How did my leg end up over there?

[danzig138]

What would the effects be of losing a limb in D&D? Say an arm or a leg. Lost Constitution? Permanent hit point reduction, etc?

 

[Xarlen]

Deduction of Skills. Perhaps a loss of Dex.

 

[SableWyvern]

Rather than giving a flat stat reduction, I would apply situational penalties (losing a leg shouldn't give a dex penalty for fine manipulation tasks).

For an arm, I'd probably start of with a -5 to most balance type activities and combat, scaling down to no penalty after the character became accustomed to the situation.

For a leg, there are obvious affects on movement, although with a prosthetic limb I could see a character getting back up to 1/2 or even 2/3 movement eventually. Perhapas no running though.

Eyes (ok, they're not limbs), penalties to spot and missile fire.

For a head I'd go with a large, permanent Con penalty.

 

[Xarlen]

Seeing as I'm missing an eye, I have to agree with the estimation to limit missile fire. It *really* screws up your depth perception. The spot penalty would likely reflect on the lack of peripheral (However you spell that) visioni

 

[JDRay]

"Peripheral," just like something stuck to your computer...

 

[bloodymage]

Cane? I don't need no stinkin' cane!

Had an uncle lose a leg in a motorcycle accident. Penalties: initially severe gradually returning to "normal." My uncle couldn't run but he could hop as fast as a runner! Same endurance, too. If he didn't go all out, he could hop all day. Almost all amputees compensate so well that it's hard to consider them "disabled". And if they have a prosthetic it's hard to tell they're amputees when fully clothed. They look and act "normal".

Seeing as I'm missing an eye, I have to agree with the estimation to limit missile fire. It *really* screws up your depth perception. The spot penalty would likely reflect on the lack of peripheral (However you spell that) vision [slightly edited]

Btw, since it's been mentioned, stereo vision (two eyes) is required for depth perception (as is "stereo" hearing for aural direction sense).

 

[Plane Sailing]

The DMG contains suggested (optional) penalties to damage to a particular limb or organ.

Perhaps you could start with triple that penalty, and over time it gradually gets reduced back to the standard penalty (since we are talking about removal and not just injury)

Cheers