Severed Limbs... What About Heads?

[Guest Black Lotus]

OK, when using the Hit Location optional rules, if an attack that hits a limb does at least 1/3 of the total BODY of the target, that limb is broken (clubs), burned beyond use (fire), or, in the case of, say, a Katana, severed. (But said attack against a limb also cannot do more than that 1/3 of BODY needed to break/ sever the limb. So an attack that does 5 BODY to the limb of a target with BODY 10 severs the limb, but only actually does 3 total BODY, although it does full STUN).

 

So, um... if you can sever an arm... shouldn't the same principle apply to a head?

[Onyxclaw]

Re: Severed Limbs... What About Heads?

 

hmmm. That would make sense. But I don't think people have it work that way because then OCV or penalty skill levels just for targetting would be overused for instant kills...

 

There are some body tables that include neck. I often had the same worry about that one. realistically they should be beheaded...but for balence purposes I dunno

[Roy_The_Ruthles]

Re: Severed Limbs... What About Heads?

 

i think it's one of those balance vs. special effects one. The penalty for a disabled or impaired head is instant KO. So a severed head might just be a baddly bleeding but still surviveable (since bleed rules will come into play here) jugular wound. (because hero's always spin away from the cut as opposed to extras who spin into it

[Guest Black Lotus]

Re: Severed Limbs... What About Heads?

 

i think it's one of those balance vs. special effects one. The penalty for a disabled or impaired head is instant KO. So a severed head might just be a baddly bleeding but still surviveable (since bleed rules will come into play here) jugular wound. (because hero's always spin away from the cut as opposed to extras who spin into it

 

Heh, yeah.

 

I think I'll just use it the way the book suggests, only for limbs, simply because it makes sense to me that one can never take deadly damage from someone just stabbing you in a limb (at least, not immediately). After the limb is broken, severed, burned to a crisp, whatever, it is useless, (and maybe spewing blood everywhere), but if you get hit in that area again, you take no BODY, only STUN.

[Roy_The_Ruthles]

Re: Severed Limbs... What About Heads?

 

Heh, yeah.

 

I think I'll just use it the way the book suggests, only for limbs, simply because it makes sense to me that one can never take deadly damage from someone just stabbing you in a limb (at least, not immediately). After the limb is broken, severed, burned to a crisp, whatever, it is useless, (and maybe spewing blood everywhere), but if you get hit in that area again, you take no BODY, only STUN.

 

 

Now i just imagine a samuri beating someone on the stump of their arm with the flat of his blade yelling

 

"got your stump! got your stump!"

 

there should probably be an extra stun multiple to disabled hit locations beacuse they'd be more sensitive

[BobGreenwade]

Re: Severed Limbs... What About Heads?

 

This might be something for Steve to bring out in the Combat Handbook.

 

Personally, I like the idea of severed heads for Disabling blows, but definitely as an optional rule (within the optional rule of using Impairing and Disabling in the first place) for particularly bloody games.

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: Severed Limbs... What About Heads?

 

The way I've always played it, if a severing attack does enough damage to the head to kill the target outright, the head is severed. If any other attack does enough damage to the head to kill the target outright, the head is otherwise destroyed (a bullet causes the head to explode, etc.).

[Guest Black Lotus]

Re: Severed Limbs... What About Heads?

 

The way I've always played it' date=' if a severing attack does enough damage to the head to kill the target outright, the head is severed. If any other attack does enough damage to the head to kill the target outright, the head is otherwise destroyed (a bullet causes the head to explode, etc.).[/quote']

 

Yeah, that's how I would normally do it, too.

 

The thing is, you have to go to negative body... well, but that's just for player characters, really.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Severed Limbs... What About Heads?

 

Don't you have to do the target's full Body worth of damage to a limb ("before or after the multiple") to sever it?

[Roy_The_Ruthles]

Re: Severed Limbs... What About Heads?

 

Don't you have to do the target's full Body worth of damage to a limb ("before or after the multiple") to sever it?

 

yep, so a head hit is a kill because of the 2x body, unless they have hoards of armor

[Guest Black Lotus]

Re: Severed Limbs... What About Heads?

 

Don't you have to do the target's full Body worth of damage to a limb ("before or after the multiple") to sever it?

 

Not by the optional "Broken Limbs" rule in 5ER. That optional rule says it takes 1/3 the character's starting BODY to break/ crisp/ sever a limb. (Keep in mind that damage is halved on a limb when using Hit Location).

[Roy_The_Ruthles]

Re: Severed Limbs... What About Heads?

 

so for 2/3rds body either before or after defenses, you can break someone's neck