Called Shots [Archive] - Wizards Community

Called Shots [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
R2-DS
07-27-06, 11:48 PM Hey all

Origionally had this posted over on the Equipment and combat board but thought it mught be better off here.

With a bit of tweaking with both the AC and HP here's a possibility....

Head- Equal to 30% of the Torso
Legs(2)- Equal to 40% of the Torso
Arms(2)- Equal to 30% of the Torso
Hands(2)- Equal to 20% of the Torso
Torso- Equal to 100% of base HP

Looking at the above model consider this.........

1st level Fighter with no CON Bonus has 10 HP

That means

Head-3HP
Arms-3HP each
Legs-4HP each
Hands-2HP each
Torso-10HP

Seeing that, you can see how a character suddenly becomes more "robust". Now he has in effect double the Hit Points of a first level fighter and some might argue that this is unbalancing.

However.........

If you like this method and find it suitable for your game than you need to modify the AC system slightly to support this.

Treat each listed body part above as an object of the appropriate size to determine its "size" based AC modifier. This assumes that you are playing a "medium" sized Humanoid character.

Head- Tiny
Arms- Small
Legs- small
Hands- Diminutive
Torso- Medium

So lets look back at our 1st level fighter again. This same fighter is clad in "Full Plate" and has no DEX Bonus, so based on the above table his AC(S) would look like this......

Head-AC 20 Base of 10+ 2(tiny) +8(Full Plate)
Arms- AC 19
Legs- AC 19
Hands- AC 21
Torso- AC 18

All the regular rules for combat, ac and Hit points still apply. All i've done here is divide the body up into smaller segments. Like I said...takes some tweaking, but is "do able".
Psychoticpsymon
07-28-06, 12:38 AM I'm aiming for the head every time, no matter how the other body parts work.

Edit: Also, this seems really complicated.
WackyOne
07-28-06, 01:36 AM IMHO, it's not that hot a rule.
It shiftes game balance. Toward "things that roll to hit".
And while fighters need their chances at damage, that encompasses also a lot of spells, already very powerful ones (from the elemental orbs to disintegrate), leaving behind the fireball-like, saving throw based area spells (unless they damage every body unit)
It also makes obsolete Power Attack (returns are bigger if you head-shot).
And it screws the players more than the monsters. PCs tend to die under lucky criticals, but now orcs don't need to crit. It's automatically factored in (*3 damage when hitting the head).
R2-DS
07-28-06, 01:54 AM It may not be the "hottest" or the best house rule, but if you want a more leathal game you'll surely get it with this.

And, I've played in games that did allow called shots. And head shots every time get old after awhile. Talk about your unilateral character.
IbanezNinja
07-28-06, 02:18 AM Seriously, casters will still own. People would seriously be getting shot in the face with disintegrates. Although that is a pretty funny image..

But yeah, wizards will be polymorphing into like hydras and wraithstriking for like 12 blows to the dome, and then clerics will be all divine metamagiced out, and druids will turn into a bear and it just get's uglier and uglier. All of this is pretty much making magic users better.
Arcade
07-28-06, 01:56 PM Not that I'll use this, but I'll add a few little pointers.

1. Diminutive AC is different by -4 AC, not -3 AC. Therefore hadn AC should be 22.
2. I would give an extra dex bonus to those limbs as well- they are easier to move out of the way. Using the Improving Monsters section from the Monster Manual, small parts should be given an extra +1 dodge bonus to AC, tiny should be +2, and diminutive should be +3. This would make arms and legs AC 20, head AC 22, and hands AC 25. If you want to add more complexity, these bonuses wouldn't count if you're flat footed.
R2-DS
07-28-06, 02:15 PM Not that I'll use this, but I'll add a few little pointers.

1. Diminutive AC is different by -4 AC, not -3 AC. Therefore hadn AC should be 22.
2. I would give an extra dex bonus to those limbs as well- they are easier to move out of the way. Using the Improving Monsters section from the Monster Manual, small parts should be given an extra +1 dodge bonus to AC, tiny should be +2, and diminutive should be +3. This would make arms and legs AC 20, head AC 22, and hands AC 25. If you want to add more complexity, these bonuses wouldn't count if you're flat footed.

Ah my fellow Cannuck.

I wasnt familiar with that section of the MM, so I'll be sure to read it.

The more I think about it, the more I think that this sort of house rule might be better suited to the Little or No Magic campaign.
Derren S.
07-30-06, 10:25 AM And we again have the common problem of True Strike + Head Shot. And at higher level the BAB is high enough to hit the head regulay without spells.

Congratulation, you reduced the HP of everything by 70%...
TarlSS
07-30-06, 01:48 PM Yeah, I don't really see why you'd aim for anything but the head in normal combat.

Doesn't change much but make combat shorter and switch around combat to heavily favor accuracy based attacks, which means touch spells.

Technically "Power Attack" is a called shot, where you are doing the same thing- trading off accuracy for more damage. I think this is the proper way to do things.
R2-DS
07-30-06, 02:40 PM Wow, there are some strong opinions here.

I only posted this as a "suggestion".

With only a handful of replies I can already see the same points comming up repeatedly.

Perhaps we could bring something new on the subject to light.

Maybe someone who has tried this very system could give some feedback?
Seerow
07-30-06, 03:00 PM I agree with the person who said Power Attack is a called shot. Seriously, make it so anything gains a 2-1 ratio when power attacking, change the name to called shot, let it be used with ranged weapons.

There, you now have a called shot system.
Seldriss
07-30-06, 06:32 PM I am using Hit Locations for a long time, since AD&D 1st Edition...
The system is quite simple : If an attacks hit, the attacker rolls 1d100 and hits the located area.
Some modifiers can affect the result, such as the success margin or natural 20s.
Some areas augment damage (head & neck x2), some reduce it (arms & legs 1/2, hands & feet 1/4). And there are chances of severance.
Of course, it is always possible for a player to try to kill a bad guy with a called shot to the head, with a big penalty to hit converted to a bonus to lacation, but someway my players are smart enough not to abuse this. Because they wouldn't want the monsters or NPCs to do the same on them.
So basically everyone is just using the location roll, without trying to modify it.
Which gives a efficient and fast system.
As I said, that's years we are using it, and we wouldn't play without it :)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
R2-DS 07-27-06, 11:48 PM	Hey all Origionally had this posted over on the Equipment and combat board but thought it mught be better off here. With a bit of tweaking with both the AC and HP here's a possibility.... Head- Equal to 30% of the Torso Legs(2)- Equal to 40% of the Torso Arms(2)- Equal to 30% of the Torso Hands(2)- Equal to 20% of the Torso Torso- Equal to 100% of base HP Looking at the above model consider this......... 1st level Fighter with no CON Bonus has 10 HP That means Head-3HP Arms-3HP each Legs-4HP each Hands-2HP each Torso-10HP Seeing that, you can see how a character suddenly becomes more "robust". Now he has in effect double the Hit Points of a first level fighter and some might argue that this is unbalancing. However......... If you like this method and find it suitable for your game than you need to modify the AC system slightly to support this. Treat each listed body part above as an object of the appropriate size to determine its "size" based AC modifier. This assumes that you are playing a "medium" sized Humanoid character. Head- Tiny Arms- Small Legs- small Hands- Diminutive Torso- Medium So lets look back at our 1st level fighter again. This same fighter is clad in "Full Plate" and has no DEX Bonus, so based on the above table his AC(S) would look like this...... Head-AC 20 Base of 10+ 2(tiny) +8(Full Plate) Arms- AC 19 Legs- AC 19 Hands- AC 21 Torso- AC 18 All the regular rules for combat, ac and Hit points still apply. All i've done here is divide the body up into smaller segments. Like I said...takes some tweaking, but is "do able".
Psychoticpsymon 07-28-06, 12:38 AM	I'm aiming for the head every time, no matter how the other body parts work. Edit: Also, this seems really complicated.
WackyOne 07-28-06, 01:36 AM	IMHO, it's not that hot a rule. It shiftes game balance. Toward "things that roll to hit". And while fighters need their chances at damage, that encompasses also a lot of spells, already very powerful ones (from the elemental orbs to disintegrate), leaving behind the fireball-like, saving throw based area spells (unless they damage every body unit) It also makes obsolete Power Attack (returns are bigger if you head-shot). And it screws the players more than the monsters. PCs tend to die under lucky criticals, but now orcs don't need to crit. It's automatically factored in (*3 damage when hitting the head).
R2-DS 07-28-06, 01:54 AM	It may not be the "hottest" or the best house rule, but if you want a more leathal game you'll surely get it with this. And, I've played in games that did allow called shots. And head shots every time get old after awhile. Talk about your unilateral character.
IbanezNinja 07-28-06, 02:18 AM	Seriously, casters will still own. People would seriously be getting shot in the face with disintegrates. Although that is a pretty funny image.. But yeah, wizards will be polymorphing into like hydras and wraithstriking for like 12 blows to the dome, and then clerics will be all divine metamagiced out, and druids will turn into a bear and it just get's uglier and uglier. All of this is pretty much making magic users better.
Arcade 07-28-06, 01:56 PM	Not that I'll use this, but I'll add a few little pointers. 1. Diminutive AC is different by -4 AC, not -3 AC. Therefore hadn AC should be 22. 2. I would give an extra dex bonus to those limbs as well- they are easier to move out of the way. Using the Improving Monsters section from the Monster Manual, small parts should be given an extra +1 dodge bonus to AC, tiny should be +2, and diminutive should be +3. This would make arms and legs AC 20, head AC 22, and hands AC 25. If you want to add more complexity, these bonuses wouldn't count if you're flat footed.
R2-DS 07-28-06, 02:15 PM	Not that I'll use this, but I'll add a few little pointers. 1. Diminutive AC is different by -4 AC, not -3 AC. Therefore hadn AC should be 22. 2. I would give an extra dex bonus to those limbs as well- they are easier to move out of the way. Using the Improving Monsters section from the Monster Manual, small parts should be given an extra +1 dodge bonus to AC, tiny should be +2, and diminutive should be +3. This would make arms and legs AC 20, head AC 22, and hands AC 25. If you want to add more complexity, these bonuses wouldn't count if you're flat footed. Ah my fellow Cannuck. I wasnt familiar with that section of the MM, so I'll be sure to read it. The more I think about it, the more I think that this sort of house rule might be better suited to the Little or No Magic campaign.
Derren S. 07-30-06, 10:25 AM	And we again have the common problem of True Strike + Head Shot. And at higher level the BAB is high enough to hit the head regulay without spells. Congratulation, you reduced the HP of everything by 70%...
TarlSS 07-30-06, 01:48 PM	Yeah, I don't really see why you'd aim for anything but the head in normal combat. Doesn't change much but make combat shorter and switch around combat to heavily favor accuracy based attacks, which means touch spells. Technically "Power Attack" is a called shot, where you are doing the same thing- trading off accuracy for more damage. I think this is the proper way to do things.
R2-DS 07-30-06, 02:40 PM	Wow, there are some strong opinions here. I only posted this as a "suggestion". With only a handful of replies I can already see the same points comming up repeatedly. Perhaps we could bring something new on the subject to light. Maybe someone who has tried this very system could give some feedback?
Seerow 07-30-06, 03:00 PM	I agree with the person who said Power Attack is a called shot. Seriously, make it so anything gains a 2-1 ratio when power attacking, change the name to called shot, let it be used with ranged weapons. There, you now have a called shot system.
Seldriss 07-30-06, 06:32 PM	I am using Hit Locations for a long time, since AD&D 1st Edition... The system is quite simple : If an attacks hit, the attacker rolls 1d100 and hits the located area. Some modifiers can affect the result, such as the success margin or natural 20s. Some areas augment damage (head & neck x2), some reduce it (arms & legs 1/2, hands & feet 1/4). And there are chances of severance. Of course, it is always possible for a player to try to kill a bad guy with a called shot to the head, with a big penalty to hit converted to a bonus to lacation, but someway my players are smart enough not to abuse this. Because they wouldn't want the monsters or NPCs to do the same on them. So basically everyone is just using the location roll, without trying to modify it. Which gives a efficient and fast system. As I said, that's years we are using it, and we wouldn't play without it :)