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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7643526" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>A few things here.</p><p></p><p>First, I hadn't made the connection between appendages and minions until you noted it here, but I can see the line of thinking that gets there.</p><p></p><p>That said, however, I handle these sort of appendages somewhat differently than 1e RAW would like me to. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> I base my thinking on the idea that for a Human one of our arms counts as an appendage, but our arms don't have separate hit points from the rest of us in game terms...so why not have the same apply to all creatures?</p><p></p><p>So, if the MM lists separate hit points for appendages I'll ignore it and just give the creature more h.p. overall to compensate, while taking the appendage h.p. as a guideline for if someone intentionally tries to cut one or has no choice e.g. the Kraken's under the ship and the tentacles are all an attacker can reach - how much damage does it take to cut one off. Then if an appendage does get cut I'll reduce the attacks to suit, but otherwise assume the damage is more evenly spread; and oftentimes it comes down to case by case based on the situation. (I've occasionally had creatures, for example, that have so many tentacles that it really doesn't matter how many you cut off there's still going to be more than enough to maintain its attack rate of, say, two per round per opponent. For those the only time you'd attack a specific tentacle is if it has someone grabbed)</p><p></p><p>This actually comes up more frequently with Hydras, where cutting off a head sometimes isn't the best idea. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> I've also on rare occasions had a player try calling a shot to take out a specific eyestalk on a Beholder, but as we don't really do called shots I either have to say no or just wing it depending on the specific situation.</p><p></p><p>If the game had a proper called-shot system or similar I'd do this all differently, but it doesn't and so I can get away with this rather rudimentary system.</p><p></p><p>With something like a Kraken, it's pretty easy in 1e to use a variant on morale rules to see how long it stays in the fight once it starts losing some tentacles and-or getting hurt in general.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 7643526, member: 29398"] A few things here. First, I hadn't made the connection between appendages and minions until you noted it here, but I can see the line of thinking that gets there. That said, however, I handle these sort of appendages somewhat differently than 1e RAW would like me to. :) I base my thinking on the idea that for a Human one of our arms counts as an appendage, but our arms don't have separate hit points from the rest of us in game terms...so why not have the same apply to all creatures? So, if the MM lists separate hit points for appendages I'll ignore it and just give the creature more h.p. overall to compensate, while taking the appendage h.p. as a guideline for if someone intentionally tries to cut one or has no choice e.g. the Kraken's under the ship and the tentacles are all an attacker can reach - how much damage does it take to cut one off. Then if an appendage does get cut I'll reduce the attacks to suit, but otherwise assume the damage is more evenly spread; and oftentimes it comes down to case by case based on the situation. (I've occasionally had creatures, for example, that have so many tentacles that it really doesn't matter how many you cut off there's still going to be more than enough to maintain its attack rate of, say, two per round per opponent. For those the only time you'd attack a specific tentacle is if it has someone grabbed) This actually comes up more frequently with Hydras, where cutting off a head sometimes isn't the best idea. :) I've also on rare occasions had a player try calling a shot to take out a specific eyestalk on a Beholder, but as we don't really do called shots I either have to say no or just wing it depending on the specific situation. If the game had a proper called-shot system or similar I'd do this all differently, but it doesn't and so I can get away with this rather rudimentary system. With something like a Kraken, it's pretty easy in 1e to use a variant on morale rules to see how long it stays in the fight once it starts losing some tentacles and-or getting hurt in general. [/QUOTE]
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