This is a great resource for someone who can't find the critical & fumble card decks for Pathfinder, or just prefers a dice-rolling mechanic over card draws.

As someone who actually knows the person who wrote the Dragon Magazine article the authors cited, they are a worthy successor to that article.

However, if there is any real lack to these charts, it is one shared with Carl's, in that they are designed with melee weapons in mind. Blunt weapon criticals work in a pinch for weaponless combat, but the weapon fumbles bring on an uncomfortably high level of broken bones (I had one monk PC break both hands in a single melee from fumbles, and was reduced to kick attacks, on the FIRST ENCOUNTER we used these charts), given how monks are much more popular and playable in PF & 3.x. And there are so many things that can go wrong with missiles that have no comparison in melee, and melee accidents that can't happen in missile fire.

I wouldn't mind it if somewhere down the road, the authors would expand it to have a separate critical charts for missile weapons & weaponless combat, and develop separate fumble charts for each weapon type, missiles, unarmed and animal attackers. What works as a fumble for a longspear doesn't necessarily work for an arrow, thrown dart or bite attack, nor does a fumble chart written for a sword really work when it's a monster fumbling with a claw attack. The current table that clumps all fumbles together still results in the occasional headscratch.

I would also suggest that the authors explore using 2 columns per page on the charts that run over one page, to see if they can get them to fit on a single page.

For many gamers, just rolling dice and doing damage in combat just doesn't cut it. Here's a way, following in the steps of an early Dragon magazine article that's referenced in the work and - for me at any rate - some glorious tables from the Rolemaster game produced by Iron Crown Enterprises, to make your damage rolls far more interesting than a steady attrition of hit points.

So here is a set of tables to bring into action whenever a critical hit is scored. There are several tables to cater for different weapon types - bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, etc. - and also, as these assume a vaguely humanoid target, a table for critical hits on animals. Each works on a percentage roll and nicely whenever a specific condition or other game mechanical effect is caused, that descriptor is hyperlinked to the Pathfinder SRD (natuarally, only if you are consulting the table electronically with an internet link!).

To redress the balance some, there is also a fumble table for all weapons, to consult if you are unfortunate enough to roll a 1 on your d20 attack roll. Whilst this is based on weapon use, most results will work for unarmed combat as well with little or no modification.

While there are plenty of this kind of 'colourful critical' tables around, this one has been written specifically with the Pathfinder RPG in mind, so if that's the ruleset you use, this is worth picking up.