Alternate Hit Location

Alternate Section 4.35:
Hit Location
Date: October 2005
By: Gordon A. Cooper


Wounds and Hit Locations

If a character is injured generally or a wound is sustained to the torso, the damage is marked on the character's wound track normally. If a specific hit location other than the torso is injured, the location and severity of the wound is noted on the character sheet, but the wound track is not marked (unless, optionally, the wound is to the head).

Alternatively, a separate wound track may be used for each major location, e.g. Head, Torso, Left Arm, Right Arm, Left Leg, Right Leg.

Penalties are applied only to the use of the injured hit location in question, except when the injury is general or sustained to the torso, in which case the penalty may be applied to some or all actions, and may be cumulative with the use of other injured hit locations. For example, a character might have a Hurt arm (-1 to all actions using that arm) and also be Hurt generally (-1 to all actions). The character could reasonably expect to be penalized with a -1 using his Jumping skill, or a -2 using his Fencing skill with his injured arm.

Separate healing rolls are required for each wounded hit location. Some wounds heal faster than others, and some doctors are better at treating certain kinds of wounds.

Called Hit Locations

Hit locations, if taken into account by a GM and not aimed at by a character, are determined randomly, by GM's whim, or default to the opponent's torso or main body. If a player character targets a specific hit location, however, that attack is said to be called. A called attack (or shot, or strike, or hit) is made when the player character declares the hit location to be targeted before rolling the dice. The GM then announces the minimum relative degree required to hit the designated location and the player character proceeds to roll for the attack. If the attack succeeds, but not by the required relative degree, then the defender determines the hit location and its consequences are resolved normally. This method is used regardless of whether the attack is an opposed or unopposed action. In the case of unopposed actions such as ranged attacks, the relative degree is the difference between the result and the difficulty level of the attack. I tend to use a +4 relative degree requirement for all called attacks, but the following relative degree requirements are offered for those who desire to differentiate between target sizes.

Large Area (e.g. arm, leg, chest, abdomen)	+3
Medium Area (e.g. hand, foot, neck, head)	+4
Small Area (e.g. eye, ear, nose, finger)	+5 or higher

Random Hit Locations


2dF Method

Hit locations are determined randomly by rolling 2dF and consulting the chart below. The first die determines the wound's vertical orientation; the second die determines its horizontal orientation. It can be handy to use two dice of different colors, e.g. if the first die is blue and the second is red, one can remember the order alphabetically.

(Note: This is a slightly altered version of the method created by George Harnish.)

	1st dF	2nd dF
+	High	Right
0	Middle	Center
-	Low	Left

The following chart can be used to determine hit locations for most bipeds.

	-	0	+
+	Left Arm	Head	Right Arm
0	Torso	Torso	Torso
-	Left Leg	Torso	Right Leg

d6 Method

This method allows for a level of detail that can be extended or retracted from game to game, battle to battle, or even from one individual attack to the next. Upon each roll of a single die, one has the option to stop or roll again for greater detail (up to a point). The presence of an asterisk (*) indicates that one may roll on the next appropriate table if one wishes. One starts by rolling 1d6.

Initial Roll (1d6)
1-3	Torso or Head*
4-6	Limb*
Torso or Head (1d6)
1-5	Torso*
6	Head*
Torso (1d6)
1-3	Lower*
4-6	Upper*
Lower Torso (1d6)
1-3	Left
4-6	Right
Upper Torso (1d6)
1-3	Left
4-6	Right
Head (1d6)
1-2	Neck
3-4	Jaw
5-6	Skull*
Skull (1d6)
1-3	General
4-6	Specific*
Skull Specific (1d6)
1	Left Eye
2	Left Ear
3	Nose
4	Mouth
5	Right Eye
6	Right Ear
Limb (1d6)
1-3	Leg*
4-6	Arm*
Leg (1d6)
1-3	Left*
4-6	Right*
Part of Leg (1d6)
1-3	Lower*
4-6	Upper*
Lower Leg (1d6)
1-2	Foot*
3-4	Ankle
5-6	Calf/Shin
Upper Leg (1d6)
1-2	Knee
3-4	Thigh
5-6	Hip
Foot (1d6)
1-3	Foot
4-6	Toe*
Toe (1d6)
1	Hallux (Big Toe)
2	Second Toe
3	Third Toe
4	Fourth Toe
5	Fifth Toe
6	Miss!
Arm (1d6)
1-3	Left*
4-6	Right*
Part of Arm (1d6)
1-3	Lower*
4-6	Upper*
Lower Arm (1d6)
1-2	Hand*
3-4	Wrist
5-6	Forearm
Upper Arm (1d6)
1-2	Elbow
3-4	Upper Arm
5-6	Shoulder
Hand (1d6)
1-3	Hand
4-6	Digit*
Digit (1d6)
1	Thumb
2	Index Finger
3	Middle Finger
4	Ring Finger
5	Little Finger
6	Miss!