Coup de Gras?

[Tywyll]

So, I gather there are no coup de gras rules for killing Sleeping or Frozen figures, just the automatic hit mechanic. Is that right? Am I missing something?

If that is correct, what about a rule like this:
If you spend your entire round without moving, unengaged with any figure but the target, adjacent and engaged with a helpless figure, your can use your action to perform a coup de gras, killing a helpless target.

[Nils_Lindeberg]

Originally Posted by Tywyll

So, I gather there are no coup de gras rules for killing Sleeping or Frozen figures, just the automatic hit mechanic. Is that right? Am I missing something?

If that is correct, what about a rule like this:
If you spend your entire round without moving, unengaged with any figure but the target, adjacent and engaged with a helpless figure, your can use your action to perform a coup de gras, killing a helpless target.

Coup de Grace used to be one of my favorite rules in D&D. It was always dramatic. Mostly used by the really evil enemies and once someone started to use it that one action always got the spotlight. I always played it so that the rest of the party would have a very good chance to stop the slayer or distract him by engaging him. It can't be too easy to do, or the players will turn it into sleep, execute, rince and repeat battles.

In TFT I would go with an automatic hit (and no shield), if the target is helpless, but the attacker is engaged or did other stuff this turn like moving. An automatic Crit (damage x2) if the attacker is not engaged, spent the whole turn doing it and didn't take damage from anything. The attack would come last in the turn. This gives the rest of the party plenty of ways to dramatically stop the villain. The action should be declared at movement time, so people can rush over and engage the dastardly bastard or target him with missiles or magic.

And if you really want to do someone in, you can take an extra turn and aim first, declaring your intent and then get a Crit (x3 damage). The aiming part is essentially opening a vizor or unhooking a ventail, or placing the blade carefully against the throat, groin or armpit, to be sure it strikes cleanly.

This could also be used for holding a hostage. You pin them or freeze them or surprise them, and after one turn you can do the coup de grace and get the dagger to their throat or move and hold a sword to their back to represent the auto hit. Or aim to get the dagger into a really good spot and stay the blade just before it draws blood. Anyone that wants to do anything, including the victim, must win a DX vs. DX to go before the hostage-taker draws blood.

One could probably use the same principles for backstabs before a fight starts, or rushing into a room, getting surprise and place a sword against someone instead of a normal attack and ask them to yield. If they don't you get a free hit if they lose the DX vs. DX.

And in a barroom brawl, one guy could try to pin you and his friend could hit you with a guaranteed hit or go for the haymaker (Coup de grace) and hit you really hard at the end of the turn if his friend managed to hold the pin.

Thanks for reminding me of the classic Coup de Grace and other possible slow, full turn or special surprise actions that are important for drama.

[Skarg]

TFT does have such a rule. It's called "Slaughtering Helpless Targets" and in new ITL is on page 126.

[Nils_Lindeberg]

Originally Posted by Skarg

TFT does have such a rule. It's called "Slaughtering Helpless Targets" and in new ITL is on page 126.

Ahh good catch. It is a little bit dramatic, since you have to aim to be sure and that takes time and people get a chance to intervene.

But just a normal hit or insta kill. I would like a little bit more granularity. And a combination with the above possibilities of covering people might be good. But it is nice to know it is in RAW and considered a dastardly deed indeed! :-)

[HeatDeath]

Granularity in a coup-de-grace rule can be unintentionally hilarious.

There's a Monty Python sketch where a guy is about to be executed by firing squad. The commander does a countdown, the music intensifies, we get terrified closeups of the victims, the camera cuts away, shots ring out, a flock of birds scatters noisily, and offscreen, in John Cleese's unmistakable Russian accent, the commander exclaims...

"How could you miss?!'

:D

[Tywyll]

Originally Posted by Skarg

TFT does have such a rule. It's called "Slaughtering Helpless Targets" and in new ITL is on page 126.

Ah, Thanks for that!

[Nils_Lindeberg]

Originally Posted by HeatDeath

Granularity in a coup-de-grace rule can be unintentionally hilarious.

There's a Monty Python sketch where a guy is about to be executed by firing squad. The commander does a countdown, the music intensifies, we get terrified closeups of the victims, the camera cuts away, shots ring out, a flock of birds scatters noisily, and offscreen, in John Cleese's unmistakable Russian accent, the commander exclaims...

"How could you miss?!'

:D

I agree and would never use such rules during an execution, but in the middle of a fight when one farmhand pins a knight and another tries to pry his plate open with a dirk, is another thing. And sometimes a player might want a little granularity when he has played a character for months or even years and a goblin wizard freeze him and his sidekick walks up with a rusty nail to finish the job. And should that nail not get the job done, people will laugh, but out of relief. :-)