Impale clarificatioin

[Redstone]

I want to be sure I am doing impale special successes correctly. According to page 197, if the weapon is lodged in the body then:

"If the target moves in any significant fashion, he or she will take half the initial rolled damage (without armor protection) again (applied directly to the hit location if hit locations are being used) because the extruding weapon is catching on nearby walls, moving within and widening the wound, or someother painful complication."

So, if a person gets hit in the leg for 8 pts of damage with an arrow, and continues to fight, he will take an additional 4 pts (1/2 ) of damage. Is this per round? Or just once? Does successfully pulling the weapon out cause any additional damage?

[SDLeary]

While this works for no locations, It seems a bit extreme when using locations. My ruling would be one of two:

1) Each additional round of action when using locations causes one more point of damage directly to the location, ignoring armor.

2) Each additional round will cause 1/2 damage to general hit points, and this is progressive. Thus, first round of action in the above example would cause 4 points of damage, the next 2 points, and on. A minimum of one point would be accrued per round.

In fact, I would probably use #2 even when not using Locations. I would combine it with Major Wound though, as it is still technically the same wound.

SDLeary

Edited July 18, 2011 by SDLeary

[pansophy]

I would judge, if the character somehow manages to make the loged object significant smaller (breaking apart the arrow shaft, pulling out the sword, etc) the weapon will not inflict further damage. If it is a bullet, only demanding actions will add damage.

[Atgxtg]

I think the orginal idea was what would happen to a guy with a spear stuck through him if somebody yanked on and twisted the spear. So it7s not so much constant damage as damage each time the injury is aggravated.

Of course, running a 100 yard dash with a gladius in your ribcage is probably going to be aggravating. But I'd say that this damage is probably going to be a judgment call by the GM. I could see giving out he damage every couple of turns or minutes depending on just how the wound is being aggravated, and how likely that would be to make the injury worse. Running with bullet in your forearm shouldn't make your arm fall off.

[icebrand]

Of course, running a 100 yard dash with a gladius in your ribcage is probably going to be aggravating. But I'd say that this damage is probably going to be a judgment call by the GM. I could see giving out he damage every couple of turns or minutes depending on just how the wound is being aggravated, and how likely that would be to make the injury worse. Running with bullet in your forearm shouldn't make your arm fall off.

Actually i cant see anyone doing anything but falling down and dying if they have a gladius in their ribcage

[pansophy]

One has to accept the fact BRP has a deadly combat system. Characters really want to stay out of it.

If you want more cinematic action, you always have the option to ignore the rule for the setting.

Personally I always ignore that part of the rule and only use it as a guide if the character is trying something very exhausting/stupid. And even then you can use the initial damage and make a CON roll on the Resistance table. If the character fails, he gets half of the initial damage as stated in the rules.

"Tiny items such as arrowheads or bullets can be left in the wound though this may present complications later, at the gamemaster’s discretion."

This seems fine for most modern and Sci-Fi games, and I use the aggravated damage rule only for melee weapons.

Edited July 20, 2011 by pansophy

[Nightshade]

"Tiny items such as arrowheads or bullets can be left in the wound though this may present complications later, at the gamemaster’s discretion."

This seems fine for most modern and Sci-Fi games, and I use the aggravated damage rule only for melee weapons.

Even that seems overstated in the case of things like thrusting daggers and broken off spearheads.

[pansophy]

Even that seems overstated in the case of things like thrusting daggers and broken off spearheads.

One can always simply ignore that rule. BRP is a toolkit, nothing is written in stone ...