Topic: Critical Changes!

[jasonbrisbane]

Hi All,

Our group has noticed that the HARP critical tables, in all the various incantations (Core, ML, H&S, etc) tend to have great flavor text but nothing in the way of "nerve damage", sliced muscle and tendons, punctured lung or any other specific critical damage.

I have noticed this for a long time and was thinking about tackling this issue.

The best way I can think of is to use the Optional Hit Locations table in Harp Core (the Called shots rule?) and then come up with other  actual damage that can be done in each location.

(i.e. legs and arms have nerves, muscle, tendons, bones, arteries and veins as well as joints and digits; chest and abdomen have nerves, organs, muscle, bones, tendons. Head has eyes, ears, mouth, muscle, skin, bone, arteries, veins).

Has anyone thought of this and created a few tables (or more?) with this type of system?

NB: the idea is to provide more detail in combat that healers can target for healing and for healing times....

Any table for the relevant location (limbs, body, & head) would be a purely random chance (1-10) since  combat means that the middle,left or right of the location may be hit...

Ideas? Comments?

[Elessar]

I use CCS (HB11 & 12) just for critical descriptions, and for the pleasure to roll the critical.
Maybe some of them could be adjusted to H&S or ML systems.

[calmacil]

I think i might have a go at modifying the crit tables as well jason. I'm not keen on H&S myself, i like combats with shields smashing and weapons dropping, sparks flying off armour.
I think a more dangerous version of Martial Law would work for me. I don't like it that a PC in plate armour takes very few injuries up to 85 on the crit table.

I use CCS HB11

That's the old M.e.r.p crit charts  brings back fond memories.

[Umpteenth]

Hi All,

Our group has noticed that the HARP critical tables, in all the various incantations (Core, ML, H&S, etc) tend to have great flavor text but nothing in the way of "nerve damage", sliced muscle and tendons, punctured lung or any other specific critical damage.

I have noticed this for a long time and was thinking about tackling this issue.

The best way I can think of is to use the Optional Hit Locations table in Harp Core (the Called shots rule?) and then come up with other  actual damage that can be done in each location.

(i.e. legs and arms have nerves, muscle, tendons, bones, arteries and veins as well as joints and digits; chest and abdomen have nerves, organs, muscle, bones, tendons. Head has eyes, ears, mouth, muscle, skin, bone, arteries, veins).

Has anyone thought of this and created a few tables (or more?) with this type of system?

NB: the idea is to provide more detail in combat that healers can target for healing and for healing times....

Any table for the relevant location (limbs, body, & head) would be a purely random chance (1-10) since  combat means that the middle,left or right of the location may be hit...

Ideas? Comments?

Our group has noticed the same issue. Theres no use for some herbs or spells in the criticals we use. We were used to the former ICE product (OoP) MERP and we still miss the the tendons torns, shattered knees.

We could just get the old tabbles and apply, plain and simple, but we dont want to miss neither the armor by parts nor the called shots.

We had rehersal to do a critical tabble that allow both locations and more specific conditions but never done it quite. It would be a really good improvement.

[calmacil]

Here's a basic formula that i'm working on. I prefer hitting locations (like in Martial Law) but i don't like the way PC's in plate armour are basically immune in those tables.


I'm going to use the basic crits from the Harp Core rulebook, then this is modified by the area hit.


The location you hit is determined by a single attack roll (same as Martial Law)
The tens dice is left or right (odds=left, even=right)
The unit dice will tell you the location;
1=feet, 2=legs, 3=hands, 4=arms, 5=groin, 6=abdomen, 7=chest/back, 8=shoulders/upperarms, 9=neck, 10=head

Called Shot. You declare before you roll what modifier you wish to have. Each +1/-1 is a -20 to OB ..... (not sure about this number, still working on it. It's -10 in the book) So, an example ... if i see a warrior with plate breastplate, no leg greaves, leather boots, a plate helmet and leather gaunlets i might think "right i want to hit him on the legs to slow him down" So i declare a called shot of +/- 3, that's -60 OB but i can go up or down the chart by 3 steps. My attack roll is 84, normally hitting his right arm. I decide to modify the roll with my called shot, lower it by 2 and hit his exposed right leg.



I'll use the slash crit results as an example;
51-60 = 16H
61-70 = 18H, 1S, -10
71-80 = 20H, 1S, 1B,-15

Those are the basic crit results from Harp Core. In my system those results are the same as hitting the Chest/Back. If you hit another area there's a simple modification for each area (eg. Head/Neck= +10H, 1S, 1B, -10) So that means if i get a result of 77 and hit the foes head it'll be 30H, 2S, 2B, -25 ........ All the minuses represent either tendons cut (slash crits) bones broken (crush crits)

Please note..... you won't have to work out the modified location hit. A crit table with 5 columns (legs/feet, head/neck, etc) will be written.

Here's what i'm thinking of using as modifiers for each area;
Head/Neck - +10H, 1S, 1B, -10
Hands/Arms - 5H, 1B
Legs/Feet - 3H, -10
Chest/Back - as normal core crits
Abdomen/Groin - 8H, 1S



The area hit is modified by the protection/armour (similar to Martial Law, but changed slightly. I thought plate was too good)
No Armour = +15H, 1S, 2B, extra -10
Soft Leather = +10H, 1S, 1B, extra -5
Rigid Leather = +5H, 1B
Chain = as normal
Reinforced Chain = -5H, -1B, -5 less
Plate = -10H, -1S, -2B, -10 less


I'm currently working on all the descriptions. (smashed knees, cut tendons, teeth knocked out etc)

[tuanamar]

I am using one small crit table [T to H for the different weapons] which gives as in the RM system A-E crits. These are applied to the RM crit tables (Slash/Crsh etc). Quite simple and fast, disadvantage the same old story of aiming or strategic attacking  (not possible).

[jurasketu]

In a fit of madness, I wrote a hit point-less injury and healing system (some 10+ pages plus charts). But that is beside that point, except that one of the basic principles of the system is that I use the unmodified roll as the location. The theory being that better rolls usually result in more serious injuries and hence the location chart reflects that. Obviously, one could always use a separate location roll. Instead of left/right, I prefer leading/trailing and front/back where leading/front is usually the primary weapon side. [I also have four levels of severity based upon the modified combat roll (i.e. critical) - again beside the point just to know where I'm coming from]. I actually have different location charts for combat attacks and "area of effect" type attacks.

So...


   1 - 10: Front Foot
  11 - 25: Front Leg
  26 - 40: Leading Arm
  41 - 45: Trailing Hand
  46 - 50: Leading Hand
  51 - 60: Trailing Arm
  61 - 70: Back Leg
  71 - 80: Lower Torso
  81 - 90: Upper Torso
  91 - 95: Skull
 96 - 125: Groin
126 - 150: Face
151 - 180: Neck
     181+: Eyes

Area of Effect/Magic
 1 - 20: Legs
21 - 40: Arms
41 - 50: Lower Torso
51 - 60: Upper Torso
61 - 75: Lower Body
76 - 90: Upper Body
91 - 95: Face
    96+: Entire Body

For combat, I allow three modifiers to "choose" location... This has to be selected before the attack roll...

-25 Choose rolled location or a second optional random location roll.
-50 Select location 1 - 95
-75 Select ANY location from the chart.

Since the locations are relatively specific - armor adjustments (reduction of stun, bleeding, etc) to the critical results can be used in a simple but detailed (ie properly cinematic) fashion. The detailed critical text then makes healing/disability more sensible and easier to role-play. Since location is inherent part of the critical charts - all the critical descriptions incorporate that into the text. More interestingly, a maximum severity critical to a limb doesn't kill the victim directly - but the limb is usually severed or horribly mangled.

[Ecthelion]

Like Elessar I also prefer the combat system from HB11&12. IMHO all the other HARP combat systems are just inferior to the Rolemaster or ME RP combat systems.

YMMV

[Kasdaye]

I use the H&S tables for the sheer lethality of them. I still use location damage modifiers also, however I tend to make up the damage descriptions on the fly to keep things interesting.

I use the bleeding and maneuver penalty as a rough guide of whether to insert any nerve \ organ \ bone damage, and make up descriptions depending on the situation.

So far it has worked well as it makes the combat nice and cinematic. If we'd stuck to the descriptions on the tables one of the PC's would have had his collar bone broken at least 4 times in the last couple of sessions!