Dandu
First Post
Believe me, you don't want to go down that rabbit hole too deeply. It doesn't take very long before you'll drive youirself mad trying to square the two!
What four?
Last edited:
Anitomical Damage?
- Thread starter Darathin
- Start date
What four?
My absurd examples were kinda intended to be absurd. I think we all understand how mage hand works.
But just like the description of mage hand does not need to cover every possible use and restriction of the spell, when putting more detail into injury one does not need to put into consideration every possible ailment the human body can suffer.
The point was that if one could sever the spinal cord to induce permanent paralysis via called shot, then one should be able to use mage hand to kill.
that said, is checking out your suggestions, and has revised the system.
Will post here when i compile it.
But just like the description of mage hand does not need to cover every possible use and restriction of the spell, when putting more detail into injury one does not need to put into consideration every possible ailment the human body can suffer.
The point was that if one could sever the spinal cord to induce permanent paralysis via called shot, then one should be able to use mage hand to kill.
that said, is checking out your suggestions, and has revised the system.
Will post here when i compile it.
maybe just applying a new use for sunder to target arms and legs?
Following the Hydras example for each limbs HP and how that relates to you total HP.
would anyone consider one or two new levels of health? Right now we have Alive, dying, and dead.
how about Fine, Injured, dying, dead?
How would anyone feel about adding modifiers at different levels of injury similar to shadow run?
Maybe a penalty to attack/skill checks/speed/caster level?
Following the Hydras example for each limbs HP and how that relates to you total HP.
would anyone consider one or two new levels of health? Right now we have Alive, dying, and dead.
how about Fine, Injured, dying, dead?
How would anyone feel about adding modifiers at different levels of injury similar to shadow run?
Maybe a penalty to attack/skill checks/speed/caster level?
The problem with any called shot system is that players will almost always go for the head. I played in a game of Riddle of Steel once where this guy with a rapier always went for the eyes... he twinked his character so much that he couldn't miss. Any enemy he went up against - from light and fast to fully armored, as long as his eyes were visible this guy could stab them... one attack and it was game over for his enemies. The only way to combat that as a GM is A) take away all the fights B) put him up against someone he can't beat C) let him continue to munchkin all the fights while the other players sit and watch without ever getting to do anything. I've had similar problems with systems like Masterbook.
Called shot systems are just a bad idea in general. The best thing you can do as the GM is allow them on a case-by-case basis with the explicit statement that the GM has 100% control of when a called shot can be made (ie: only in dramatically appropriate moments, etc.)
EDIT:
Not to mention how this affects vorpal weapons, etc.
Called shot systems are just a bad idea in general. The best thing you can do as the GM is allow them on a case-by-case basis with the explicit statement that the GM has 100% control of when a called shot can be made (ie: only in dramatically appropriate moments, etc.)
EDIT:
Not to mention how this affects vorpal weapons, etc.
the Jester
Legend
I've always tied critical effects to, well, critical hits.
I have a system of "colorful critical hits" that I'll copy & paste for you. I'm not sure if this suits your taste or not, but my group loves it. Note that this also opens up things like magic weapons that give a bonus to critical severity, armor that reduces it, etc.
This is the last version of the system for 3.x; I have a subsequent version for 4e, but this is notated for 3e mechanics.
Colorful Critical hits in Cydra
Whenever a creature suffers a critical hit in Cydra, check the severity on the following table. This adds both color and deadliness to critical hits and helps scar characters up, leaving them with interesting stories to tell.
Some conditions below are marked with one, two or three asterisks. These designate the level of healing magic required to alleviate the condition, as follows:
*A cure light wounds will alleviate this condition. (Exception: it will not regrow a lost ear.)
**A cure moderate wounds will alleviate this condition.
***A cure serious wounds will alleviate this condition.
When a character in Cydra suffers a critical hit, the severity check is based on how much damage the character took relative to his current hit points. (This is an important part of the colorful critical hit system- otherwise, characters with high hit point totals will never take crits above 1d12 severity.)
Major Wound (less than half current hp): Roll1d12.
Grievous Wound (over ½ hp, still above 0): Roll 2d12
Incapacitating Wound (0 or less, still alive): Roll 4d8
Lethal Wound (dead): Roll 3d6+22
1* --- Break Finger, Toe or Nose; -1 to checks with hand/foot
2*** --- Lose 1d6 Teeth, -2 to Diplomacy, spell failure 2%/tooth
3* --- Break Ribs (1d6); take 1d6 nonlethal damage whenever you run/charge
4* --- Break Fingers (1d5) or Toes (1d5) or Lose an Ear; -2 to checks with hand/foot or to Listen checks.
5 --- Lose Shield (or off-hand weapon)
6 --- Disarmed
7** --- Break Hand, Foot, or Face; -2 to anything using injured part, take 1d4 nonlethal damage when attacking with it
8** --- Break Jaw; -2 to Bluff or Diplomacy, 20% verbal spell failure
9 --- Knocked Back 5’
10 --- Damage to Armor, Shield or Weapon as well as target
11 --- Staggered 1 round
12*** --- Break Lower Arm, Lower Leg or Collarbone; -4 to anything using injured part, aggravating it deals 1d6 nonlethal damage
13 --- Knocked Prone
14 --- Dazed 1 round
15 --- Muscle Damage; take 1d4 Str damage
16*** --- Break Upper Arm, Thigh or Sternum; -4 to anything using the injured part, aggravating it deals 1d6 lethal damage
17*** --- Hamstrung, -10’ speed
18 --- Lose an Eye
19 --- Lose Fingers (1d5) or Toes (1d5) or Nose
20 --- Deafened
21 --- Lose Hand or Foot
22 --- Internal Damage; take 1d4 Con damage
23 --- Stunned 1d4 Rounds
24 --- Lose Lower Arm or Lower Leg
25 --- Lower Jaw Ripped Free; -8 to Diplomacy checks, 75% spell failure
26 --- Gutted; take 1d6 Str and Dex damage, 50% chance to tangle feet each square of movement, which inflicts 1d6 hp of damage to the victim
27 --- Vocal Cords Destroyed; no speech or verbal spellcasting
28 --- Brain Damage, 1d4 points each of Int, Wis and Cha drain
29*** --- Knocked Unconscious 5d20 Minutes
30 --- Shattered Knee or Elbow; completely unusable, requires a regenerate to fix
31 --- Both Eyes Put Out, Blinded
32 --- Spine Shattered, Paralyzed (roll 1d6: 1– total; 2- neck down; 3- waist down; 4- left side; 5- right side; 6- arms only)
33 --- Throat Slit
34 --- Groin Destroyed
35 --- Heart Destroyed
36 --- Brain Destroyed
37 --- Decapitated
38 --- Unseemed from Nave to Crotch
39 --- Head Pulped
40 --- Cut in Half
I have a system of "colorful critical hits" that I'll copy & paste for you. I'm not sure if this suits your taste or not, but my group loves it. Note that this also opens up things like magic weapons that give a bonus to critical severity, armor that reduces it, etc.
This is the last version of the system for 3.x; I have a subsequent version for 4e, but this is notated for 3e mechanics.
Colorful Critical hits in Cydra
Whenever a creature suffers a critical hit in Cydra, check the severity on the following table. This adds both color and deadliness to critical hits and helps scar characters up, leaving them with interesting stories to tell.
Some conditions below are marked with one, two or three asterisks. These designate the level of healing magic required to alleviate the condition, as follows:
*A cure light wounds will alleviate this condition. (Exception: it will not regrow a lost ear.)
**A cure moderate wounds will alleviate this condition.
***A cure serious wounds will alleviate this condition.
When a character in Cydra suffers a critical hit, the severity check is based on how much damage the character took relative to his current hit points. (This is an important part of the colorful critical hit system- otherwise, characters with high hit point totals will never take crits above 1d12 severity.)
Major Wound (less than half current hp): Roll1d12.
Grievous Wound (over ½ hp, still above 0): Roll 2d12
Incapacitating Wound (0 or less, still alive): Roll 4d8
Lethal Wound (dead): Roll 3d6+22
1* --- Break Finger, Toe or Nose; -1 to checks with hand/foot
2*** --- Lose 1d6 Teeth, -2 to Diplomacy, spell failure 2%/tooth
3* --- Break Ribs (1d6); take 1d6 nonlethal damage whenever you run/charge
4* --- Break Fingers (1d5) or Toes (1d5) or Lose an Ear; -2 to checks with hand/foot or to Listen checks.
5 --- Lose Shield (or off-hand weapon)
6 --- Disarmed
7** --- Break Hand, Foot, or Face; -2 to anything using injured part, take 1d4 nonlethal damage when attacking with it
8** --- Break Jaw; -2 to Bluff or Diplomacy, 20% verbal spell failure
9 --- Knocked Back 5’
10 --- Damage to Armor, Shield or Weapon as well as target
11 --- Staggered 1 round
12*** --- Break Lower Arm, Lower Leg or Collarbone; -4 to anything using injured part, aggravating it deals 1d6 nonlethal damage
13 --- Knocked Prone
14 --- Dazed 1 round
15 --- Muscle Damage; take 1d4 Str damage
16*** --- Break Upper Arm, Thigh or Sternum; -4 to anything using the injured part, aggravating it deals 1d6 lethal damage
17*** --- Hamstrung, -10’ speed
18 --- Lose an Eye
19 --- Lose Fingers (1d5) or Toes (1d5) or Nose
20 --- Deafened
21 --- Lose Hand or Foot
22 --- Internal Damage; take 1d4 Con damage
23 --- Stunned 1d4 Rounds
24 --- Lose Lower Arm or Lower Leg
25 --- Lower Jaw Ripped Free; -8 to Diplomacy checks, 75% spell failure
26 --- Gutted; take 1d6 Str and Dex damage, 50% chance to tangle feet each square of movement, which inflicts 1d6 hp of damage to the victim
27 --- Vocal Cords Destroyed; no speech or verbal spellcasting
28 --- Brain Damage, 1d4 points each of Int, Wis and Cha drain
29*** --- Knocked Unconscious 5d20 Minutes
30 --- Shattered Knee or Elbow; completely unusable, requires a regenerate to fix
31 --- Both Eyes Put Out, Blinded
32 --- Spine Shattered, Paralyzed (roll 1d6: 1– total; 2- neck down; 3- waist down; 4- left side; 5- right side; 6- arms only)
33 --- Throat Slit
34 --- Groin Destroyed
35 --- Heart Destroyed
36 --- Brain Destroyed
37 --- Decapitated
38 --- Unseemed from Nave to Crotch
39 --- Head Pulped
40 --- Cut in Half
