Fatigue Attack - Help

[Tinman]

According to the Campains Book p.398 fatiuge attacks ignore hit location.
What exactly does that mean?

A- Fatiuge attacks can not target hit locations & always target torso.
or
B- Fatige attacks can hit a location & are reduced by the armor at that location but bo not get damage bonuses from the location?

*PS: This obviously only applies to normal attacks & not to malidictions.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Tinman

According to the Campains Book p.398 fatiuge attacks ignore hit location.
What exactly does that mean?

A- Fatiuge attacks can not target hit locations & always target torso.
or
B- Fatige attacks can hit a location & are reduced by the armor at that location but bo not get damage bonuses from the location?

*PS: This obviously only applies to normal attacks & not to malidictions.

I've always treated it as it hits the "body". You could probably use Selective Effect to target hit locations if you like.

[vierasmarius]

For the rare Fatigue attacks that have to deal with DR directly (as opposed to being a Follow-Up to a physical attack, or a Respiratory / Contact / Blood agent) I see no reason not to allow less-armored locations to be targeted. I interpret B398 to mean only that Fatigue attacks get no special wounding modifiers or properties for other hit locations - no blinding the eyes or crippling limbs.

[fifiste]

Then what about maximum damage (that is limited on some locations?)
I guess I'd use something like wide area attack rules maybe? You get some average DR etc.

[Walrus]

Well, direct fatique attacks (which aren't follow-ups) are usually unrealistic enough to have different effects. Imagine two such attacks where one represent some weird science EMP that directly affect human brain (with Missed Sleep Hazard) and another that is Magic which affects "soul" or "spirit" which may be concentrated at heart or other "chakra" location. The particular maximum FP damage may vary and may be a feature or limitation on the attack, but not the general case.

[The Benj]

B. Otherwise cover would just get weird.

[Kromm]

The cited rule means that attacks that cause FP are subject to no special wounding effects for hit location. You can pick any body part on your target and attack it at the usual penalty for hit location. If the target has FP, then the attack reduces those FP by the amount rolled minus any DR on the body part, unless the attack happens to ignore DR (not an intrinsic property of attacks with the fat damage type). The only limit on how many FP can be caused is the target's usual floor of -FP.

In much shorter terms, it's mostly a statement that you can't get bonus FP by aiming at the skull or vitals, and don't inflict fewer FP just because you hit a hand or an arm.