Topic: Called Shots

[Dalewarrior]

I was thinking about the great bonuses that a user of mentalism gets when wearing armor but no helmet, if there are no called shots. I remembered the GURPS system, which is quite simple.

Called shots, Adapted from GURPS, 3rd Ed., p. 203:

Head without helmet: -50 OB to hit; add +15 to the Critical Roll. Read critical results as if they were located in the head.
Head with helmet: -75 OB; add +20 to the Critical Roll. Read critical results as if they were located in the head.
Eyes: -90 OB; +30 to the Critical Roll.
Eyes through helm?s slit: -100; add +30 to the Critical Roll.
Arm, shield :-40, Damage over HPs? total/2 cripples arm. Excess damage is lost;
Hand, weapon arm: -40; Damage over HPs? total /3 cripples hand. Excess damage is lost.
Hand, shield arm: -80 OB; Damage over HPs? total /3 cripples hand. Excess damage is lost.
Legs: -20 OB; Damage over HPs? total /3 cripples hand. Excess damage is lost.
Vital organs (in torso): -40 OB; Impaling weapons that hit add +10 to the Critical Roll.

[Fenrhyl Wulfson]

If you get "called shots" should I get "called parry" then?

If the defender know his left hand is unprotected he would be pretty dumb to not protect it, right?

The very basis of fencing.

Called shots in armed fighting is nearly impossible. You strike where you can. Only when you successfully push aside your opponents defence may you strike at will (a rare event). You may also try and successfully lure the opponent into some moves and strike him where you planned (that's the key to most "secret strikes" like Jarnac's or Nevers')... the whole affair is risky as most people won't react the same way in front of the same move.

The problem is that most players are unaware of these facts and still want to do called shots. After a bit of thinking, I came to the conclusion that "looking like doing calculations in my head and then interpreting the critical result in a satisfactory way" (or not, if I decide the player did not have the opportunity to strike where he wanted) was a far sufficient rule ^^.

I know it's evil. I just can't keep from doing it.

[GrumpyOldFart]

If you get "called shots" should I get "called parry" then?
If the defender know his left hand is unprotected he would be pretty dumb to not protect it, right?

The very basis of fencing.

Called shots in armed fighting is nearly impossible. You strike where you can. Only when you successfully push aside your opponents defence may you strike at will (a rare event). You may also try and successfully lure the opponent into some moves and strike him where you planned (that's the key to most "secret strikes" like Jarnac's or Nevers')... the whole affair is risky as most people won't react the same way in front of the same move.

Exactly. About the only way anyone gets to call their shot in the real world is by "programming" the opponent, in other words repeating a series of motions you've done before so the opponent "knows what to expect", and then when his body language shows he is "in the pattern", changing it. Either that or bypass the opponent's defense so completely that you can choose, and being so fast that you CAN choose in the perhaps 1/3 of a second you have before he recovers. In both cases, highly difficult to get the opportunity, and an incredibly narrow time window to take advantage of said opportunity once you get it.

The problem is that most players are unaware of these facts and still want to do called shots. After a bit of thinking, I came to the conclusion that "looking like doing calculations in my head and then interpreting the critical result in a satisfactory way" (or not, if I decide the player did not have the opportunity to strike where he wanted) was a far sufficient rule ^^.
I know it's evil. I just can't keep from doing it.

I got lucky, pretty much all of my players for the last 25+ years have been in the SCA. They knew better.
I think I had ONE person want to call shots. I just said, "Okay, so if you don't get a chance at the target you want, what happens? Gonna take whatever you can get, or gonna pass up the shot to wait for the one you *want*?"
"Take what I can get."

End of problem.

[Fenrhyl Wulfson]

Smart thinking!

I'll do the same from now on.