Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Patrick Draken-Korin 06-20-05, 11:09 PM	first of all, i know about the other called shot systems in D&D; Sneak Attack (to the vitals) Power Attack feat* (to the vitals) Trip* (to the legs) Sunder* (to the weapon) Disarm* (to the wrist) Monk's Stun (to the head) Assasin's Death attack (to the vitals) Hamstring feat (sneak attack to the ankle) Arterial Strike feat (Sneak attack to the arteries) Coup De Grace* (to the vitals) to list a few (thanks tarkin :D ) my idea is 2-part. a) variant on coup de grace; when making a coup de grace, a creature can choose to forgo the critical hit to sever a limb or otherwise maim the target Note: attacks to the heart, neck, other vitals is a NORMAL coup de grace, and thus this is a variant from that. :rolleyes: This seems reasonable, and though it could be broken, i think it's fine b) feat variant: prerequisite, any of the following; power attack feat, sneak attack ability, any others you can suggest?. :confused: benefit: when making a criticl hit, the attacker can forgo the extra damage in order to sever a limb or otherwise maim the creature Note: attacks to the heart, neck, other vitals is a NORMAL critical hit, and thus this is a variant from that. :rolleyes: Note: some limbs/other maim targets simply can't apply (at the descretion of the DM), due to protection (natural or manufactured armor, or magic/upernatural effect) or inaccessability (severing a dragons tongue for instance). This is the area that might be a problem. if people would comment on this, i'd be appreciative. Oh, and i'm all for increasing the requirements for the feat that allows this variant to function, i only list the basic idea above :) . thanx.
Jaid 06-20-05, 11:35 PM	the first one is fine. the problem with the second one, though: how do you sever a limb but not deal any more damage than on a normal hit? that, and a lot of the time it will be much more powerful. as a possible alternative, if you use the massive damage threshold based on creature size, or constitution, or both, or whatever, you could have a feat that allows a hit that would do massive damage to also damage a limb or something. obviously to sever you would need slashing damage. you could break bones with a blunt weapon, of course, which would be less permanent. piercing i am not so sure about. however, you would have to make it so that massive damage threshold varies by creature. it should not be as easy to sever a dragon's tail as it is to sever a pixie's wings. this also makes smaller creatures a lot weaker in melee though. which may be somewhat accurate, but is not necessarily desirable. probably if you are going to include it, you should also have a maximum size difference for the weapon as compared to the creature. i don't care how well placed your dagger attack is, you won't sever a giant's arm with it unless it's at least a giant sized dagger (probably would have to be bigger even).
tarkin 06-21-05, 11:51 AM	I agree that the first one is fine. If you could kill them, then cutting off a limb is OK. The second one I think clearly has some problems. I might set it up to be "Paralyzing Touch", an enhanced version of Stunning Fist (Monk's stun). Instead of stunning them for a round, they lose the use of that limb for 1d3 rounds. Either leg means their movement rate (for any movement involving legs) becomes 5ft (which by the way also prevents them from taking a 5ft step as part of a full round action). Either arm means that arm can not be used to attack, wield a shield, or cast spells.
Patrick Draken-Korin 06-23-05, 04:49 PM	you're right, Jaid, about the size of the weapon vs the target, and the damage thing. though i would allow maiming of a limb (to the point it can't function properly or at all) with any weapon, it's just severing vs bone-breaking vs ? (whatever piercing damage could do) as fluff. the crunch would be the non-functionality of the limb (how doesn't always matter). uh, tarkin? you didn't list those problems. thanks for the input, but without criticism (preferably specifics) i can't advance the idea (you didn't actually agree with Jaid if that's what you meant to do for listing the problems). additional Stunning Fist feats are always good though. hmm. maybe i should change the feat some; Prerequisites: the Power Attack feat and str 13 Or a sneak attack ability, Weapon Focus (any weapon), bab+1 Benefits: when a critical threat is scored, the creature can choose to take an attack penalty (an amount dependant on the size of the target in relation to the size of the attacker) on the roll to confirm a critical hit. a succesful critical allows the attacker to maim the target (damage a arm, jaw, leg, tail, tentacle, or wing, or other limb if the DM allows). Note that an attack against a creature's vital organs would be a normal critical hit, and instead this feat allows critical that affect other body parts. Special: this feat can only be used with weapons that the creature has Weapon Focus for (this feat is only selcted once- all weapon that Weapon Focus applies to can be used with this feat). ok, any further input is apreciated. thanx! oh, and Jaid the death from massive damage variants in the Unearthed Arcana book include variability due to size of the victim, if you didn't know that.
tarkin 06-23-05, 05:23 PM	Problems. 1) Too powerfull. Cutting off a limb is about the same as killing someone. That is why it should be compared to a killing affect, not a critical. Except in Epic style movies, when you lose a limb, you are DONE for the day. You might live, but chances are you will bleed to death and there is NO way you continuing to fight. 2) As Jaid said, cutting off the limb should do damage beyond cutting off the limb. 3) Even making a permanent penalty is worse than a typical critical. A temporary penalty is reasonable. THe severity should depend on the length of time. 1-3 rounds seems sufficeint for unusability, which is about the same as -10. 2-5 rounds for something like -4, minutes for something like -2, hours for something like -1.
Jaid 06-23-05, 07:34 PM	i still think the death by massive damage thing would be the best way to handle it. first off, it won't end your character's career early (always a good thing). by the time you are taking 50 damage hits (and living, at any rate... at earlier levels, you're dead anyways, so who cares if a limb has been severed etc) you are high enough level that this won't end your career, because you should have access to regeneration (hopefully), and have enough money to pay for it. and, there should definitely be a difference between damage types. a crushing attack might break your arm, but it won't cut it off. OTOH, a slashing attack could cut a limb off, which would mean you need regenerate... not even heal spells will bring it back, which i would think no matter how badly broken the limb is, heal will fix it. piercing is a bit hard to figure out... probably more or less the same situation as the broken limb. you won't need regenerate to fix it, but you will be hurting pretty bad, and probably need heal to fix it. for other types, it's hard to say. for example, what if you get burned, or frozen?