Eye of Death and hit locations

[Dalin]

Party might be facing an Eye of Death in an upcoming session and I'm making sure I understand some of the combat permutations.

The eye has no brain, no neck, and no vitals. No brain says that attacks to the skull or eye count as face hits. Face hits have an increased chance of knockdown.

If the scout shoots at it normally and manages to hit, his arrows would do their normal impaling damage (doubled), like for a regular torso hit on a humanoid. Right?

If he targets its "face," he would be at -5 to hit, but could knock it down. (Would this make it fall to the ground?)

Can he target it's eye? Does that even make sense if the whole thing is an eye? Could it be blinded?

I guess what I'm getting at is I want to anticipate what clever things the scout might be able to do with his mad archery skills. I'm good with him carrying the day, but I want to have answers to his questions that make sense.

Any tips from Eye of Death survivors?

[Anthony]

Not sure why the eye of death doesn't just have No Head.

[Gnaskar]

Face blows don't cause knockdown against targets without a brain: "Many monsters are less susceptible. For those with No Brain, head injuries don’t cause knockdown or stunning unless they’re major wounds – and even then, the roll is at no special penalty." Exploits p. 60.

You can still hit its eye; which I would rule as hitting the lens. It can be blinded (at least by RAW). Of course, it's likely going to make an acrobatic dodge at 14; and the attack will be at -11 (-9 for eye, -2 for elevation).

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Gnaskar

... the attack will be at -11 (-9 for eye, -2 for elevation).

You don't penalize the attack, you give the defense a bonus if they have the higher ground (or penalty if they are lower than their attacker).

[Gnaskar]

Nope. You penalize ranged attacks and get a defensive bonus against melee attacks.

On any kind of significant slope, fighters shooting down-slope enjoy +1 to hit, while those shooting up-slope have ‑1 to hit. On steep slopes – from 45° to 90° (directly above or below) – or when flying, these modifiers become +2 and ‑2.

Exploits p. 43: Elevation

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Gnaskar

Nope. You penalize ranged attacks and get a defensive bonus against melee attacks.

Yeah... I forgot about ranged attacks getting the bonus and had my thoughts only on the melee.

[Dalin]

Originally Posted by Gnaskar

Face blows don't cause knockdown against targets without a brain: "Many monsters are less susceptible. For those with No Brain, head injuries don’t cause knockdown or stunning unless they’re major wounds – and even then, the roll is at no special penalty." Exploits p. 60.

You can still hit its eye; which I would rule as hitting the lens. It can be blinded (at least by RAW). Of course, it's likely going to make an acrobatic dodge at 14; and the attack will be at -11 (-9 for eye, -2 for elevation).

Ah, ok. This makes sense. I hadn't thought through the implications of its high dodge. With a retreat, its first dodge is 15, then 14 with acrobatics, then 12 thereafter. So even with multiple ranged attacks per turn, the party needs a lot of luck to hit. Hit locations won't be all that helpful, especially when adding range onto the other penalties.

Better to close into melee range where deceptive attacks might help lower the dodge. Though with a move of 6, even if everyone has walk-on air, it will be difficult to engage without move-and-attack maneuvers, which don't allow for deceptive attacks.

I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with, though they may not get to the encounter at tonight's game.