armor dynamic

[paleryder]

Just wanted to muse about the armor rules and see what others think. Under the armor rules, for melee, you aim at the specific target each time. So, why would I not always aim for the unarmored part?

Let's say the opponent has head/chest/gut protected. I would be
better off always aiming for the arms or legs if I want damage point reduction. The down side of doing this is that hits to those areas are less likely to produce results on a "specific wound" check because the saves are pretty good. OTOH, if I want significant specific wounds results for a quick "dismissal" from the fight, then I go for the gut/chest/head. I'll not do nearly as much damage but will have a better chance of a significant specific wound result should I role low enough.

For missile weapon, you get the benefit of the partial coverage due to the random nature of the targeting.

For those that have played this in a regular game, how does it play out? What do players usually do?

Thanks.

Aidan

[markkrawec]

You're not wrong about players preferring to shoot for the unarmored target, but then that's pretty much as it ought to be, isn't it?

Remember too that you can have a different amount of armor on different locations, so it may be worth your while to attack a torso in a leather jack (1 pt) rather than a head in an iron helmet (2 pts). So it can be a choice between scoring the easier hurt or going for the big prize.

One optional rule that The Grey Elf floated was a -3CS penalty for shots to the head, -2CS for the extremities (hands, feet) and -1CS for the limbs. Those of us with combat sport or martial arts experience can agree that hitting the head is a good deal harder than connecting with the body.

[paleryder]

Sounds good to me. I was toying with the idea of column shifts for attacking specific parts but I'm not sure. I know from escrima and japanese sword arts, the hands and limbs are good targets. The last thing a guy with a sword is thinking about is that you're going to hit his hands. A great modern movie example is Anakin Skywalker cutting the hands off of Count Dooku.

My problem, if you can call it that, is that you can take down all of the character's damage resistance by hitting arms and legs alone. Should there be a limit to the amount of damage a limb can take before it is useless and no longer an eligible target? One side of me says, yes, because it seems reasonable that at some point, regardless of specific damage results, the limbs going to fail. Another side says no, particularly regarding the legs.

I'm not trying to change the rules, just musing.

Aidan

[markkrawec]

Personally, I would say that even if a limb became useless, as long as it's still attached to the opponent it's an eligible target. Suppose one of Fighter A's arm's tendons get severed & it's just hanging there like a pastrami; Fighter B can still hack away at A's arm, causing pain & bleeding.

Short of cutting an artery, though, you're right. It's hard to imagine putting somebody out of commission just by battering their legs until they pass out. (Unless you count those muay thai guys who get knock outs by kicking their opponent in the hip.)