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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EP" data-source="post: 2936112" data-attributes="member: 41744">I tried this once before too, but it also backfired because they all decided to fight it out and free the hostaged PC.  When I decided to execute him instead, using the generic rules as written, he still lived...and I think the PCs knew that, which was why they rushed.So I established some new rules for "deadly assaults."  I've tried out two or three, but the main goal is to make the players realise that it is possible for the victim to die if they drop the ball for a second.- if the hostage-taker succeeds on a grapple check and holds a weapon directly against a vital area of the hostage (i.e. throat), the hostage will suffer ability damage rather than hit point damage.  For example, if the hostage-taker holds a dagger to the hostage's throat and slices it, the hostage will suffer 1d4+Strength points of Constitution damage.  If the hostage-taker is a rogue (which he was in this particular case), the hostage cannot use her Dexterity modifier to improve AC and so the hostage will suffer sneak attack damage as well...in this case, it was 1d4+2d6 points of Constitution damage to a character with a Con of 12.- create a multiplier for critical areas of the body when damage is applied directly, such as x3 against the throat and so forth- each body part has a seperate amount of hit points based on a % of the total hit points of the hostage; if the hostage takes full damage for that body part, it is considered useless and could be fatal if the body part is essential to the character's life.  For example, you could say the hostage's head has 20% of the character's total hit points, so a hostage with 56 hit points can suffer 11 points of damage directly to the head before being killed.  (NOTE: Strikes directly to the chest do not apply, as it's safe to say most attacks are directed there already.  Direct attacks can also be used to reduce the total hit points of a character.)In either case, after trying out these rules, the PCs would attempt to use them too, so I had an XP penalty for killing characters this way.  They're just "cheating", so why should they get the same XP as someone who hacked them to death?If they know you have something that could actually threaten the hostage, they might take this idea more seriously.</blockquote>

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