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Player > Class > Weapons > 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.
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.
The target is entangled, as if the weapon had the entangle weapon special property.
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.
The target gains the bleeding condition.
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.
The target must succeed at a Reflex saving throw or gain the blinded condition for 1d3 rounds.
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.
The target gains the burning condition.
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.
The target must succeed at a Will saving throw or gain the confused condition for 1 round.
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 |
---|---|
1–25 | Act normally. |
26–50 | Do nothing but babble incoherently. |
51–75 | Deal 1d8 + Str modifier damage to self with item in hand. |
76–100 | Attack nearest creature. |
The target takes corrode damage equal to the amount listed. This functions as the burning condition but deals acid damage rather than fire damage.
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.
The target must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or be deafened for 1d4 minutes.
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.
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.
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).
The target must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or take 1d4 Dexterity damage.
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.
The target must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or take 1d4 Strength damage.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The target is knocked 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.
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.
Your battle concentration is thrown off. You take a –2 penalty to attack rolls while off-target.
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.
D20 | Mutation | Effect |
---|---|---|
1–4 | Calcification | The target grows a rigid exoskeleton and is paralyzed; a successful DC 23 Strength check frees the target and ends the effect. |
5–8 | Exsanguination | The target gains the bleeding condition for 2d6 damage as its vascular system becomes porous. |
9–12 | Limb distention | The target takes a –10 penalty to land speed, and a –2 penalty to attack rolls and Dexterity-based skill checks. |
13–16 | Sensory deprivation | The target is blinded as their eyes melt. |
17–20 | Transmogrification | The 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. |
The target must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or gain the nauseated condition for 1 round.
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.
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.
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.
The target is pushed the listed distance away from you. If the target runs into an obstacle, it stops moving and falls 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.
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).
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.
Roll twice on Table and choose your desired result. The target can still attempt any associated save.
D20 | LOCATION | SAVE | EFFECT |
---|---|---|---|
1–10 | General | – | Bleed 1d6 |
11–13 | Eye (sensory) | Ref | Lost eye, –2 Perception |
14–15 | Leg (mobility) | Fort | Severed limb, –10 land speed |
16–17 | Arm (manipulation) | Ref | Severed limb, lose a hand |
18–19 | Vital organ | Fort | 1d4 Con damage |
20 | Brain | Fort | Stunned 1 round |
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.
You take a –2 penalty to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.
The target must succeed at a Fortitude save or be staggered for 1 round.
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.
The target can't speak or make vocalizations of any kind for 1 round.
The target is stunned for 1 round.
You drop everything you are holding, you can't take actions, and you are flat-footed.
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.
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.
D20 | LOCATION | SAVE | EFFECT |
---|---|---|---|
1–10 | General | – | Bleed 1d6 |
11–13 | Eye (sensory) | Ref | Lost eye, –2 Perception |
14–15 | Leg (mobility) | Fort | Severed limb, –10 land speed |
16–17 | Arm (manipulation) | Ref | Severed limb, lose a hand |
18–19 | Vital organ | Fort | 1d4 Con damage |
20 | Brain | Fort | Stunned 1 round |
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