Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > The Fantasy Trip

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-26-2018, 08:28 AM   #21
larsdangly
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Default Re: Aimed Shots, Crippling Hits, and Dagger Marksmanship

I agree they are part of that original TFT charm. I wouldn't have written them this way, but its all good.
larsdangly is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-28-2018, 08:10 PM   #22
Jack O'All Trades
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Default Re: Aimed Shots, Crippling Hits, and Dagger Marksmanship

To be clear, I also like varying rules for different weapons. But I'm not clear on the design reasoning behind (specifically) Crippling Hits and Aimed Shots (with 'normal' weapons, say a Shortsword) doing different damage. I can think of some reasons for it to work that way (making Aimed Shots less attractive, wanting Crippling Hits to be a threat regardless of the strength of the attacker or the armor of the defender), but not sure if that's the case.
Jack O'All Trades is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2018, 02:50 PM   #23
platimus
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: behind you
Default Re: Aimed Shots, Crippling Hits, and Dagger Marksmanship

Quote:
Originally Posted by guymc View Post
If you could “like” a post on here, I’d like this one. Especially Platimus’ sig...
Thanks! I often feel like the blacksheep or oddball in these circles. I also wish there were like/dislike or upvote/downvote buttons here. There is great wisdom in using words sparingly (see signature LOL).
__________________
Miranda Warning: Anything you say can and will be used against you in a forum of rules-lawyers.
platimus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2018, 03:38 PM   #24
platimus
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: behind you
Default Re: Aimed Shots, Crippling Hits, and Dagger Marksmanship

I'm just guessing here but I think most of the "confusion"? or questions related to having both Aimed Shots and Crippling Hits rules are related to the following line from the Aimed Shots section of the rules (ITL p.120)...

Quote:
If you allow aimed shots, you will probably want to use the
Crippling Hits optional rule (below) as well.
Here's how I honestly interpreted that line: If you are the sort of person that likes using Aimed Shot rules, you will probably like to use the Crippling Hits rules as well.

I don't take that line as a "recommendation" to use Crippling Hits in conjunction with Aimed Shots. I personally don't plan to apply both sets of rules to a single attack as they do seem to overlap. If a character is actually aiming, I'll use the Aimed Shots rules. If the character is NOT aiming, I'll use the Crippling Hits rules. I view the Crippling Hits as an "add-on" to critical hits rules. It really wouldn't make sense to use BOTH for an "aimed attack" unless one trumped the other because the Crippling Hits result could land an attack aimed at the arm on a foe's head instead. Even if it does make sense to you to combine them, it gets rather complicated to process them together. This may be the other reason for complaints/questions regarding why both rules exists. These are both Optional Rules so if something about them bothers you, don't use them. Simple.

I will probably tinker/simplify/combine the Crippling Hits with critical hits though. Just spit-balling right now...

If you roll a 3 or 4 to hit (un-aimed) you can simply opt for an extra die or two of damage or the GM may offer a roll on the Crippling Hits table instead...

2d6
Result...Effect
2-3.......Triple damage
4-5.......Double damage
6-9.......No effect
10........Target loses use of one leg.
11........Target loses use of one arm.
12........Target is hit in head; his ST is reduced to 1 and he falls unconscious.
(NOTE: GM may decide which leg or arm is affected or he may use 1d2/coin-flip to decide. A loss of use of an arm means items carried in the hand of that arm are dropped.)

EDIT
In retrospect, I will probably not offer the Crippling Hits rules to players but I might make secret rolls on it as the GM if I feel like one side of a battle needs a little help. If I'm rolling on it for PCs, I'll be playing the role of a merciful god. If I'm rolling on it for NPCs, I'll be playing the role of a wrathful god. LOL
__________________
Miranda Warning: Anything you say can and will be used against you in a forum of rules-lawyers.

Last edited by platimus; 10-30-2018 at 04:01 PM.
platimus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2018, 04:54 PM   #25
Skarg
 
Join Date: May 2015
Default Re: Aimed Shots, Crippling Hits, and Dagger Marksmanship

The main issue with the random Crippling Hits (like entangling peculiar weapons) is that their mechanics take NOTHING into account but the attack dice roll. It doesn't matter what the weapon is, or what the target is. It could be a greatsword hitting a house cat, or a glass bottle hitting a 14-hex dragon - the odds of completely crippling the target or knocking it unconscious are the same.

The nice thing about the double & triple damage results is that they give some hope to attacks which have little/no chance without them, but are still based on the usual effects of the attacking weapon and target's armor and ST.

Now, I do find it interesting that those rules do add some chance of an unexpected and unique outcome (a knockout, or a temporarily crippled limb that may not have really taken any damage), but the complete lack of correlation is a problem, especially because it's a fairly high chance and means a barrage of many super-low adjDX thrown rocks is fairly likely to cripple any target.

So for me, an improvement would involve taking into account the attacker's skill and weapon, and the defender's ST and armor.
Skarg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2018, 05:01 PM   #26
platimus
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: behind you
Default Re: Aimed Shots, Crippling Hits, and Dagger Marksmanship

Quote:
Originally Posted by Skarg View Post
The main issue with the random Crippling Hits (like entangling peculiar weapons) is that their mechanics take NOTHING into account but the attack dice roll. It doesn't matter what the weapon is, or what the target is. It could be a greatsword hitting a house cat, or a glass bottle hitting a 14-hex dragon - the odds of completely crippling the target or knocking it unconscious are the same.

The nice thing about the double & triple damage results is that they give some hope to attacks which have little/no chance without them, but are still based on the usual effects of the attacking weapon and target's armor and ST.

Now, I do find it interesting that those rules do add some chance of an unexpected and unique outcome (a knockout, or a temporarily crippled limb that may not have really taken any damage), but the complete lack of correlation is a problem, especially because it's a fairly high chance and means a barrage of many super-low adjDX thrown rocks is fairly likely to cripple any target.

So for me, an improvement would involve taking into account the attacker's skill and weapon, and the defender's ST and armor.
Yes, some of those are reasons why I will not make Crippling Hits available to players but may make secret GM rolls when I feel the results would make sense to the situation or story.
__________________
Miranda Warning: Anything you say can and will be used against you in a forum of rules-lawyers.
platimus is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:56 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.