What does it take to neutralize a horrid skull?

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Dalin

(This feels a tad off to me... crushing feels like it would be the best approach for destroying an old skull.)

Hm. I thought brittle gave vulnerability to crushing, but nope.

[Michael Thayne]

One case where you might want to kill the skull first: it's being carried by a monster that has Supernatural Durability, Unkillable, or is otherwise likely to take a long time to kill.

[Dalin]

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

One case where you might want to kill the skull first: it's being carried by a monster that has Supernatural Durability, Unkillable, or is otherwise likely to take a long time to kill.

Another possibility would be to have constantly spawning fodder (horde zombies, doomchildren, horde pygmies, etc.). Perhaps they're pouring through gates, climbing up from pits, or simply appearing. They aren't especially dangerous, but they will eventually overwhelm the party. Destroying the skull (or skulls!) might be the key to closing the portal(s), lifting the curse(s), or ending the spell(s).

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Anthony

You kill the zombies while sucking up the damage, then hunt around for the skull. Bear in mind that the skull can apparently be inside of a container, which might be a lot more durable than the skull.

A skull can also be part of a giant pile of skulls, a decorative display of skulls, or on top of the neck of a skeleton... animated or otherwise.

[Humabout]

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

At first glance, you'd think a horrid skull would be easy to destroy, but it's not so clear to me that this is true. They have 5 HP and are Brittle but not Unnatural, which means they don't automatically die at -1xHP the way some monsters do. Also, it's unclear if their attack requires them to be "conscious". It seems like this distinction could matter quite a lot if the horrid skull is mixed in with other enemies, such that destroying it quickly is important tactically. What have people done in their games?

Option 1: Hand a hammer to each delver and pretend its a pinata. It only takes a maximum of 60 injury to destroy it. That's nothing.

Option 2: Throw it somewhere you don't plan on going. It's sessile for god's sake.

Option 2a: Walk around it. It's sessile for god's sake.

[Michael Thayne]

Originally Posted by Humabout

Option 1: Hand a hammer to each delver and pretend its a pinata. It only takes a maximum of 60 injury to destroy it. That's nothing.

Option 2: Throw it somewhere you don't plan on going. It's sessile for god's sake.

Option 2a: Walk around it. It's sessile for god's sake.

(1) potentially has downsides if the encounter has other monsters. (2) and (2a) may or may not work depending on the layout of the dungeon. The horrid skull is a highly situational threat and the fact that it's trivial to deal with in some situations is missing the entire point of the thing.

[Anthony]

The skull is essentially a hazard zone that happens to have a monster writeup, not really a monster (it's kinda similar to other immobile hazards, like molds).

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Hm. I thought brittle gave vulnerability to crushing, but nope.

Crushing has the benefit of blunt force trauma when you can't get through flexible DR. I always thought skulls would be rigid DR but the "weak skull" quirk in GURPS Power-Ups defines the skunn as "tough skin" which has flexible built into it.

Of course with 1 damage per 10 basic damage, the only time I could see blunt trauma for crushing damage mattering against something with DR 2 would be if you were using a very non-penetrating limited attack with Armor Divisor 1/5 (ie Armor Multiplier 5) that would give it 10 DR, in the exact situation where you managed to do 10 basic damage, because 11 would penetrate it and not due the BT.

Normally something with 'ignores DR' like the Horrid Skull's attack would bypass Cover DR unless it was hardened, is there anything with 6 levels of Hardened in Dungeon Fantasy that could serve as cover against its attack wave?

[Humabout]

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

(1) potentially has downsides if the encounter has other monsters. (2) and (2a) may or may not work depending on the layout of the dungeon. The horrid skull is a highly situational threat and the fact that it's trivial to deal with in some situations is missing the entire point of the thing.

(1) Downsides to options are what make decision-making in any game interesting. If only one thing works, its not a game. Its a railroad.

(2) I never said to throw it somewhere in the Dungeon...

(2a) If you can't go around it, you must be at a deadend, or at least a SM-5 hole. This isn't passable, so turn around and check elsewhere in the dungeon.

It isn't beside the point. It is making a point. It is a sessile object. It is a trivial encounter. Mixing it with other stuff makes other stuff harder. It is an off switch for an environmental feature.

[Humabout]

Originally Posted by Anthony

The skull is essentially a hazard zone that happens to have a monster writeup, not really a monster (it's kinda similar to other immobile hazards, like molds).

This to a tee. The skull is a fancy off switch for an environmental hazard.