I whip my head by and forth (Whiplash injuries)

[RyanW]

If I wear a sturdy helmet, and get hit in the head with a sledgehammer, I'm very likely to wind up with an intact skull but a broken neck (or perhaps a traumatic brain injury). How would be the best way to handle this type of injury? My first thought: treat any armor on the head that does not support the neck as flexible.

Edit: Dammit, I screwed up the title.

[Psychotime]

Ugh, don't reference that song.

Isn't that basically the result of damage being higher than DR?

The neck one might need a quick houserule, though.

[Gigermann]

This topic has seen quite a bit of discussion in the past.

[Trachmyr]

Two mechanics you could tap into is Blunt Trauma and Knockbak... If the Neck is'nt reinforced and is hit, knockback affects the neck rather than it's normal mechanics (knockdown can still apply), but inflicts 1 point of Blunt Trauma (x1.5 for the Neck) per 1/2 of the knockback threshold passed... damage with double-knockback may or maynot get the 1.5x wounding modifier. You can have a Roll (HT+x-damage taken) to avoid some effect (i.e., No Periphial Vision, -DX, -Per) or you could create your own Partial Injury rules ala Martial Arts.

[Jetman123]

You can treat crushing facial injuries as non-permanent spinal and spinal tendon issues from time to time in describing them, if you wish. If you really do want to, treating head armor (NOT a greathelm, as a note, which sits directly on the shoulders and isn't attached to your head) as flexible could add just a tiny bit more depth, if you're going for highly detailed, realistic injury.