Hitting Targets of Opportunity in Combat

dripton · 10-05-2016, 08:50 PM

I won't argue from the basis of realism, as I've never tried to stab anyone.

From a game perspective, I don't like random hit locations, as another roll slows combat a bit. Roll dice, look at table, and then, when it's a weird location that doesn't get hit much, read the effects of hitting that location.

Contrast with players that deliberately aim for a non-torso hit location. If they're willing to take a -5 to hit the neck, they probably know what a neck hit does offhand. They aimed for the neck rather than the head because they want that extra cutting damage bonus. (Okay, or because they want to decapitate something.) Heck, if they really like swinging at necks, they might have paid for a Trademark Move to reduce the penalty by one.

I've sometimes houseruled "no deliberate rolls for random hit locations" to speed play; you only get to use that table when the GM tells you to.

So, from a game perspective, no way I'm giving them +1 to make combat slower.

YMMV, depending on how many fights you run, how fast your players are at combat, and how much adventuring you want to get done per hour of play.

10-05-2016, 08:50 PM	#5
dripton Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Northern Virginia, USA	Re: Hitting Targets of Opportunity in Combat I won't argue from the basis of realism, as I've never tried to stab anyone. From a game perspective, I don't like random hit locations, as another roll slows combat a bit. Roll dice, look at table, and then, when it's a weird location that doesn't get hit much, read the effects of hitting that location. Contrast with players that deliberately aim for a non-torso hit location. If they're willing to take a -5 to hit the neck, they probably know what a neck hit does offhand. They aimed for the neck rather than the head because they want that extra cutting damage bonus. (Okay, or because they want to decapitate something.) Heck, if they really like swinging at necks, they might have paid for a Trademark Move to reduce the penalty by one. I've sometimes houseruled "no deliberate rolls for random hit locations" to speed play; you only get to use that table when the GM tells you to. So, from a game perspective, no way I'm giving them +1 to make combat slower. YMMV, depending on how many fights you run, how fast your players are at combat, and how much adventuring you want to get done per hour of play.