FASA Games, Inc.

The player's book says there's a CHANCE of a critcal when the d20 hits the goal number. Then the book says to roll again to add in more Victory Points. Here, the 2nd roll can pass or fail, but either way, the whole "ritual" is a critical. So to my question. What are the conditions for NOT having a critical when the d20 hits the goal number?

Hi twilightstruggle, and thank's for the question.

Basically, there are two sides to a critical success, the game mechanics one and the (optional) narrative one. The game mechanics side of it is automatic and something the player can take care, while the narrative side is an excuse for the GM to divulge some information or otherwise change the situation to the character’s benefit. The extra VP only occur if the player succeeds on the follow-up goal roll, while the narrative effect of the critical success can (if the GM chooses to use it) take place whether the player succeeds in generating additional VP or not.

Angelman has it right. We didn't want to put in a simple "doubling" of VP for when a roll was being made where the number of VP was important. So mechanically it is a way to potentially add extra VP to the roll.

In respect to the narrative, when I am running an adventure as a GM I don't tend to add much to the extra roll if it is a standard, "I point my gun and shoot" roll. However, if the player takes the time to narrate out what their character is doing and then they roll a crit, I'll take the time to narrate a bit of extra goodness for them.