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Old 05-20-2016, 02:02 PM   #26
Varyon
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: Questions about hitboxes, impaling weapons, rigid armor, and hit chances

Quote:
Originally Posted by simply Nathan View Post
Skill 12 is where I'd peg professional snipers and weapons at DX level (10) as typical for most soldiers...
Different settings use different assumptions. You can probably find the most realistic treatment in Tactical Shooting, although that's only applicable to firearms (and possibly other ranged combat skills), but in a setting where high skill is the default I wouldn't even blink at amateurs with skill 13+.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalzazz View Post
I tend to disagree, I aim for the torso the most, because in order to get good effects you need to hit, and the skill used to aim for hit locations can instead be used to go deceptive or rapid strike increasing chances to hit
I interpreted that as something like "if you're hitting anyway, it's best to avoid the Torso." And, honestly, this is typically true - you can only get bonus injury from the Vitals with a few attack types, and even when you're comparing limb hits to Torso hits with an impaling weapon, automatically crippling a limb is often more useful than dropping the foe below 0 HP (at least, if the foe has high HT) - and as I outline above, tip slash can help even things out even in that case. There's also the fact that the two most heavily armored locations tend to be the Torso and the Skull, so typically aiming anywhere else means dealing with lower DR.

Given, with the penalties to hit (which typically translate to a bonus to defend, as you can't lower your skill with deceptive attack as much) of the various locations, and the importance that even a single hit can have in GURPS, the Torso often does wind up as a pretty good location to attack. There's usually a fairly balanced toss-up as to where is the best location to attack in any given situation - a few exceptions being the Legs in any situation where mobility is a concern, and of course the Wings in any aerial combat where one or more characters has Flight (Winged).
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