Help a Noob DM: part II

[DasClay]

First off thanks for the first bit of info:
heres part II

Ok, I was with the group and were getting the PC's rolled up and a pregame to get them all together. we plan on playing maybe tonight, or sunday and monday, but the question that was brought up was this.

What are the call shot rules in Conan, and how do they work for and against me. Example, if I call shot "head" with a bow/sword and a person is wearing a helmet, its could be -8 to hit(i think that was the d20 rules) and the helmet ( great helm) has a DR +2.

So do I use the indivisual Helmet DR or do i use the total DR, because when you wereing a helmet as per pg 146 in the first Conan PHB, it says there added together???????????
I dont have the second print yet, but could someone give me some insight on this, or should I revert to the d20 rules on this one.

Also, I note that conan damage system is a little naster, so what would be proper damage and to hit for that?

 

[iltharanos]

AFAIK, there are no called shot rules in Conan. In most d20 games I've seen and/or run they've been almost universal in not having called shot rules to specific body parts. I wouldn't allow called shot rules for the simple fact that if the players can do so, then everyone else in the world can do so too, and there are many many more non-players in the games than players ... which inevitably leads to one of the players getting nuked in the head and dying as a result.

 

[argo]

What are the call shot rules in Conan, and how do they work for and against me. Example, if I call shot "head" with a bow/sword and a person is wearing a helmet, its could be -8 to hit(i think that was the d20 rules) and the helmet ( great helm) has a DR +2.

There are none and, by Crom, should be none. Caled shots are a bad idea in most d20 games because they are at least an order of magnitude less abstract than the rest of d20 combat.

Note however the rules for Finesse Attacks. If you are weilding a finessable weapon (all light weapons, a few one and two handed weapons, check the equipment chapter for a full list) then you can make a finesse attack instead of a regular attack. You use your Dex mod in place of your Str mod and roll to hit normally. If your attack roll is greater than or equal to your opponent's DV but less than your opponent's DV + DR then you blow is a normal attack, you do not penetrate armor, and you roll for damage and subtract DR normally. However, if your attack roll is greater than or equal too your opponent' DV + DR then you bypass his armor; that is you roll damage and do not subtract DR. Any character can finesse with a melee weapon, you cannot finesse with ranged weapons (but AE has a feat that lets you do something like it).

Hope that helps.

 

[Tristan]

Also be sure to note that while Finesse Fighting you retain your STR mod to damage but not to AP.

 

[Sutek]

The actual meta-gaming act of "a called shot" is done away with in favor of increased Threat Ranges in d20, for the most part. As characters go up in levels, ther are more and more Feats that increase the TR of weapons they use. Bows are no exception, and increasing from a base 20 TR implies that the shooter is getting better and better at placing his shots where they'll do the most damage.

Again though, without being able to remember every Feat in the book, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that ther are too few for my tastes that make shooting better and better in this way. However, when looked at from the perspective of a historical context, archery wasn't perfected as an accurate mean of attack until way past the Dark Ages. Instead, archers relied on saturation of fire to get kills. En Masse shooting would send volleys of hundreds of arrows into enemy units and lone archers firing additional arrows more quickly was much more important than accuracy. As a hunting implement, archers (as they do today) relied more on ambush and surprise to take down fairly small animals. Deer and large animals were taken down by an arrow with a point designed to exacerbate bleeding, not kill it in one shot.

In essence, you can use the rules for Cover or Size and add penalties as if areas are concealed to emulate called shots (like designating a weapon hand of the intended target as a Tiny or concealed 75%). But I reccomend agaist it.

Supposedly, in the Atlantean Edition reprint of the rules, ther is a Feat the allows one to Finesse bow attacks when the target is within 30'.

 

[chikngizrd]

Also, if you want called shot rules there is a d20 supplement (Quintessential Elf, I think) that has called shot rules. In their case they give a chart of alternate effects IF a critical is scored. In essence, you declare a called shot, IF the shot results in a crit, then the alternate effects are applied instead of the damage multiplier. In some cases it has some primary effect and increases the damage alittle (1d4-1d6) but usually deals just normal damage coupled with special effect. I'm not real familiar with it and I don't remeber much about it, but if you want those rules, look through the Quintesential series..........

 

[nidhog]

The called shot rules were in D&D 2E and 2.5 (skills and powers and the others.) They did not make it to the current version. I think the -8 is from GURPS, as far a I remember it was only a -6 to hit the head for D&D.

 

[iltharanos]

If you're looking for a more gritty result from suffering a critical hit, you may want to check out Critical Hits:Torn Asunder by Bastion Press.