Blackmoor; much bookkeeping?

[Deleted]

I´m soon starting a campaign and wandering about hit locations. Adding that; Would add bookkeeping?, it´s seems so, but not sure.

[Red Baron]

Hit locations are very useful aerial combat as they allow flyers to be grounded.

In ground combat, hit locations are a nuisance.

[Finarvyn]

Hit locations add a lot of lethality to the game. There is some more book-keeping, but not that much. The big question is if the book-keeping and lethality are the style you want to create.

In one of my campaigns I wanted to simulate something like Moorcock's Corum books, where the main character lost a hand and an eye and got them replaced by magical artifacts. I can't do this with a standard hit point system, but it works better with hit location. Also, having characters hobbled as they try to run from monsters works better with hit location. Just something to ponder.

[scottenkainen]

I've never had the chance to play D&D with this or any variant hit location system. I'd be interested in hearing anymore about how it works. Are PCs all crippled and maimed by 5th level?

[Finarvyn]

Not too far from truth, Scott. Each body part has only a fraction of the character's total HP, so even cartoony characters can get damaged in a hurry if the blow is dealt to the wrong body part. I tend to rule that just reaching zero HP in a body part doesn't make it lopped off vorpal-style but it does make that body part out of action for a while. Head wounds make you unconscious but arm or leg wounds are more of an annoyance if you want to wield a sword or use a shield or run from a foe. In some ways it makes the game a lot more fun, but it depends upon the players.

[kenmeister]

For a time I played with the critical hit charts from the 2E book "Combat & Tactics". You could pretty much count on one character losing a limb per adventure. Hordes of foes become scarier, because that means more to hit rolls and more chances for a critical on the player.