Breaking Bones

[SuperBlue]

Okay, I know in HtH combat, that it would take a killing attack to break bones. My question is: How would you handle immobilizing someone's arm? Would this just be a special FX of the Killing Attack? Would there be a minimum amount of BODY that has to be dealt?

 

Also, what if a PC/NPC falls, lands on their arm, and is broken?

 

Would these be GM's call (in either Heroic/Super Heroic campaign)?

[Derek Hiemforth]

It wouldn't take a Killing Attack to break bones. It would just require doing BODY damage. If you hit a normal (2 PD) with a 3d6 normal attack, they'll take BODY on an average roll. The GM is certainly within their purview to say they broke a bone as the SFX of taking BODY damage.

[Xandarr]

Originally posted by Derek Hiemforth

It wouldn't take a Killing Attack to break bones. It would just require doing BODY damage. If you hit a normal (2 PD) with a 3d6 normal attack, they'll take BODY on an average roll. The GM is certainly within their purview to say they broke a bone as the SFX of taking BODY damage.

 

While I agree that the GM could use that as a special effect, I think it's stretching things a little to allow only 1 Body pip of damage to break someone's arm. Something like that is more along the lines of a deep bruise, in my opinion. It hurts, and it will take a week to heal, but it's not impairing in any way like a broken arm would be. I would recommend that if you want to simulate broken bones in your campaign that you use the impairing and disabling rules. Using Derek's example above, it would take 7d6 Normal Damage or a 1½d6 Killing Attack to break an arm (I consider broken bones impairing, and severed limbs disabling in my Fantasy game). 7d6 Normal is usually only possible if you are extremely strong, or have martial arts, or if you take a really nasty fall. That sounds about right to me for most games.

 

YMMV as usual, but that's how I do it.

 

Helpfully,

Steve

[Trebuchet]

Originally posted by Xandarr

While I agree that the GM could use that as a special effect, I think it's stretching things a little to allow only 1 Body pip of damage to break someone's arm. Something like that is more along the lines of a deep bruise, in my opinion. It hurts, and it will take a week to heal, but it's not impairing in any way like a broken arm would be. I would recommend that if you want to simulate broken bones in your campaign that you use the impairing and disabling rules. Using Derek's example above, it would take 7d6 Normal Damage or a 1½d6 Killing Attack to break an arm (I consider broken bones impairing, and severed limbs disabling in my Fantasy game). 7d6 Normal is usually only possible if you are extremely strong, or have martial arts, or if you take a really nasty fall. That sounds about right to me for most games.

I agree with Xandarr, with the stipulation that in most superhero games dramatic sense and artistic license would be equally important. If you're going to do a big BODY hit to a character, then using the impairing or disabling rules might add a sense of drama sadly lacking from just saying "You take 4 BODY." It would be more interesting to say "Agony shoots up your left arm as you attempt to block his attack and he hits you. You suspect your forearm is broken. You are now virtually unable to use your left arm."

 

I've lost track of how many times I've seen Spider-Man fighting in the comics with one arm in a web sling.

[SuperBlue]

Alright, thanks.

[Arthur]

As has pretty much already been said: Hit Locations and the Impairing/Disabling rules. An Impairing shot to a limb would very likely be a fracture. Disabling would be either a severed limb or a severe pulverizing, depending on special effect.

[NuSoardGraphite]

I use the Impairing and Disabling rules as guidelines for things like broken bones and other serious wounds. They are very well defined, and once you have them memorized, its quite intuitive.