Location Damage

[Bellberith]

Alright, i have seen in most of the editions the idea of location damage.

Mostly that they mention regeneration (reattaching and regrowing limbs) in all of them. But i have always wondered how one would go about breaking/cutting off a bodypart.

is there a nice well-known houserule for this? i would allow a player to cut off / break someones bones in place of a coup de grace. because it makes sense instead of KILLING them you can give them almost any other sort of injury.

But it just seemed odd to me that they would have ways regenerate and heal bodyparts that with the systems would never be hurt to begin with.

[hymer]

I think it's a good idea to have that sort of thing in the game, despite no specific game mechanic using it. In that sense, it's a lot like Legend Lore and such. Sometimes people get something cut off. It can happen off stage in battle or accident. It could be because someone did it deliberately, like lobbing off a hand for thievery, or an ear to send as part of a threat to mail someone back in little pieces. Or because the players imported or invented some critical hit system, and suddenly there were bruised joints, broken bones and severed extremities that need magic to be fixed in an acceptable timeframe or at all.

[Shadow]

Under 5e rules, called shots would simply be attacks with disadvantage (or whatever else the DM decided, as it's his call).
At my table, I think I'd personally rule that the appendage in question may also have cover of varying degrees depending on how vital it was. In a mid-level fight and want to decapitate someone or shoot into an eye with a called shot on the first round of combat? Fine. His neck or eye has three quarters cover and you attack at disadvantage. Not an easy shot to make, but doable.

[Naanomi]

Limbs can be cut off in non-combat situations (your Rogue got caught thieving in the wrong town, eh?).

Traps and some Magic Items may be involved in de-limbing.

I'd guess some monsters have specific rules for removing their limbs (hydras?); or have rules to remove limbs of others (anything decapitating).

Crit-tables are a classic house-rule that is frequently feature such results.

[archaeo]

Alright, i have seen in most of the editions the idea of location damage.

Mostly that they mention regeneration (reattaching and regrowing limbs) in all of them. But i have always wondered how one would go about breaking/cutting off a bodypart.

is there a nice well-known houserule for this? i would allow a player to cut off / break someones bones in place of a coup de grace. because it makes sense instead of KILLING them you can give them almost any other sort of injury.

But it just seemed odd to me that they would have ways regenerate and heal bodyparts that with the systems would never be hurt to begin with.

The DMG will almost certainly contain optional rules governing wounds, if you want a firm set of mechanics to handle this.

I note that the PHB has a small sidebar on page 197 that says "An attack that reduces you to 0 hit points strikes you directly, leaving a bleeding injury or other trauma, or it simply knocks you unconscious." While I think it would be extremely harsh to hack off players' limbs every time they're reduced to 0 HP, it wouldn't be an unreasonable reading of the rules.

Personally, I like to do this kind of damage to players when they don't have access to resurrection or they've been abandoned by their allies. I would cheerfully say, "I'll let your character live if you don't want to reroll another one, but they will be maimed."

[Bellberith]

The DMG will almost certainly contain optional rules governing wounds, if you want a firm set of mechanics to handle this.

I note that the PHB has a small sidebar on page 197 that says "An attack that reduces you to 0 hit points strikes you directly, leaving a bleeding injury or other trauma, or it simply knocks you unconscious." While I think it would be extremely harsh to hack off players' limbs every time they're reduced to 0 HP, it wouldn't be an unreasonable reading of the rules.

Personally, I like to do this kind of damage to players when they don't have access to resurrection or they've been abandoned by their allies. I would cheerfully say, "I'll let your character live if you don't want to reroll another one, but they will be maimed."

that gave me inspiration to come up with a houserule system for it.

upon reaching 0 hp DM rolls % dice for trauma character sustains,

01 = dismemberment
02-10 = open fracture
11-20 = closed fracture
21-60 = large contusion
61-80 = minor contusion
81-100 = perfectly fine (still unconscious and unstable)

then roll a d6 for bodypart

1 = head
2 = torso
3 = right arm
4 = left arm
5 = right leg
6 = left leg

dismemberment = permanent (spells/abilities can fix)
open fracure = 1d4+1 weeks (permanent scars, spells/abilities can fix)
closed fracture = 1d4 weeks
contusion = 1d4+1 days
minor bruise = 1 day (long rest)

(spell/abilities can fix pertains to regen and spells with a similar effect)

Dismemberment on the head will result in loss of an eye or something. not death unless the character would have died through normal rules. For the duration of the injuries character have disadvantage on any rolls pertaining to that limb.

this system will force players to tell you if their characters are left or right handed..... and you can add "ambidextrous" to the dual wield feat (although it implies it to begin with).