House Rules for Hit Location

[etherio]

Just sharing...

We've developed a set of house rules for hit locations that works well. It's best for those who like things a bit more lethal in their games, but it's not really unbalancing. A Word file of our character sheet is attached, so you can check out our hit location chart (you'll need to, in order to follow this).

Here's how it works:

Same as normal, except that every time a character attempts a targetable attack, he chooses a specific hit location from the chart. (If he fails to choose, the default is location 11.) If he succeeds by the "Auto Hit" number for that location (the "to hit" mod for targeting that location in the normal rules), then he hits the location he chose. If he succeeds, but not by that number, then he rolls for hit location. His roll is modified by the "Mod" number for the location he targeted, and the result is the actual location hit. What the "Mod" does is center the bell curve on the targeted location. A modified number that is off the chart (less than 3 or greater than 18 for most attacks) is a miss. You aimed too high or low, basically.

There are no "high shot" or "low shot" maneuvers in this system. For attacks that are inherently high or low (such as a punch or a non-martial kick), use the appropriate column. For punches and the like, roll 2d6 with the "Mod" number; for kicks and such, roll 2d6/2 with the "Mod" (no, not 1d6, we need a distribution curve).

This might seem weird at first, but it's easy and fun.

Try this alternative next time you play a scenario that uses hit locations. I bet you'll like it.

Ciao.

Editing: I removed the attachments from this post. Zornwil has graceously hosted the info on his house rules page at http://www.realschluss.org/disavowed/house_rules/

[tkdguy]

Interesting idea. Your chart is a bit more detailed than the standard chart, which can have its advantages. If I were running a Highlander campaign, you can be sure my players would often aim for the neck (location 4 in your chart). Very nice. Thank you for sharing.

[Dust Raven]

Thats gotta be one of the best modifications to the standard Hit Location rules I've seen in a long time. Excellent work.

Of course, I'd probably never use it. While it's well thought out, It adds a bit too much math than I like to combat. It's enough for me to just say "you blow lands, roll damage" or even roll that extra 3d6 and say "your kick connects with his right shoulder, roll damage." While it's not much, checking and double checking not only modifiers but to see if a successful hit stays successful it a bit much. That, and it allows a 3 to miss, which in my opinion goes against the metarules.

[tkdguy]

You could always just use the hit location chart without the extra rules or say anything under a 3 is a hit instead of a miss. I'd personally just use the former.

[Killer Shrike]

Its been a while, but the last time I ran a campaign with the Hit Location rules what we did was just roll to hit, determine what location it struck, and then you could "push" the hit to a location within however much you made the to-hit roll by. So if you made the to-hit roll by 2 for example you could modify the location roll by +/-2 points to determine where you hit.

Very lethal option by the way.

[tkdguy]

I like that option. KS, you never seem torun out of ideas.

[Killer Shrike]

I like that option. KS, you never seem torun out of ideas.

Thanx. Its all caffeine inspired, so if you drink enough NAR-Cola you too will have an endless tap on ideas!



<font size=1>(Endorsement paid for by NAR-Cola)</font>

[tkdguy]

Personally, I've been tapped out for a long time. God, I miss Jolt Cola!

[etherio]

The extra rules are meant to reflect the fact that people pretty much always aim at a part of the body when they're swingin' or shootin' at somebody. Plus, aiming at locations is just plain fun, and it's too hard to be worth trying unless one's CSLs are through the roof. Imagine this typical scenario:

Baddie of the moment is wearing bulletproof armor covering most locations. Unless you're a super-shot, good luck trying to aim for his unprotected upper arms and hit. Even if you squeeze off enough and succeed, the official rules will play out a bunch of total misses until voila! Got him right in the soft spot. That just doesn't jibe. Cinematic "realism" calls for some bullets to bounce off his other locations as you zero in. My system does this a little better.

You could always just use the hit location chart without the extra rules or say anything under a 3 is a hit instead of a miss. I'd personally just use the former.

Having modified rolls that go off the chart count as misses serves two purposes:

1) It reflects the fact that you miss by degrees relative to where you were aiming (a little high when you're aiming at the stomach still hits something...not so when you aim at the face)
2) It's a check on abuse...the bell curve centers on the location you chose, remember.

[etherio]

First, thanks for the positive feedback, m'man. And I have a response to this statement:

...it allows a 3 to miss, which in my opinion goes against the metarules.

Not so. I probably should have clarified that point, but I assumed metarules. A 3 hits, and it hits what you were aiming for. Works just like any "Hail Mary" shot could in the official rules.

[Dust Raven]

Ah, that's very very cool.

We generally don't use the Hit Location Charts in my campaign, though we're supposed to (we only remember for Killing Attacks, but so far it works for us). I'll bring up your method at our next game and see everybody thinks.

[PhilFleischmann]

A long time ago, I tried to come up with a modified hit location chart to represent hits from the rear. Realistically, it seems to me that the modifiers wouldn't be the same. A hit to the back of the head isn't going to hurt as much as a hit to the face. After all, the back of the skull is thicker than the front. Likewise, for location 13, a hit to the buttocks is not going to be as damaging as a hit to the crotch. However, a hit to the lower back (kidneys), say, location 12, is going to be more lethal than the equivalent hit to location 12 from the front (belly).

Have any of you done anything like this? Any ideas? And yes, this level of detail is probably more complicated than it's worth, but some of us can be obsessive about such things.

[tkdguy]

You bring up a good point. I was thinking of that problem myself. Maybe you can reduce the amount of BODY done to the less vulnerable areas for certain blows. Then again, while the back of the skull can take some damage, there's a pressure point where the skull and the neck join (I've felt it personally). So for that location (choose either 3, 4, or 5) there should be normal damage done.

[Dust Raven]

Have any of you done anything like this? Any ideas? And yes, this level of detail is probably more complicated than it's worth, but some of us can be obsessive about such things.

As a GM, I just use common sense. This actually just happend last night in a practice combat with one of my players. She got shot from behind and I rolled a 12 on the table. We just declaired it was actually a "vitals" shot (kidneys) but didn't adjust the modifiers.

I really don't think there's a need to adjust the table or the modifiers as far as facing goes. Chest could just as easily be Upper Back, and Stomach could be Lower Back, each keeping their modifiers to damage. Everything else could be hit from any angle.

[gewing]

did you used to play aftermath? iirc, it used a similar system, with 30 hit locations.

Just sharing...

We've developed a set of house rules for hit locations that works well. It's best for those who like things a bit more lethal in their games, but it's not really unbalancing. A Word file of our character sheet is attached, so you can check out our hit location chart (you'll need to, in order to follow this).

Here's how it works:

Same as normal, except that every time a character attempts a targetable attack, he chooses a specific hit location from the chart. (If he fails to choose, the default is location 11.) If he succeeds by the "Auto Hit" number for that location (the "to hit" mod for targeting that location in the normal rules), then he hits the location he chose. If he succeeds, but not by that number, then he rolls for hit location. His roll is modified by the "Mod" number for the location he targeted, and the result is the actual location hit. What the "Mod" does is center the bell curve on the targeted location. A modified number that is off the chart (less than 3 or greater than 18 for most attacks) is a miss. You aimed too high or low, basically.

There are no "high shot" or "low shot" maneuvers in this system. For attacks that are inherently high or low (such as a punch or a non-martial kick), use the appropriate column. For punches and the like, roll 2d6 with the "Mod" number; for kicks and such, roll 2d6/2 with the "Mod" (no, not 1d6, we need a distribution curve).

This might seem weird at first, but it's easy and fun.

Try this alternative next time you play a scenario that uses hit locations. I bet you'll like it.

Ciao.