Rules for Hit Locations?

[shadowlight]

And you didn't find this: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=active&reviewer=GameWyrd&product=TACH

Yep. I did. From Crothian:

Torn Asunder by Bastion has critical hits and hit location options

Thanks for the review link though.

 

[Lord Judas]

"Do as you will, it's your game" is my motto. However, I want to mention two things about hit locations: It slows combat down a lot and IMHO it doesn't work too well in D&D. You have situations where the party wizard ends up missing an arm or the fighter's leg getting hacked off. It can be a real drag thumbing through your spell list looking for that spell that has no Somatic(sp?) components. Use with caution!

 

[The_Universe]

"Do as you will, it's your game" is my motto. However, I want to mention two things about hit locations: It slows combat down a lot and IMHO it doesn't work too well in D&D. You have situations where the party wizard ends up missing an arm or the fighter's leg getting hacked off. It can be a real drag thumbing through your spell list looking for that spell that has no Somatic(sp?) components. Use with caution!

In a related note, I rarely use hit location in D&D because the system is abstract enough that it assumes that you're always trying to hit the most advantageous place on the body, with critical hits used to represent when you've actually connected with one of those important spots. So, when I use hit location, it never has any mechanical effect...it's all to better describe the scene but no more.

 

[shadowlight]

"Do as you will, it's your game" is my motto. However, I want to mention two things about hit locations: It slows combat down a lot and IMHO it doesn't work too well in D&D. You have situations where the party wizard ends up missing an arm or the fighter's leg getting hacked off. It can be a real drag thumbing through your spell list looking for that spell that has no Somatic(sp?) components. Use with caution!

I agree... I've stayed away from hit locations up until now because I didn't want to bog down play. The main reason I'm looking for it is to help me as a DM with describing combat, and then afterwards being able to include wound locations as part of the story (that 15 hp hit you took with a great axe - or with a shotgun - matters after combat in my story-intense games).

 

[Ghostwind]

Torn Asunder: Critical Hits was designed so it wouldn't bog down play, and for the most part it doesn't once the GM gets used to the system.

 

[shadowlight]

In a related note, I rarely use hit location in D&D because the system is abstract enough that it assumes that you're always trying to hit the most advantageous place on the body, with critical hits used to represent when you've actually connected with one of those important spots. So, when I use hit location, it never has any mechanical effect...it's all to better describe the scene but no more.

Now that I have seen a few posts and products, it looks like there's a couple of ways to use hit locations:
-Allowing called shots
-Resolving the location of certain hits

I often like the abstract system of D&D, but sometimes (particularly when I'm running d20 modern and bullets start flying) I like to know where certain hits land. If my players want to start doing called shots, I'll probably allow it (and it looks like Torn Asunder is pretty good for that). For now, I agree with you The_Universe, I'm using it to help with the story rather than to make combat more "realistic."

 

[Plane Sailing]

Supplement II Blackmoor (1975)

Ouch, the original 'killer' supplement!

Under the Blackmoor system each portion of your body had a proprotion of your total hp (or a number of hp proportional to your total, I forget the details). Your head had 10%, which meant that the sturdy fighter with 80 hp only had 8hp on his head. One head hit by pretty much anything killed him off

Cheers