Hit locations OR Activation rolls

[Mr. R]

 

 

I was going to go for a Hit Locations system, then I saw Savage Earth (Thanks LL) and he uses an Activation Roll system.

 

So which do you guys use?

 

Opinions and suggestions welcome!

[Christopher R Taylor]

I use a slightly modified hit location system; basically the same but the locations moved about slightly so "vitals" isn't almost exactly at the top of the bell curve.

[LoneWolf]

For Fantasy Hero we always use hit locations.  We also use the Impairing and Disabling rules which require the hit locations.  Since the hit location has higher stun multipliers it makes combat a little more dangerous which seems to fit a fantasy campaign better. 

 

The special hit locations also give some good tactical options.  

[Ninja-Bear]

15 hours ago, Mr. R said:

 

 

I was going to go for a Hit Locations system, then I saw Savage Earth (Thanks LL) and he uses an Activation Roll system.

 

So which do you guys use?

 

Opinions and suggestions welcome!

I’ve used both. The problem with Act Rolls is that if you have someone unlucky (my brother) no defense stinks. If I would use this again, I’d allow a 1 rPD for missed Act. Rolls.

 

I suggested to my brother about using a modified Hit Location Chart. Basically we would assign armor to locations as normal but all hits just do their regular damage no adjustments.

[archer]

Activation roll suck if you're perpetually unlucky and are great if the god of the dice smiles in your favor.

 

And I know all the math theory that there's no such thing as luck when rolling dice. But I've seen far too many die rolls to believe that.

[SCUBA Hero]

I have always used Hit Locations in Fantasy, along with Bleeding, Impairment, and Disablement.  If I ran a campaign that did away with the last three, I'd consider doing away with the first one as well.

 

In Champions, Activation Rolls.  Which brings up an interesting situation - if that VIPER agent you're targeting with your 12d6 [insert Special Effect] EB has 9/9 Resistant DEF with a 14- AR, if you miss the armor then you just did over half the agent's BODY on an average roll, while if you hit the armor the agent is Unconscious and out of the fight (but no BODY taken) on an average roll.

 

Which leads to an interesting question:  has anyone used house rules for *targeting* the armor?

[Scott Ruggels]

Hit locations, and "sectional armor",  for FH and Modern Mercenary. 

 

I leave activations for the superhero crowd.

[Ninja-Bear]

9 hours ago, SCUBA Hero said:

Which leads to an interesting question:  has anyone used house rules for *targeting* the armor?

You could just take a -3 OCV and hit Loc. 11 Every armor I’ve seen covers that area.

[Ockham's Spoon]

Not to derail the thread, but one issue I have with Hit Locations is that if you strategically target them, they tend to be all or nothing.  There isn't a mechanic for "you missed the vitals, but still hit the chest or leg" or even if you are trying to disable someone without killing them "you missed the legs but got them in the vitals".  That may be good for game-play balance, but strikes me as unrealistic.  Has anyone tried something like "miss a targeted shot by 1, and instead you hit an adjacent Hit Location"?

[SCUBA Hero]

Opposite problem:  What do you do with a sectional writeup in a no-Hit Locations campaign?

 

Specifically, I'm looking at a MARS writeup in Millenium City. (I'll leave out everything but the rDEF and AR/HL)

1 (PD only) 15- (no HL given)

10/10 11-; 3-4, 9-14

6/6 8-; 5, 7-8, 15-16

3/3 8-; 6, 17-18

 

Makes sense when using HL, not so much without it.  Personally (just eyeballing it), I'd just go with 8/8 with no AR.

 

One thing I would allow is a base Armor (either no or a high AR) plus some core protection (say, 11- or 10-).

[Christopher R Taylor]

I have gone back and forth with this idea for a while, of having an activation roll to half armor defense.  You use hit locations normally but almost all armor has joints, weak points, etc.  Should it always provide full defense?  What if you slipped the blade under the plate or in a section where the chain isn't quite as protective?  Better armor would have better defense or even no activation roll at all.  I have held back from implementing it because its a potential character killer.  Sorry he hit you in the head and got a weak point, time to build a new character.  I like to avoid situations where dice rolls end up with dead characters.

[LoneWolf]

The special hit location provides a way to avoid the all or nothing aspect.  Use a head shot (head and shoulders) instead of a called shot head.  The OCV penalty is only -4 and you have a 33% chance to hit the head.  If you miss you are going to get the arms, hands or shoulders.    

[Old Man]

To me it’s just not Fantasy Hero without hit locations, sectional armor, and impairment and disabling. That said, magical healing is also necessary with these options. 

[Ninja-Bear]

On 3/29/2022 at 7:29 PM, SCUBA Hero said:

Opposite problem:  What do you do with a sectional writeup in a no-Hit Locations campaign?

 

Specifically, I'm looking at a MARS writeup in Millenium City. (I'll leave out everything but the rDEF and AR/HL)

1 (PD only) 15- (no HL given)

10/10 11-; 3-4, 9-14

6/6 8-; 5, 7-8, 15-16

3/3 8-; 6, 17-18

 

Makes sense when using HL, not so much without it.  Personally (just eyeballing it), I'd just go with 8/8 with no AR.

 

One thing I would allow is a base Armor (either no or a high AR) plus some core protection (say, 11- or 10-).

Fantasy for 4th Ed. has Average Sectional Defense Rule. You add up all the different Defense values and divide by 7 (due to the 7 hit locations).