Hit locations and major wounds in old school dnd
DISCLAIMER: this post is written more as a game design exercise, the mechanics are not play tested and likely won't be for a while (as I'm busy with my own rules)
My heartbreaker ruleset has a simple hit location system that I like to leverage for monster design, tactical duel or simple narrative fluff. I am however fully aware that regardless of the quality of my system, it won't be used by many, and thus I cannot share and design some of my monsters and weapons while using these specificities.
That was what led me to think about creating such a subsystem compatible with the most popular old school games. My design goal were to add tools to determine hit location without adding any roll and graft a wound system that doesn't add too much bookkeeping. The Blackmoor supplement already attempted to add hit location but the rules were horribly clunky, I don't know anyone who used them. I tried to push the idea in another direction.
We will use the hit roll and damage roll results of an attack to deduce hit location and wound severity, it makes sense and it uses pre existing rolls.
Most of the time, when you want to use these tables (and it should probably not be used for EVERY combat), you will use the first column that is used for an attack not aimed at any limb in particular, use the other columns if the character aims for a specific limb.
The shaak'uyh won initiative and make 4 attacks (one per tentacle), 3 miss but one hits Tobias and grapples him, the referee does not use the hit location rules because they don't add much for this action.
On the next turn, Tobias can't act until freed so Shewenn tries to cut the tentacle, she rolls a 16 to hit and 7 damage with her sword, on column 2 (the tentacle is a medium limb) 16 strikes the intended target, the tentacle has an AC of 9 so the hit is successful. Since the damage roll is 7 it's a major wound, it cuts the tentacle as well. If the hit had been on the shell, no damage would have been dealt due to the lower AC (2).
Tobias use this opportunity to attack the creature 20 to hit and 4 damage, Tobias successfully stabs the crack in the shell (20 on the first column for unaimed hit), but the damage being too low it does not kill the creature outright (no major wound).
Next turn, the shaak'uyh will only attack thrice due to the missing tentacle...
Are these rules good ? I don't know, hit location is not something that naturally fits with the dnd paradigm, these rules still require the referee to look up an additional table and the players to track major wounds. Besides, they make combat more volatile (which I like, but it is an acquired taste). However I think they touch on interesting ideas such as overloading the hit rolls, and even if they do not look like rules you would like to use, I hope they still spark some ideas and show what simple hit locations can bring to SOME encounters.
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