Called Shot

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Every Achilles has his heel. Humanoids in particular have lots of important squishy parts. Some monstrous creatures have far fewer. A Called Shot is an attack that targets a specific location on your opponent to exploit its weaknesses and disable it somehow. For instance, you want to shoot the gun out of someone's hand, or use a whip to slice open a spellcaster's tongue. One good swing to the liver or to the temple will drop most folks. These stunning weaknesses of anatomy can be exploited in combat to subdue your foes while keeping them alive… probably.

Making a called shot imposes a penalty to the Attack Roll. The smaller the body part, the higher the penalty. If your penalized Attack Roll beats the defender's Evasion Roll and you deal damage, the defender must make a Stamina check against a DL of 10 + any damage dealt. If the defender's Stamina check is a failure, the body part is considered disabled and bad things happen. If it's a Critical Failure, even worse things happen. A surprise attack can tip the odds in your favor — an opponent with the wide-eyed condition who fails the Stamina check experiences the result of a Critical Failure. If the defender's Guard check to resist damage is a Critical Failure and the Stamina check to resist effects is also a Critical Failure, the GM might impose the penalty permanently or decide the body part in question is severed clean off.

In this case, Size matters. If a larger creature performs a Called Shot against a smaller creature, more damage will be dealt, which will raise the Stamina check DL. If a larger creature is the target of a Called Shot from a smaller creature, the larger one gains a +4 bonus to the Stamina check for every point of difference in Size. Creatures with a bonus large enough to meet or exceed the DL are not subject to any Critical Failure penalties listed below.

Head and Abdomen

A haymaker to the jaw or to the guts is a quick way to put somebody down, but it's tough to do in one blow. A Called Shot to the head or to the abdomen must be done with a bludgeoning weapon (including hand-to-hand) and imposes a −4 penalty to the Attack Roll. An opponent who fails the Stamina check moves one step down the Knockout Track. An opponent whose Stamina check is a Critical Failure moves all the way down the Knockout Track and immediately gains the unconscious condition.

Eyes and Ears

Here's mud in your eye! A Called Shot to the eye or to the ear imposes a −8 penalty to the Attack Roll. An opponent who fails the Stamina check temporarily loses use of the organ and gains the distracted condition until the damage is healed, not to mention a black eye or a ruptured eardrum. An opponent whose Stamina check is a Critical Failure also gains the stunned condition.

If both eyes become disabled, the defender gains the blinded condition. If both ears become disabled, the defender gains the deafened condition. Once the damage is healed, the defender's hearing and vision return to normal.

Tongue

This maneuver is quite hard to perform and somewhat unsettling to watch. A Called Shot to the tongue must be done with a slashing or piercing weapon and imposes a −8 penalty to the Attack Roll. An opponent who fails the Stamina check gains the muted condition until the damage is healed. An opponent whose Stamina check is a Critical Failure also gains a Bleeding Wound.

Hands

"I said drop it!" A Called Shot to the hand imposes a −4 penalty to the Attack Roll. An opponent who fails the Stamina check immediately drops any weapon or object held solely in that hand. He also takes a −2 penalty to Grip checks until the damage is healed. An opponent whose Stamina check is a Critical Failure loses use of the hand for any purpose as long as it remains damaged.

Legs

Most creatures are pretty ambulatory until they take an arrow to the knee. A Called Shot to the leg imposes a −2 penalty to the Attack Roll. An opponent who fails the Stamina check gains the hampered condition until the damage is healed. An opponent whose Stamina check is a Critical Failure trips and gains the prone condition, but can attempt to stand back up as long as they have a healthy leg to stand on.

If all of the defender's legs become disabled, the target gains the prone condition and won't be able to stand unassisted until the damage is healed.