The 2 skulls in TA

[Gudiomen]

How do you handle the Targeted Attack technique with regards to the skull? It's an unusual hit location, because it's targeted at -7 from the front, but -5 from the back.

Do you treat it as 2 separate hit locations? Do you buy the technique up to Skill-3 and use that, even from behind? Does someone who bought the technique up to skill-5 get no benefit from attacking from behind?

Thoughts?

[Peter V. Dell'Orto]

Originally Posted by Gudiomen

How do you handle the Targeted Attack technique with regards to the skull? It's an unusual hit location, because it's targeted at -7 from the front, but -5 from the back.

Do you treat it as 2 separate hit locations? Do you buy the technique up to Skill-3 and use that, even from behind? Does someone who bought the technique up to skill-5 get no benefit from attacking from behind?

Thoughts?

How I'd run it: Buy it based on -7, but limit attacks from the back based on -5. So you buy it up to -3 overall, but get only a -1 from behind. Yes, that's nasty, but simple. You could say it's -2 from behind, but why complicate it? Treat "from behind" as a situational +2 modifier put against the -7 to hit (-3 in this case) and it's fast and simple to judge.

And it'll help make a blackjack a useful weapon! ;)

[Phoenix_Dragon]

Yeah, I'd let you use the full benefit of the technique from either direction, but with the effective-skill cap based on which way you're striking from (-3 from the front, -2 from the back). So for example, if you've gotten two levels of the technique (Skill-5), you would attack the skull from the front at -5, and from behind at -3.

Not sure if that's completely official, but it seems fair and sensible enough.

[Bruno]

Compare for example the Close combat technique with Two Handed Axe-Mace - a -8 that can be bought down to -4 because the typical 2HAM weapon is a Reach 2 weapon - but you can use it with a variety of Reach 1 weapons from Low Tech.

So instead of attacking in Close combat at 2HAM-4 (as if you hadn't spent 5 points on the technique for a Reach 1 weapon) you attack at -2 (the maximumm you can buy a Reach 1 weapon up to). The other two points you spent are "wasted" right now, but will be fully useful with Reach 2 weapons.

[Gudiomen]

Originally Posted by Bruno

So instead of attacking in Close combat at 2HAM-4 (as if you hadn't spent 5 points on the technique for a Reach 1 weapon) you attack at -2 (the maximumm you can buy a Reach 1 weapon up to). The other two points you spent are "wasted" right now, but will be fully useful with Reach 2 weapons.

That's my gut feeling to.

For instance, if you buy up TA (Skull) to Skill-3 (from Skill-7), and you use it from the back, where the default is Skill-5, you get Skill-2. (In other words, reduced the penalty to half - round up - in both counts)

That's dandy, but it gets slightly complicated if you don't have the maximum level. I'd then have to "translate" one technique to the "other" virtual technique:

You spent 2 points in the technique, to get it from Skill-7 to Skill-6, if applied to the back, that gets you Skill-5 to Skill-4. And you also get one level that doesn't do anything to your odds from the back (not that that's a problem, it's just quirky).

The other way to look at it is the default skull penalty being -7, and being -5 from the back is just a situational bonus of +2 (much like you get from being on a higher level, or when bouncing shots on the ground to target the legs...). In that case, Peter's suggestion comes into action. And being a Martial Arts man, I'm inclined to take his word for it...

The only thing I worry, in this case, is that the skull becomes targetable at Skill-1 from the back! Which is highly attractive munchkin material, although it'd generate some world of warcraft level of attacks from behind.

There's another option, although rather harsh... which is treating the technique as only effective at targetting you're top skull, the same part that's accessible from the front. In this event, the technique would default from -7 in any situation, and it'd only be useful when you targeted that part of the skull, meaning you'd use the same relative skill level from the front or from behind. Reducing the maximum benefit of the technique from behind to Skill-3 (the same as the front).
And if you want to you can buy a different technique to attack the full skull from behind... up to Skill-2.

[Peter V. Dell'Orto]

Originally Posted by Gudiomen

The other way to look at it is the default skull penalty being -7, and being -5 from the back is just a situational bonus of +2 (much like you get from being on a higher level, or when bouncing shots on the ground to target the legs...). In that case, Peter's suggestion comes into action. And being a Martial Arts man, I'm inclined to take his word for it...

Remember, my suggestion of +2 is based on the idea that it's just easier. Bruno's method is more accurate and fair. But as you noted, with less than maximum points it's more complicated to figure out.

I'll personally take simple and nasty over complicated in most cases. But I won't claim it's particularly game balanced. On the other hand it's a mere 1 point difference, which in a higher-powered game isn't going to be that much.

[Bruno]

Yeah, I don't generally HAVE to worry about the nasty half-bought cases because I "buy the whole technique" or I don't buy any as just a matter of character design style, and the players in my group inclined to buy techniques seem to be similar. Dungeon Fantasy Power Ups, of course, passively enforces this as the way all the technique-based Power Ups are built, and suggests it as an optional rule for a DF GM as an active enforcement. I'm inclined to go with it for DF games for stylistic reasons.

And to discourage players drowning themselves in a zillion options by buying a point or two in a whole pile of techniques. ;)