Greetings...
frankthedm said:
Power attack sacrifices accuracy for a more deadly strike, which is usually the desired reason for 'called shots'.
HP are supposed to keep you alive when you are struck in combat. When someone hits you for damage, they already were trying to kill you by going through whatever soft spot they could strike at. That’s why normal damage is considered lethal.
I do allow called shots, Take a -4 to hit and decide what limb you want to sever, ruin or crush etc. If you hit and the damage takes the victim to 0 or fewer HP, the result you wanted has occured. Otherwise the would was not severe enough and they were only wounded [lost HP as normal]
I don’t know if I would buy into that assessment. It does seem logical, when your dealing with ‘normal’ damage and subdual damage. When your not trying to be lethal in your attacks, you then do subdual damage.
However, when your making a called shot, you aren’t necessarily sacrificing accuracy. In fact, if you are targeting a location such as someone’s eye, you would want as much accuracy as possible.
But with that thinking… personally, I would say that I agree with
Sean Reynolds’ opinion that we don’t need called shots on this one.
I would have to say that the desired reason for the called shot is to effectively target and strike a vulnerable location on the opponent. So, what is needed are rules to govern these situations. What happens when you shoot the head/eye/hand/leg.
There are some
optional rules for called shots located here.
Also, I believe in NeverWinterNights there was a feat in the game called ‘Called Shot’, which allowed you to target a limb of an opponent. A successful strike to the leg would slow the opponent down, where as a successful strike to the arm would reduce the opponent’s ability to strike/attack effectively. Now, I don’t know what the specifics of the mechanics are.
If I were making my own houserules on the subject…
The first thing I would do is probably use size adjustments. Shooting an eye would be considered a ‘fine’ target, so it would be… what? -8 to hit? I would probably say that the face alone is ‘fine’ and that an eye would be even smaller, so -12 to hit?. So, anyone attempting to hit a specific target, I would determine the size of the target (factoring in things like Dex Bonus, and Dodge), and allow them to attempt to hit the target.
I would even houserule it that anyone would be allowed a dex bonus if they were aware of the attack and could see the missile weapon coming. I would want to use something that is simple enough for me to also use against things like bulls-eyes. So it becomes something like this:
Hitting a target that is medium sized, like say a bulls-eye on an archery field (or that orc that’s filching your potatoes) is of course with no penalty to hit. However, if you wanted to hit one of the smaller rings within the target (or an orc’s chest, leg, arm or hand/face) it would be -1. -2, -4, -8 depending on how small the target is. Hitting the center of the target, dead-center; or the eye of an orc… -12.
Now, this of course allows anyone to be able to attempt to hit something that they are specifically targeting. Like the gear mechanism of the portcullis that is lowering – and you want to stop it from falling all the way, so your going to jam it with an arrow…
Also, I like the idea of affecting the combat modifiers of an enemy with ranged weapons. This is something I houseruled into Palladium Fantasy long ago, and I think works well here as well…
Anyone targeting an enemy with the purpose of hindering the opponent’s ability to run, or to fight must be stated at the beginning of the action. At this time, the adjusted AC for the opponent is calculated. (Depending on the size of the opponent’s target area.)
Upon a successful hit that is 4 points above the adjusted AC of the opponent, the weapon is effectively lodged in that opponent. Arrows and bolts are most effective for this sort of action. Throwing stars/knives and darts though may lodge in a target, they won’t hamper movement or actions.
Removal of an arrow or bolt would require a Fortitude Save vs. the Initial Attack Roll if successfully lodged. Pulling out an arrow or bolt without proper medical/healing would deal additional damage. Such as pulling an arrow out of your thigh in the middle of battle will cause normal damage. Barbed arrows and bolts would deliver additional damage when they are removed. Pulling out an arrow or bolt, with force, out of an opponent would require first a grapple check to grab hold of the weapon, and on the next round/action it may be ripped from your opponent. Strength bonuses (along with any barbed weapon bonus) may apply.
Every arrow/bolt that is lodged within the limb of an opponent will decrease the speed of that creature by 5 points, or reduce the attacking ability by -2.
Example 1: Naved the farmer notices that there is a goblin filching potatoes from his wife’s garden. He wishes to teach this goblin a lesson, and wishes to target spud-stealing thief’s hand. Since this is considered a ‘fine’ target it would be the normal AC to hit the goblin (let’s say 14), plus an additional -8 to hit. Thus making it a 22.
Example 2: Alistar the archer has entered the sheriff’s bowman contest and seeks to take first prize. The contest consists of shooting targets on a field, placed further and further away. However, the beginning rounds are well within the average range for the longbows that the contestants are using. The normal DC to hit the medium-sized target is 10. To hit at least the first inner circle is 11. The second inner circle is 12. The third inner circle is 14, and the fourth inner circle is 18. But to hit the bull’s-eye it would be 22.
Example 3: Grock the half-orc barbarian has just come into contact with a bunch of human soldiers which really don’t want to go near the rampaging stinking half-orc; especially since he’s also wielding a large spiked chain. So, they decide to slow him down by first lobbing a few bolts from their crossbows into him. In their volley, they managed to lodge 3 bolts into his arms (1 in the left, 2 in the right). So, now Grock has a -6 to attack. As well, he has 4 arrows lodged in his thighs and one in his calf. Thus reducing his speed by 20ft per round.
Also, I would also make it a feat, and to borrow from:
http://www.zip.com.au/~hong/dnd/combatfeats.htm#called_shot
Called Shot [general, fighter, martial arts]
You can put an arrow exactly where you want it.
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +4, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, proficient with ranged weapon.
Benefit: Using this feat requires the aimed shot action (see the
Improved Aimed Shot feat below). Choose a number not exceeding your base attack bonus. You make your attack roll with a penalty equal to this number. If you hit, add this number as a bonus to your damage roll.
You can only take a called shot at a target within 30 feet. You cannot use Manyshot with a called shot, since the extra missiles hinder your ability to aim.
Special: You may gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you gain this feat, it applies to a new weapon.
(The original feat that this person created gives you double damage for your effort, but I think it should be more like power-attack, using a 1-to-1 trade off.)
