Dismemberment

[Lurek the Ripper]

Hey guys, I rolled up a barbarian for a new campaign and asked my DM what the rules would be for dismemberment. I successfully ripped a halfling in half, but only with a nat 20 on my str check after a successful grapple. I realize that I wont be rolling nat 20s all of the time, so a DC for the str check for taking an arm/leg off my enemy, and maybe some additional rules would be awesome. Thanks!

 

[aboyd]

Wow, I wouldn't allow things like that unless the character had at least 21+ for strength. My fear as a player is that anything the players can do, the DM will use against the players. As a player, I would not like to be playing a character with no arms.

As far as balance is concerned, I'd say that what you're doing most closely resembles the Overwhelming Critical feat. That feat doesn't feature dismemberment, but it is strength-based additional damage. Therefore, I'd use it as a guide to how likely/possible it is to have people walking around who can rip off other people's legs with their bare hands.

 

[krupintupple]

i'd have to agree with the first reply.

while it's fairly cool to be able to do all kinds of gory and bad-ass stuff in game as a PC, eventually, the DM is going to do it and it's not going to be as awesome then. especially since he can just keep re-making NPCs, while you're now stuck with your armless (or worse) character.

3e, as a rule, is all about character abstraction. it doesn't want gritty realism because that'd only serve to slow the game down and hamper fun, because it holds that anyone who is routinely in melee will, by level 10 or so, have no limbs left to lose!

 

[irdeggman]

First off a nat 20 on a skill check is never an automatic success so whether or not it was a nat 20 or nat is immaterial (I have a player who keeps on insisting on telling me whenever he rolls a nat 20 on a skill or ability check roll). He neglects to tell me the "result" of the roll when that what I need to know.

A nat 1 on a skill check is likewise not an automatical failure.

The only thing that nat 1s and 20s are automatic on are saving throws and attack rolls - that is it period.

I also think that yu are actually trying to play a different game than D&D since D&D does not handle that sort of grittiness very well. If that is the kind of game you trying for then use a different set of rules there are a few out there that focus on the gritty and not the abstract.

Oh and watch out for the grapple against a giant since you have now successfuly introduced dismemberment into your game - I would say they can do it to your PC a whole lot easier than your PC could do it to a halfling.

 

[aboyd]

I also think that yu are actually trying to play a different game than D&D since D&D does not handle that sort of grittiness very well. If that is the kind of game you trying for then use a different set of rules there are a few out there that focus on the gritty and not the abstract.

Well... I don't know. There are a few feats in PHB 2 (I think) that do stuff like this. I believe one cuts the hamstring, causing movement rate to halve. There are a few others with similar minor effects. So it's possible to say that the concept is even canonical. But I'm on your side in that it seems like a can of worms for the players. It WILL come back to haunt them.

Also, there is the Critical Feats PDF. It allows for broken arms/legs, severed arteries, and so on. However, similar to the feat I linked to in my initial reply, the prerequisites for these things are very high. It would be a rare few who could pull off these combat techniques.

 

[Lurek the Ripper]

Wow, I wouldn't allow things like that unless the character had at least 21+ for strength. My fear as a player is that anything the players can do, the DM will use against the players. As a player, I would not like to be playing a character with no arms.

My barbarian has 24 strength while enraged, and you can regrow limbs with a Regenerate spell.

 

[rgard]

Hey guys, I rolled up a barbarian for a new campaign and asked my DM what the rules would be for dismemberment. I successfully ripped a halfling in half, but only with a nat 20 on my str check after a successful grapple. I realize that I wont be rolling nat 20s all of the time, so a DC for the str check for taking an arm/leg off my enemy, and maybe some additional rules would be awesome. Thanks!

Whatever the rules, I give points for ripping a halfling in half. Is he a quarterling now?

 

[Oni]

Sure when they hit -10 or fail a save to massive damage then I reckon you can describe their demise in whatever horrific manner seems appropriate.

 

[castro3nw]

Whatever the rules, I give points for ripping a halfling in half. Is he a quarterling now?

Nope. He's two quarterlings.

 

[rgard]

Nope. He's two quarterlings.

True.

Continuing the bad jokes...I guess he's 'two bits' now. But if a quarter is 2 bits, is he then 4 bits, but only 2 halves of a halfling?