Called shots on MDC creatures

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Whiskeyjack
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Called shots on MDC creatures

Unread post by Whiskeyjack »

I can't seem to locate rules for making a called shot to the head/eye/arm of supernatural creatures. Is there a listing in one of the books I haven't seen, or is it not published anywhere?
Mainly looking for damage rules along with penalties for taking a called shot to the face.
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drewkitty ~..~
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Re: Called shots on MDC creatures

Unread post by drewkitty ~..~ »

There are none....unless they came out with the beasteries.
You could use the old body armor divisions. I'm pretty sure there is someone here who remembers where they are hidden.
May you be blessed with the ability to change course when you are off the mark.
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Re: Called shots on MDC creatures

Unread post by Killer Cyborg »

Whiskeyjack wrote:I can't seem to locate rules for making a called shot to the head/eye/arm of supernatural creatures. Is there a listing in one of the books I haven't seen, or is it not published anywhere?
Mainly looking for damage rules along with penalties for taking a called shot to the face.


There's some info in Dinosaur Swamps.
Other than that, all we really have is the standard "-x for firing at a small target" rules.
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ShadowLogan
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Re: Called shots on MDC creatures

Unread post by ShadowLogan »

Whiskeyjack wrote:I can't seem to locate rules for making a called shot to the head/eye/arm of supernatural creatures. Is there a listing in one of the books I haven't seen, or is it not published anywhere?
Mainly looking for damage rules along with penalties for taking a called shot to the face.

AFAIK the Called Shot rules are generic and do not have anything like specialized aspects for SN creatures. Rifts WB26 Dinosaur Swamp (pg10-3) and Rifts Conversion Book 1 (Revised, pg20-3) might have applicable rules to help in terms of penalties and effects for those w/o "by location" damage breakdowns (RCB1r is far better than WB26 in this regard).

The biggest place for an idea on penalties would be looking at the MDC by Location break down for Giant Robots, Power Armor, and Borg Frames. You might have to research a bunch to find everything your looking for in terms of penalties to strike. They can also give you an idea on possible side effects as they have optional random tables to roll on if enough damage is done (some adjustments will be necessary as the tables are for mechanical devices and not "fleshy" SN creatures).
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Whiskeyjack
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Re: Called shots on MDC creatures

Unread post by Whiskeyjack »

So if there is no canon rule, how would you house rule a gargoyle taking a 1D6x10 MD laser to the eye? Instant kill, double or triple damage? Something else?
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Re: Called shots on MDC creatures

Unread post by Killer Cyborg »

Whiskeyjack wrote:So if there is no canon rule, how would you house rule a gargoyle taking a 1D6x10 MD laser to the eye? Instant kill, double or triple damage? Something else?


There are canon rules for handling that KIND of thing.
There are not specific rules for eye-shots and such.
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drewkitty ~..~
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Re: Called shots on MDC creatures

Unread post by drewkitty ~..~ »

drewkitty ~..~ wrote:There are none....unless they came out with the beasteries.
You could use the old body armor divisions. I'm pretty sure there is someone here who remembers where they are hidden.

My apologies I was reading the OP as if asking about the division of the Total MDC to each body part.
May you be blessed with the ability to change course when you are off the mark.
Each question should be give the canon answer 1st, then you can proclaim your house rules.
Reading and writing (literacy) is how people on BBS interact.
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Re: Called shots on MDC creatures

Unread post by Shark_Force »

Whiskeyjack wrote:So if there is no canon rule, how would you house rule a gargoyle taking a 1D6x10 MD laser to the eye? Instant kill, double or triple damage? Something else?


I'd probably have them be in an exceptional amount of pain and be blinded in that eye (and would also have that happen from a weaker blast).

there's a skill from the splicers setting called vital points that you could use.

in summary, choose one of the following (before the roll): +3 to called shot roll, +3 to disarm, +4 to pin/incapacitate, knockout/stun on unmodified 16-20, critical hit on unmodified 18-20.

of those options, the knockout/stun seems the most like what you're going for, or possibly the improved chance for a critical hit.

I am disinclined to allow instant kill, because it is bad for the game in my opinion; my perspective is that if one side can use it, the other side can potentially use it (presuming they are willing to pay the costs... a crazed cultist may be willing to chop off a finger as part of a spell that transforms the finger into a powerful minion, but I suspect many PCs will balk at that).

so in my games, either NPCs can make a called shot and instantly kill your PCs, or the PCs can't make called shots and instantly kill NPCs... and since the former is really not good for the game, I use the latter instead.
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Re: Called shots on MDC creatures

Unread post by guardiandashi »

if you look at the compendium of contemporary weapons I believe there are guidelines for "hit tables" for people and damage multipliers for certain locations that may make sense
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Re: Called shots on MDC creatures

Unread post by hup7 »

One of my house rules is all "living" creatures have HP (even if those HP are MDC).

So dragons have HP as well as their MDC. Yes, once their MDC is depleted an MDC weapon still inflicts MDC to their HP on a 1:1 basis. However this does give a HP amount for creatures which can count in certain important situations.

Golems, undead, demons, etc... they don't get HP because it doesn't matter. Yes, you blow the leg off an undead / construct it slows it down but it is not going to bleed to death.

And yes a dragon will bioregenerate fast enough for blood loss not to be an issue but it does help to have a HP value to consider for certain spells and abilities.

This is just a house rule we have been using since we started playing ... actually I think we started doing something similar in Robotech back in the late 80s.
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ShadowLogan
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Re: Called shots on MDC creatures

Unread post by ShadowLogan »

Whiskeyjack wrote:So if there is no canon rule, how would you house rule a gargoyle taking a 1D6x10 MD laser to the eye? Instant kill, double or triple damage? Something else?

This is how I would treat it (generic) based on canon examples:
-6 to Strike on a Called Shot (D&G pg21 entry on attacking a Basilisk's eye, oddly doesn't state how much damage it would take to blind it), this is pre-RUE Called Shot system (adjustments might be necessary).
-IF Successful, I would treat it as part of the head for damage purposes: x2 damage (RCB1r pg23, though if SDC/HP it would be both 1x SDC and 0.5x HP, x2 is just easier to work with for single source MDC that 1.5x)
--for side effects of a successful strike, I'd roll on pg23 RCB1r in addition to being partially blinded (I'd rule 1/2 penalties for blind if you still have functioning eyes) IF damage was more than 2-3% of the total SDC/HP (or main body MDC) going off of Splyn's MDC location ratios in WB2 (pg39) and Tree Spider in WB14(pg164). That last part is flexible IMHO (I don't have anything to establish this is a normal ratio or not, and no other creatures comes to mind other than Eyes of Eylor) and results (in general) such low value it could almost be ignored.
--side effects would remain in place until it could be healed (bio-regeneration) or replaced (Bio-Wizard, Cybernetic)
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