Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 bengrayawhile Sep 19, 2014 8:58:02	This may be a little grim, but where are the rules for deliberatly chopping off limbs and heads and such? The decapitation may be flavor, but perhaps a player wants to disarm an opponent by literaly removing their arm.
#2 iserith Sep 19, 2014 9:17:29	There are none. Hit points is an abstract concept that don't necessarily equate to wounds. When an opponent has 0 hit points, however, or has suffered an attack that has reduced them to 0 hit points or less, one could say they've been decapitated or suffered the loss of a limb if one wanted to. The players drop the monster to 0 hit points and it loses its arm and sword, but is otherwise still upright and defeated (not dead).   Ultimately, this falls under the basic conversation of the game as with all other things in D&D 5e: The DM describes the environment, the players describe what they want to do, and the DM narrates the results. Sometimes the DM calls for dice to be rolled to determine an uncertain outcome. Combat is just such a situation because it assumes the characters are attacking a creature that is defending itself and thus the outcome of any given attack is uncertain. If the players can state an action that due to circumstances and approach would result in a certainty of sundering or dismemberment, then the DM can just say that's what happens.
#3 Danny_Montanny Sep 19, 2014 10:13:07	I rule it as an attack roll with disadvantage, since they're trying to strike the target in a specific area. If the target survives the attack, I give them a Constitution save with the DC equaling the damage, if they fail, say goodbye to that limb.   Abother way I might do it would be an opposed attack roll with disadvantage agains the targets Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, instead of AC.
#4 Timborama Sep 19, 2014 10:48:54	No rules for it yet. Wait for DMG.   What I would do is that it requires a helpless foe, for starters, though maybe if you wanna be thematic with a critical hit, that's cool, too. If they have a slashing weapon, if a person deals, say, 1/4 of the targets HP in a single hit, they lose whatever they were aiming for, like a hand or foot. Maybe 1/2 HP for something like a whole arm or leg. Though losing your head would obviously be a bit more...thematic, and basically require you to hit/crit and drop them to 0.   Helpless can be a relative term. Not necessarily unconscious, but someone pinned down and their hand propped up on a stump. Or a person in a stockade. That sorta stuff. Otherwise, people's limbs are going all willy-nilly as it is in combat, so it's near-impossible to do it on the fly (though a timely crit could do the job).   PCs and NPCs have lost limbs in battle before. It can be quite fun, really.
#5 bengrayawhile Sep 19, 2014 11:10:58	Thanks, very helpful advice.