The issue of careful aim for a bonus has come up. This is a good item to put in general rules for all to know. There are really two issues here:
1) Called Shot (where you aim at a particular body part), which is generally a -4 to hit.
2) Taking extra rounds to carefully aim, where you receive +2 to hit for each round you aim, up to a maximum of +4.
Other battle tactics may include:
BLOCK
DISARM
GRAB
OVERBEAR
PULL/TRIP
SHIELD PUNCH
SHIELD RUSH
SPECIAL WEAPON MANEUVER
TRAP (with weapon)
TRAP AND BREAK
UNARMED ATTACK
UNHORSE
ONE HANDED OR TWO HANDED/WEAPON FIGHTING STYLE
DETAILS:
CALLED SHOTS
A called shot is an attack at a specific location on the target. For example, a called shot can be used to attack the head of an enemy who isn't wearing a helm, the unarmored legs of a character wearing only a breastplate, or the special weakness of a monster with an Achilles' heel.
Called shots have to be announced before the attack roll is made. When the called shot is announced, the character's action phase is delayed by one category; a bowshot that would normally be in the average phase becomes a slow action if the archer decides to make a called shot. If you're not playing with the initiative system described in Chapter One, assume called shots receive a +1 initiative penalty.
Called shots normally present the attacker with a –4 penalty on his attack roll, but the DM can modify this for the circumstances. If the target is surprised or not expecting the attack, the called shot modifier may not apply at all. On the other hand, a particularly difficult called shot (stabbing an enemy through the eyeslit of his visor, for example) may inflict a –6 or even a –8 penalty to the attack roll. Called shots are disrupted if the character attempting it suffers a knockdown.
Although called shots are normally most useful for special combat effects, like breaking a beaker of acid in an evil wizard's hand, they can also be useful against partially unarmored opponents. An enemy in full plate mail with no helmet has an AC 10 head; it's easier to make the called shot with a –4 penalty against that AC 10 than to swing at the enemy's normal AC of 1. If a called shot is used to strike a specific body area and results in a critical hit, ignore the location die of the critical hit roll and just roll the effect for the area struck. (See Chapter Six for more information on critical hits.)
Called shots can also be used to fire missile weapons into a melee without
nearly as much risk of hitting an ally. If the called shot misses, no one else is in danger of being hit by the missile
, as follows:
if the shot would otherwise have hit your companion, first, check the distance between you and the companion hit. For every foot you are away from your companion, you have that percentage of hitting the companion.
For example, A shoots at Monster but through a critical would have hit companion B. Companion B is 20 feet away. A rolls 15% on percentile and hits B. If A had rolled 21% or higher, A would have missed B despite the critical hit.
As an optional rule, the DM may allow called shots to be used to force an automatic retreat or knockdown effect, rather than inflict damage.
CAREFUL AIM
PLEASE NOTE RULE CHANGE AS OF 7/7/10
OOC: I am not aware of any particular rule regarding this, so I adapted this rule from the GURPS rules.
Part of the change in this rule comes from my reading the combat and tactics book, which provides further information on called shots as resulting in initiative delays, which should also apply to careful aim, which is very similar to a called shot in form and substance.
A character may take time to take "careful aim" with a projectile or thrown weapon.
The character may take up to two rounds of careful aim. For each round aiming, the character receives +2 to hit. A character gains a +1 bonus for each shot forfeited, up to a total of 2 rounds or +4 to hit, whichever comes first. However, the character loses all benefits of careful aim if he is hit or distracted during the careful aim,
but can fire as normal.
If the weapon or individual has multiple attacks, this bonus applies to half the number of attacks.
<i>For example, Grog the Barbarian attacks twice per round. He may forfeit one of those and only attack once per round for a
+2 bonus +1 bonus to throw his dagger. Merlin has only one attack per round. He must skip the entire round and attack with normal initiative next round or
with the initiative modifier from a called shot (+1) to get careful aim to throw his dagger.
With this rule, initiative becomes more important than normal because you can aim for an entire round and still lose out on the benefit if you lose initiative and are hit first on the next round.
RULES LIST OF COMBAT MODIFIERS:
Combat Modifiers
Situation Modifier Attack Roll
Attacker on higher ground +1
Defender invisible -4
Defender off-balance +2
Defender sleeping or held Automatic*
Defender stunned or prone +4
Defender surprised +1
Missile fire, long range -5
Missile fire, medium range -2
Rear attack +2
*If the defender is attacked during the course of a normal melee, the
attack automatically hits and causes normal damage. If no other fighting is
going on (i.e., all others have been slain or driven off), the defender can be slain automatically.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:20, Thu 23 Dec 2010.