Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Fnep Wigglesworth 11-15-04, 03:46 PM	My players have requested a system that would allow to hit body parts instead of just hitting the creature. Of course not all the time but let's say on a critical hit, you could choose to attack the enemies arm (if he has one) to cause a penalty to his attacks. Wondering if anyone has made one of these systems or something similar to it.
LukiLoki 11-15-04, 03:58 PM	Tell your players, "sure, let's do called shots" Then, introduce them to my friend Eyebane. He's a kobold sorcerer with True Strike and a crossbow. After they're all blind or dead, ask them again, "do you REALLY want called shots?" My guess is they don't.
StormKnight 11-15-04, 04:15 PM	Actually, as you described it, this doesn't sound too bad. If for example, on a critical you could choose one of: 1) Hit a vulnerable area - do extra damage normally. 2) Hit an arm - inflict normal damage and say, a -2 attack penalty until the injury was healed. 3) Hit a leg - inflict normal damage and perhaps a -2 DEX and -1 move penalty.
Finarin Panjoro 11-15-04, 04:41 PM	I agree with Stormknight. If you simply allow some special effects as a trade off for damage on a critical hit then this shouldn't be game breaking. Perhaps something like he suggests plus things like: -Bleeding wound: the critical hit deals normal damage, plus bleeds for an extra hp each round per crit multiplier (so an ax x3 crit would bleed 2 hp per round). -Head shot: the critical hit deals normal damage, but also has the effect of a stunning fist (same Fort save etc.) This would not be unbalancing in my opinion and could give critical hits a bit more flavor. LukiLoki is also correct however. Do not allow them to target vital areas at will, especially not for a penalty to their attack roll. They will ALWAYS find a way to abuse this and destroy your game.
Fnep Wigglesworth 11-15-04, 05:56 PM	I think I may do something like that. When a critical is hit say, 50-75% of time it's a normal hit but divide other parts into the rest of the % and let them roll the % dice
WunderGoat 11-15-04, 09:49 PM	I don't let my PCs make called shots, but I do allow for certain body parts to be hit as part of a crit hit. For example, a PC gets hit with a battleaxe that scores a crit. PC ends up losing most of his HP, so I rules that the hit was even more than a simple boost of damage and said the PC's sholder was broken and the arm could no longer be used. The continuous hit point loss should also be considered, but be careful of it in low-magic worlds where unlimited wounding means almost certain death. I think that the DM should make the call on these sorts of things. It allows the DM to better narrate the battle and makes for a far less predictable world, which keeps PCs on thier toes and reduces munchkinism (If taking penalties to hit a specific body part was the norm, then you would see a lot more sorc/fighter multiclasses and other powergaming issues.)
Ualaa 11-16-04, 05:55 AM	The D&D game uses an abstract system for hit points. A character with 100 hit points who is reduced to 10 hit points fights as effectively as she did at 100 hit points despite being close to mortally wounded. Introducing a system for damage to specific body parts adds some interest into combat, but is easily abuseable. For example, in 2nd edition DarkSun there was a product which introduced a specific hit system. By taking a -4 penalty to attack rolls, a player (or npc) could direct their attacks at their adversaries neck. The system stated that a character had roughly 10% of their hit points in their neck. Thus, if you successfully hit your opponent in the neck and deal 14 points of damage, you have killed your opponent if he had less then 140 hit points in total. Kind of broken, especially at higher levels when a character can do a lot of damage. Imagine a rogue around 20th, with 10D6 sneak attack damage hitting someone in the neck for 48 points of damage and killing them outright because they only have 420 hit points. There are games on the market which detail combat to a high degree. For example Rolemaster has tables for using a weapon as a blunt, piercing or slashing type attack and the damage plus side effects of hitting a specific body part. It adds a lot of fun to combat as well as variety. On the otherhand, it also takes as much time to complete one round of Rolemaster combat as it does to play out several rounds of D&D.
Ruinous 11-16-04, 06:29 AM	i'm thinking of using a size modification system, such as eye= 5 sizes smaller than creature, head 3 sizes, hands 4 sizes, legs or arms 2 sizes, torso 1 size. and having special effects on critical hits, or increasing criticle chance, or crit multiplier
Fnep Wigglesworth 11-16-04, 10:26 AM	I think I'll keep it to critical hit and make it random unless a weapon is vorpal, kinda easy to know what's going to fall off with that. Making it called shots for normal hits would be easily abused I think. It's true if someone only needs to cast true strike the combination is deadly.
Uber Goblin 11-16-04, 03:12 PM	An old system my Dm used to use as a house rule is a penalty to your attack. -12 for an eye or mouth sized target -8 for a knee or croch sized target -6 for a limb sized target -4 for a region of the body if you missed you just missed, and each had deciding factors, but the dm never told us what they where. Made things interesting. Makes it nice when your warrior can charge a wizard and stick his Ransur in his mouth and pin him againt a wall. It sucks thought when the rogue decides to sneak attack your croch...