Quote:
Originally Posted by Ghostdancer
Selective Effect is the canonical way to allow Maledictions to target specific hit locations. I try to answer as RAW as possible when others ask questions and if I can't or don't I always add "It's probably not RAW, but I'd do it like this..." or something similar.
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It would appear I've been thinking of how to handle hit locations with internal damage all wrong, then. Does this mean the final roll to cast the spell would take the hit location penalty, then? Or is it just a bonus to the foe's resistance roll? I'm most tempted to go for the latter, since failing at the final casting roll in RPM just means trying again in a few seconds. It also makes Quick-and-Dirty Rituals usable as-is, without modification, for when you want to make "Your Head Explodes" charms. In fact...
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Skullburster
Spell Effects: Greater Destroy Body
Inherent Modifiers: Internal Damage, Crushing
Greater Effects: 1 (x3).
This spell requires the caster to touch the target and allows for an HT+3 roll to resist (modified by MoS on the casting, as usual). On a failure, it causes severe damage to the target's brain, often causing the target's head to explode messily. This is 5d cr to the Skull, ignoring any DR and injuring as normal for the Skull hit location (x4 WM).
Typical Casting: Greater Destroy Body (5) + Internal Damage, 5d Crushing (No Knockback -10%, Selective Effect +20%) (18) + Bestows a Penalty, Resistance to This Spell (Narrow) -4 (8) + Subject Weight, 300 lb (3).
102 energy (34x3).
I went with Crushing because exploiting the fact that Small Piercing has the same WM for half the price seemed too munchkinny for me - if you don't feel the same, replace cr (nkb) with pi-, which drops the added energy from damage to 12 and total spell energy to 84. Optionally, a character could purchase a Targeted Attack Technique, which could drop the HT roll to HT-1. Add Range for a ranged variant, or turn it into an ammunition charm to put a new meaning to the term "headshot." Adding in Area of Effect would be
nasty. A similar spell using Greater Create Matter or Greater Create Energy would probably work as well.