Sever Limb [Feat]

[Nostri]

This is a feat I just came up with so it's very rough currently but I think it's a bit balanced. I'll look over it again later when I have more time as currently I'm going to be late for class.

Sever Limb
Whether though a precision strike or just brute force you have learned how to reliably sever an opponant's limb.
Prereqs: Power Attack, Cleave, Strength 15+, BAB +8
Benefit: By taking a -10 to attack with Power Attack you can choose to sever you opponant's limb instead of dealing damage to the creature with your attack. Instead you make an attack on the limb dealing damage to it equal to your regular damage. Each limb has a separate hit point total equal to 1/2th the total hit points of the opponant. (Example: John the fighter is fighting a troll. The troll normally has 40 HP and thus it's limbs each have 20 hit points. He makes a sever limb attempt by taking a -10 to his attack modifier and hits. He then rolls damage as normal with his longsword without the benefit of the -5 from Power Attack.) There are several effects this could have depending on which limb is severed- if an arm is removed the target looses the ability to use two handed weapons, make both claw attacks, etc. If it's the leg of a bipedal creature speed goes down by half (rounded down), if it's the leg of a quadraped speed goes down by 1/4 (rounded down). The loss of a wing prevents flight, etc.
Special:The target of this feat must have decirnable limbs to attack. For example a zombie while not normally effected by this kind of precision damage would be effected by this while and ooze which could simply form another pseudopod to attack wouldn't. Also any special qualities that the target as a whole has (damage reduction, hardness, etc) the limb also has and the character using the feat will have to bypass as normal.

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EDIT: Upped the prereqs to include BAB. Increased the penalty to hit to -10 and the damage one needs to deal to 1/2 the creature's HP.

[Behold_the_Void]

-5 penalty to easily cripple an opponent? Yes please!

Called shots are really hard to adjudicate, they get broken really easily. Also, since it wasn't stated explicitly, I could see someone arguing for a headshot with this, i.e. a -5 penalty to instakill.

[FireSpark]

-5 penalty to easily cripple an opponent? Yes please!

Called shots are really hard to adjudicate, they get broken really easily. Also, since it wasn't stated explicitly, I could see someone arguing for a headshot with this, i.e. a -5 penalty to instakill.

Which means that the feat should probably have some sort of defining text, to just briefly point out what exactly constitutes a limb.

[BisectedBrioche]

I'm quite sure that no definition of "limb" includes one's head. Unless of course there's a creature I haven't heard about where the neck and a limb are one and the same....

[smart thog]

I am pretty sure that a head is not a limb. If the target had a long neck (Like a giraffe) then you could sounder it, but probably with a larger penalty. Same should go for Mind flayer tentacles.

[Behold_the_Void]

I will also note, having used a system like this for my Bleach D20, that the ability to sever limbs at will can be absolutely crippling, especially at higher levels. Even at the numbers I use (1/5th, based off the Hydra), removing limbs from a target is exceedingly easy. With enough attacks, you can chop a creature down to an essentially helpless state with little difficulty, and a -5 penalty isn't as big as one might think for the massive advantages it allows.

[Charlie Kemek]

Does a leg have the same AC as you? shouldn't it have a different AC?

[StickMan]

Yea way overpowered. The penalty should be much higher and should have a BAB requirement of at least 10. Might also be a good idea to provoke attacks of opportunity. Even then very over powered perhaps.

[MCerberus]

Yes this seems much too easy to completely crush people with.



Oh and since nobody else said it but I *know* everyone is thinking it:

It's only a flesh wound.

[ForzaFiori]

Yes this seems much too easy to completely crush people with.



Oh and since nobody else said it but I *know* everyone is thinking it:

It's only a flesh wound.

maybe they should add in that if you do this, the battle can only end in a draw...

[Caewil]

I would make it like the sever limb more like the talent from SAGA. Ie: It only works if your attack would otherwise bring the opponent to 0 hp and below. then drop the -5 penalty and allow the opponent to make a fort save (DC = damage dealt) to negate the effect.

[Blanks]

If the hit point was divided by a smaller number it would be less overpowered.

IE
troll has 40 hit points, Bob the fighter takes -5 to attack and deals (40*1/2=20) damage and severs an arm.

[Khoran]

I'm not going to go into the balance on this, but Improved Sunder should be one of the pre-reqs.

Also, Armor's Hardness applying to this attack might not be a bad idea.

[Nostri]

Re-reading it I think it was a better concept then as I statted it out. I like the ideas to increase both the damage one deals to the limb and the minus to hit as well. Not sure how much I like making Improved Sunder one of the prereqs or adding the armor's hardness either. Because while it makes sense I'd like someone to be able to take this that isn't necessarily a fighter.

As for adding the definition of a limb...I'm pretty sure that's fairly straight forward since every limb I've every heard of was used for locomotion or to manipulate and object. I think I'd laugh if one of my players tried to decapitate something with this feat and then tell them no but nice try.

[Khoran]

Re-reading it I think it was a better concept then as I statted it out. I like the ideas to increase both the damage one deals to the limb and the minus to hit as well. Not sure how much I like making Improved Sunder one of the prereqs or adding the armor's hardness either. Because while it makes sense I'd like someone to be able to take this that isn't necessarily a fighter.

As for adding the definition of a limb...I'm pretty sure that's fairly straight forward since every limb I've every heard of was used for locomotion or to manipulate and object. I think I'd laugh if one of my players tried to decapitate something with this feat and then tell them no but nice try.

That's what armor does. It protects your body from being damage in such a way that your libs would get severed off. It happens, sure, but generally someone needs to hit you in an unarmored spot or go through your armor.

Also, when I suggested Sunder, I was suggesting Sunder over Cleave as one of the prerequisites, as it is far more appropriate.

[VerdugoExplode]

I have a quick question, what about true strike?

Whether they get it through a magic item or a dip in a casting class using it in conjunction with this feat with a sprinkling of power attack and dare I say it, leap attack would mean they could effectively take the limb off of anything at the beginning of combat, making the rest of the battle significantly easier.

[Nostri]

That's what armor does. It protects your body from being damage in such a way that your libs would get severed off. It happens, sure, but generally someone needs to hit you in an unarmored spot or go through your armor.

Also, when I suggested Sunder, I was suggesting Sunder over Cleave as one of the prerequisites, as it is far more appropriate.

Yeah I know that's what armor does but that's abstracted in D&D as one's AC. And the purpose of the feat is to represent that you have the ability to hit in
one of the unprotected places on the person's armor or just have the strength to crush the armor containing the limb. Or perhaps even just cut through it.

Ah, hmmm maybe Improved Sunder Instead of Cleave might work I just didn't like the idea of it being in addition to Cleave. I'll think on that.

@VerdugoExplode- That will be an issue but I don't see a problem with it really. You can only cast True Strike so many times per day (esspecially if your only casting as a 1st or 2nd level wizzy or sorc) and even if that's what they've got their full caster doing it means that they won't be doing other, more effective things.

[Nowhere Girl]

To me, D&D as written is basically a One Piece-like world where adventurers can take massive, Earth-shattering hits and get up. In fact, I think One Piece is an excellent illustration of how the D&D world would look. Take Usopp who, even as perhaps the weakest member of the group, eats a 4-ton baseball bat to the face and still manages to get up only seconds later. Or the various hideously over-the-top things Zoro survives. Luffy at least has the excuse that he's a rubberman, but those other two are "normal" humans.

If you want more "realistic" damage, just use the Vitality Point/Wound Point mechanic. Your world will most certainly become much deadlier in a big hurry.

Honestly, the lack of realism in D&D brought about by hit points used to annoy me, but now I kind of like it. I think it's because I became an anime fan and got into that style of fiction.

[Jack_Simth]

If you want more "realistic" damage, just use the Vitality Point/Wound Point mechanic. Your world will most certainly become much deadlier in a big hurry.

If you want more "realistic" damage, play below level 5, where anybody can be taken out by a good hit from a skilled warrior with a good weapon (or a lucky hit from a not-so-skilled warrior with a good weapon).

[VerdugoExplode]

Also, don't forget the FATAL system <shudder>. If realism is what you want that's the system for you in that a bad roll in combat can leave you incapable or unwilling to adventure ever again. Seriously, while taken out of context the words "Bloody miscarriage" appear several times in that book despite it not dealing with that sort of thing. Even now it sends shivers up my spine.