble incoherently. Attackers are not at any special advantage when attacking you.


Corrode

The target takes corrode damage equal to the amount listed. This functions as the burning condition but deals acid damage rather than fire damage.

Burning

You are on fire. As long as you have this condition, at the start of your turn each round before you take any actions (or attempt the Reflex saving throw described below), you take the listed amount of damage as fire damage (or 1d6 fire damage, if no amount is listed in the effect that causes burning). Fire damage from multiple sources that inflict the burning condition is cumulative.
At the end of each round you are burning, you can attempt a Reflex saving throw to remove this condition. The DC of this saving throw is equal to 10 + the amount of fire damage you took this round from the burning condition. If you succeed at this saving throw, you lose the burning condition. You can attempt a new saving throw each round you have this condition, and you receive a +2 bonus for each previous saving throw you've attempted in consecutive rounds.
You can also automatically end this condition by jumping into enough water to douse yourself. If you don't have enough water on hand, you can spend a full action to roll on the ground or otherwise smother the fire to attempt a new saving throw with a +4 bonus (plus any bonuses from previously failed consecutive attempts) to end the condition.


Deafen

The target must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or be deafened for 1d4 minutes.

Deafened

You can't hear. You take a –4 penalty to initiative checks and opposed Perception checks, and you automatically fail Perception checks based on sound. Characters who remain deafened for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them.


Degeneration

The target's cells overheat and rapidly degenerate. Each round, at the start of the character's next turn before they take any actions, they take the listed amount of damage as fire damage and are fatigued. At the end of each of their turns, the creature can attempt a Fortitude saving throw to end the effect; on a failure, cellular degeneration continues but the creature gains a cumulative +1 bonus to the Fortitude save to end the effect.


Demoralize

You can attempt an Intimidate check with a –5 penalty to demoralize your foes as a reaction. Compare the result of this check to the DC of each creature that took damage from this attack using the guidelines from the demoralize task of the Intimidate skill (Core Rulebook 142).


Electrocute

The target must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or take 1d4 Dexterity damage.


Embed

The attack embeds a barbed needle or another lingering effect in the target. The first time each round the target moves 5 feet or more in a single action (voluntarily or not), it takes the listed damage. The target can remove the embedded object with a standard action, dealing the listed damage in the process. Alternatively, with a successful Medicine check (DC = 15 + 1-1/2 the weapon's item level), another creature can remove the object from the target and deal no damage. Multiple embedded objects each deal their listed damage and must be removed one at a time.


Enfeeble

The target must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or take 1d4 Strength damage.


Fatigue

The target must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or gain the fatigued condition for 1 round per item level of the weapon. This condition can be removed as normal.

Fatigued

You can neither run nor charge, and you take a –1 penalty to your Armor Class, attack rolls, melee damage rolls, Reflex saving throws, initiative checks, and Strength- and Dexterity-based skill and ability checks. The amount of bulk you can carry without becoming encumbered is reduced by 1. If you are fatigued, doing an activity that would normally cause fatigue causes you to become exhausted instead. After 8 hours of complete rest, you are no longer fatigued.


Immobilize

The target must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or be knocked prone and gain the pinned condition. The target can escape the pinned condition by succeeding at an Acrobatics check (DC = 20 + 1-1/2 × the weapon's item level). The pinned condition ends automatically if the weapon's wielder either moves or attacks with the weapon again; the penalties from the pinned condition still apply to the target if the wielder uses the weapon to attack the pinned target.


Injection DC +2

If the weapon is used to deliver a poison or drug of some kind, the save DC of that poison is increased by 2 when delivered on a critical hit.


Irradiate

The target must succeed at a Fortitude save or contract radiation sickness (Core Rulebook 404). The DC for this disease is equal to the weapon's critical hit DC. This is considered low-level radiation, regardless of the save DC.


Jet

The attack emits a jet of energy that suffuses the target and extends to strike a second creature. This secondary target must be adjacent to the original target and on the opposite border or opposite corner of the target's space from you. When in doubt about whether a second creature's position compared to a target makes it subject to a jet attack, trace a line from the center of your space to the center of the second creature's space. If the line passes through opposite borders or corners of the primary target's space, then the second creature is a valid target for the jet attack. If multiple valid targets of the jet damage are present, you choose which is the secondary target. Roll the amount of damage listed in the weapon's jet: the secondary target takes this damage (not multiplied by the critical hit) of whatever energy damage type the weapon deals.


Knockdown

The target is knocked prone.

Prone

You are lying on the ground. You take a –4 penalty to melee attack rolls. You gain a +4 bonus to your Armor Class against ranged attacks, but you take a –4 penalty to your Armor Class against melee attacks. Standing up from prone is a move action.


Leech

This weapon can leach life force from a target, draining its vitality and leaving it feeling unsteady. The target must succeed at a Fortitude save or gain the off-target condition for 1 round per item level of the weapon. This has no effect if the target is immune to disease.

Off-Target

Your battle concentration is thrown off. You take a –2 penalty to attack rolls while off-target.


Mutation

The creature's cells attempt to break free from the gravitational forces that keep them in orbit. As electrons escape, the resulting subatomic changes in the creature cause severe transformations. The target must attempt a Fortitude saving throw; on a failure, roll on the table below. The effects of a mutation can be removed with the remove affliction spell (DC = 5 + the item level); some mutations can be removed in other ways.

D20MutationEffect
1–4CalcificationThe target grows a rigid exoskeleton and is paralyzed; a successful DC 23 Strength check frees the target and ends the effect.
5–8ExsanguinationThe target gains the bleeding condition for 2d6 damage as its vascular system becomes porous.
9–12Limb distentionThe target takes a –10 penalty to land speed, and a –2 penalty to attack rolls and Dexterity-based skill checks.
13–16Sensory deprivationThe target is blinded as their eyes melt.
17–20TransmogrificationThe target is polymorphed into a Small animal or similar beast, as a 6th-level baleful polymorph; each round at the end of their turn, the target can attempt a Fortitude save to end the effect with a cumulative +1 bonus.


Nauseate

The target must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or gain the nauseated condition for 1 round.

Nauseated

You are experiencing stomach distress. You can't attack, cast spells, concentrate on spells, or do anything else requiring attention. The only action you can take is a single move action per turn.


Nuisance

This weapon delivers targeted pops of sound and strobes of light. If you score a critical hit against a target with this weapon, the target is affected as though hit with harrying fire.


Pulse

The weapon's output explodes in a pulse of energy. All creatures adjacent to the original target take the amount of damage listed in the pulse entry, of the same type dealt by the weapon's initial attack.


Push

The target is pushed the listed distance away from you. If the target runs into an obstacle, it stops moving and falls prone.

Prone

You are lying on the ground. You take a –4 penalty to melee attack rolls. You gain a +4 bonus to your Armor Class against ranged attacks, but you take a –4 penalty to your Armor Class against melee attacks. Standing up from prone is a move action.


Recharge

When the wielder scores a critical hit against a living creature or a construct with the technological subtype, the electrovore glove regains the listed number of charges (up to the weapon's maximum capacity).


Second Arc

The attack's energy continues leaping from a secondary target to a tertiary target. This functions identically to the arc critical hit effect (Core Rulebook 182), except the second arc can't target either the original target of the attack or the creature struck by the first arc special property.


Severe Wound

Roll twice on Table and choose your desired result. The target can still attempt any associated save.

D20LOCATIONSAVEEFFECT
1–10GeneralBleed 1d6
11–13Eye (sensory)RefLost eye, –2 Perception
14–15Leg (mobility)FortSevered limb, –10 land speed
16–17Arm (manipulation)RefSevered limb, lose a hand
18–19Vital organFort1d4 Con damage
20BrainFortStunned 1 round


Sicken

The target must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or become sickened for 1d4 minutes. This has no effect if the target is immune to disease.

Sickened

You take a –2 penalty to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.


Staggered

The target must succeed at a Fortitude save or be staggered for 1 round.

Staggered

You can take a single move action or standard action each round, but not both, nor can you take full actions. You can still take swift actions, but not reactions.


Stifle

The target can't speak or make vocalizations of any kind for 1 round.


Stunned

The target is stunned for 1 round.

Stunned

You drop everything you are holding, you can't take actions, and you are flat-footed.


Suffocate

The weapon sucks the atmosphere away from the target. If the target is wearing armor or a space suit that has activated environmental protections, the weapon depletes a number of days of that protection equal to half the weapon's item level. If this depletes the environmental protections entirely, or if the target was not wearing any such protections, the target must succeed at a Fortitude save or gain the exhausted condition.


Wound

Roll on Table. The target must succeed at a saving throw of the listed type (if any) or suffer the listed effect. If the creature lacks a specified location, use the general location.

D20LOCATIONSAVEEFFECT
1–10GeneralBleed 1d6
11–13Eye (sensory)RefLost eye, –2 Perception
14–15Leg (mobility)FortSevered limb, –10 land speed
16–17Arm (manipulation)RefSevered limb, lose a hand
18–19Vital organFort1d4 Con damage
20BrainFortStunned 1 round

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