x-acto from heck

[Old Man]

I was wondering how to create a small blade (dagger sized or smaller) that didn't do much Killing Damage but because of it's special materials and/or sharpness, always caused an imparing or disabling wound. It doesn't chop off arms, just slices through the tendons making the arm useless.

So....how?

[Monolith]

I think the options are DEX Drain or Negative Skill Levels. For DEX Drain you take a Limitation: Only For Attacks Involving That BODY Part: -1. So if you injure someone's arm, they would have the decreased DEX (and that means reaction speed and CV) when using that arm to attack you. The second option would be the Negative Skill Levels. You just buy -2 to CV and buy it as 0 END, Persistent. Then every time you hit someone you can give them the -2 to their CV.

A third option would be to buy the dagger as a Multipower.
Slot 1 could be the DEX Drain.
Slot 2 could be a Running Drain.
Slot 3 could be Negative Skill Levels.
Slot 4 could be a Continuing Flash (eye shot).

Each different slot would indicate a different part of the body you would be hitting.

[Susano]

You could also buy a large HKA with the limitation "Only To Disable" and (maybe) "All Or Nothing" and link it to a small HKA. Possibly treat it like a venomous bite with "(Smaller) HKA Must Do BODY" or some such.

[PhilFleischmann]

I like Susano's suggestion. I'd set "only to disable" at -1/2. The DCs bought with this lim would not result in any actual loss of BODY pips, but the "BODY damage" done would be used to determine disabling/impairing.

It is similar to something I tried once with a villain a long time ago. I wanted an attack that was non-lethal, and mostly non-damaging, but extremely painful. I defined it as an EB "Damage does not last" -1. If it does enough STUN to stun you, you are stunned, but you don't actually lose any STUN points. If it does enough to K.O. you, you black out for one phase. Then you get up and say, "Man! That hurt!"

The character was a small-time hired thug, who wasn't that powerful, but was a really sicko sadist.

Any thoughts on what the values of these limitations should be?

[KA.]

This may be a little off the mark, but if you want to do "painful" damage that causes temporary disability, how about a small RKA combined with some type of Entangle?

I am thinking of something like the "nerve strikes" that disable people in kung-fu films and Xena, except done with a sharp blade.

I am sure one of the rules gurus can suggest the proper Advantages/Limitations for the Entangle, but this would give you an attack that "disables" temporarily without doing massive, gruesome, damage.;)

KA

[Old Man]

Well yeah, I was looking for something that would need many many hits to actually kill someone but still inflict imparing/disabling wounds. The -1/2 only to disable sounds right but -1/2 seems light considering that no BODY or STUN is actually done. Maybe -1 would be more reasonable?

[pinecone]

Man, disable injuries are pretty powerful effects. I'd think that "only" being able to seriously hurt someone is not that big of a lim...maybe more than "full power" -1/4 but not much more, so -1/2 sounds about right....

[Monolith]

I have to agree with Pinecone here. A 1 1/2d6 Killing Attack will roll an Imparing Would in most cases, assuming an average roll (10 BODY average and 5 BODY rolled). That is a pretty powerful effect to be giving it a -1 Limitation.

[AnotherSkip]

I take it Penetrating does not do the trick?