[MUD-Dev] called shots

[Mordengaard]

From: "Josh Rollyson" <dinodrac at summit.magenet.net>

> Just out of curiosity, I haven't seen any muds implement "called
> shots".  (Where a specific area of a player, mob, or object is
> targeted)

> When I played D&D we had called shot rules, you could try to aim for
> a percieved weak spot in an opponent's armor, or for the opponents
> head (possibly getting a critical hit of successful) or to maime the
> opponent, so that they couldn't fight effectively - cutting off an
> unprotected hand for instance.

> Does anyone have such a system in use, and what issues has it
> created?

Yhared MUD uses a hit location system which supports called shots,
although it takes considerable skill in melee combat and leaves the
attacker weakened on defence.  Archers and crossbowmen don't have it
much easier when firing into a melee or at a charging opponent,
although a standing target does make life a little -too- easy for
them.

The thing with allowing players (and monsters/NPCs) to "aim" is that
there has to be a point to it.  The simplest implementation of called
shots was a system where a successful "aim" skill check resulted in
the damage of the next attack being doubled (or quadrupled if you
managed to do a critical hit in the same attack).  The system we use
keeps track of the "form" of the combatants, where they're wearing
what armour, and individual damage for each location, which lets us
have severed limbs, decapitations, and per-location critical hits.  We
also have realistic damage, so our combats tend to be short unless two
equally skilled (or inept, or lucky, or unlucky) people face each
other, which doesn't leave much time for fancy footwork and "aim"
commands.

With hit locations and armour locations comes other problems, of
course.  "Pieced" armour allows players to mix'n'match parts of armour
sets, layered armour makes things fantastically complex (although I'm
working on a simplified system at the moment), and the few players
I've spoken to want to have tattoos and scars implemented by location
so they can show off their war wounds.  Healing might also become and
issue, depending on how you've worked it.  Since we've done without
"hit points" (shudder), typical healing has become very overpowered,
so we heal by wound per location, although the more powerful healing
spells can target multiple wounds and in some cases multiple
(adjacent) locations.

Mordengaard (Yhared MUD)

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