Script: Hit Locations in GURPS
The ability to target specific body parts, also
known as hit locations, is something I really love about GURPS. When I played
D&D, I was not content with the lack of such rules, even though there were
some clumsily made rule hacks that enabled it. GURPS, however, does it
wonderfully and, as always, with various degrees of complexity. The most basic
version of hit locations can be found in the GURPS Basic Set, and even these
are enough for most games. However, several other GURPS books have expanded the
hit location system, and I’d like to give those expansions some attention in
this transcript too.
Let’s start with the main hit location – torso. There is no penalty to hit, and
no special effects, if you’re only using the rules from the Basic Set. GURPS
Martial Arts (p. 136-137) introduces some new rules. On a torso hit with a
crushing, impaling, piercing, or tight-beam burning attack, roll 1d. On a 1, it
hits the vitals. Also roll 1d for a cutting blow from behind; a 1 indicates a
spine hit. Also, there are rules for partial injury affecting your DX and Move
more gradually than normal.
GURPS
Low-Tech has rules for splitting the torso hit location into chest and abdomen. Chest can be
targeted at no penalty. The abdomen
is usually less protected and can be targeted at -1. It includes groin. The rules for the accidental vitals hit apply to
both the chest and abdomen locations, but nothing is said about the spine hits.
Should that rule also apply to both of these areas?
GURPS
Loadouts: Low-Tech Armor zooms in even further, separating the abdomen into
four sublocations – vitals, digestive tract, pelvis, and groin. On an abdomen
hit, roll 1d – if you roll a 1, you hit the vitals; if you roll a 2, 3, or 4,
you hit the digestive tract; if you roll a 5, you hit the pelvis; if you roll a
6, you hit the groin. The new hit locations can also be targeted deliberately.
The
digestive tract can be targeted at
-2. If you deal a major wound, the target must roll against HT-3 to avoid a
special infection (p. B444).
The
pelvis can be targeted at -3. On a
major wound, the target falls down and becomes unable to stand, but can still
sit. Until healed, the target has Lame (Missing Legs). This hit location is
also described in GURPS Tactical Shooting (p. 15), but it became an official abdomen
sublocation in GURPS Loadouts: Low-Tech Armor.
While
we’re at it, let’s talk about the groin.
This hit location can be targeted at -3. If you miss by 1, you hit the torso
instead. It is treated as a normal hit, except that human males and males of
similar species suffer double the
usual shock from crushing damage and get -5 to knockdown rolls if a major wound
is scored. I’ve heard some people claim that this is a cinematic rule – in
realistic games, these extra effects should be applied regardless of gender.
But I’m not an expert on that.
Now,
there are other torso-adjacent hit locations that have been mentioned. The vitals can be targeted at -3, but only
with impaling, piercing, or tight-beam burning attacks. GURPS Martial Arts adds
crushing attacks to this list. If you miss by 1, you hit the torso instead. If
you hit the vitals, you increase the wounding modifier for an impaling or
piercing attack to x3, and for a tight-beam burning attack to x2. Crushing
attacks stay the same. If you deal enough injury to cause a shock penalty, then
the target must make an immediate HT roll to avoid knockdown and stunning. This
roll is at -5 if that was a major wound. In addition, GURPS Martial Arts (p.
138) and GURPS High-Tech (p. 162) say that vitals injuries cause much more
dangerous internal bleeding – you roll every 30 seconds instead of every
minute, and your bleeding roll is at -4. First Aid cannot stop this bleeding – you have to use Surgery instead at the
same penalty. In realistic low-tech games this means that you are very likely
to bleed to death after getting wounded in the vitals, unless you have very
high HT. GURPS Martial Arts (p. 139) also adds a table that you may have to
roll on after receiving a major wound to the vitals with effects that range
from minor permanent disadvantages to
terminal illness. Some harsh stuff!
Finally,
there is the spine hit location that
was introduced in GURPS Martial Arts (p. 137). The spine can be very difficult
to hit – it can be targeted at -8, only from behind, and only with a crushing,
cutting, impaling, piercing, or tight-beam burning attack. The vertebrae also
provide it DR 3 for free. A miss by 1 hits the torso. The wounding modifier
remains the same – as for torso – but any injury enough to inflict shock
requires a knockdown roll, at -5 if that was a major wound. If you deal injury
in excess of HP, you cripple the
spine, automatically knocking down and stunning the target, plus afflicting him
with Bad Back (Severe) and Lame (Paraplegic), possibly permanently. Again, this
is some harsh stuff!
Phew, that was a lot to digest, but now let’s
talk about limbs and extremities. A leg
or arm can be targeted at -2. Reduce
the wounding multiplier of large piercing, huge piercing, and impaling damage
to x1. Any major wound cripples the limb – but damage beyond the minimum
required to inflict a crippling injury is lost. If your leg gets crippled, you
fall down, but you can still fight while lying down or sitting. Until healed,
you have the Lame (Missing Legs) disadvantage. If your arm gets crippled, then
you cannot use that arm to carry anything. If you have a shield that is
strapped to the arm, you cannot block with it, and its Defense Bonus is reduced
by 1. Until healed, you have the One Arm disadvantage.
GURPS
Martial Arts (p. 136) has partial injury rules that make these crippling
effects much more granular. The same place has rules for extreme dismemberment
– when you sever one limb and can have a chance to hit another location. GURPS
High-Tech (p. 162) introduces rules for dismemberment with impaling, piercing,
and tight-beam burning attacks.
GURPS
Martial Arts (p. 138) has rules for severe bleeding due to destroyed limbs. If
your limb gets destroyed, then you make bleeding rolls twice as often, and at
-3, or -4 if the limb was severed by a cutting attack.
GURPS
Martial Arts also adds two sublocations – veins/arteries
and joints. On any limb hit, roll 1d. On a 1, a cutting, impaling, piercing, or
tight-beam burning attack hits a vein/artery, while a crushing attack hits a
joint. They can also be targeted deliberately.
If
you have a cutting, impaling, piercing, or tight-beam burning weapon, then you
can target veins/arteries in an arm, leg, or neck. In case of the legs, this is
the femoral artery, and in case of the arms this is the brachial artery. The
attack takes an extra -3 penalty,
resulting in the total penalty of -5 when targeting a leg or arm artery. A miss
by one hits the leg or the arm. A successful hit increased the wounding
modifier for that hit location by 0.5. For example, a cutting attack will have
a multiplier of x2 instead of x1.5. Crippling effects and damage limits are
ignored. An optional rule says that Mortal Wounds (p. B423) do not apply – any
failed HT roll to avoid death from a vein/artery hit results in death. Normal
bleeding rolls from vein/artery hits are at -3 or at -4 if the injury was
delivered by a cutting attack. Bleeding rolls are made twice as often, and
require a Surgery roll to stop.
On
page 139, GURPS Martial Arts has another table for major veins/arteries wounds
with extra harsh effects.
Joints of a limb or an extremity can be
targeted with a crushing, cutting, piercing, or tight-beam burning attack. The
roll to hit is at an extra -3. So, to
target a leg or an arm joint, you roll at -5. This allows crippling with injury
over HP/3 (not HP/2) for a limb. Excess injury is lost. Dismemberment still
requires twice the injury needed to cripple the whole body part – not just the
joint. HT rolls to recover from crippling joint injuries are at -2. A miss by 1
hits the leg or the arm.
Extremities, that is hands and feet, also
work similarly. You can target a hand or a foot at -4. Wounding modifiers work
the same as for limbs, but to cripple an extremity you have to deal injury in
excess of 1/3 HP, not ½ HP. If your foot gets crippled, you fall down and
become unable to stand, unless you have something to lean on, like a wall or a
crutch. You can still sit or kneel. Until healed, you have the Lame (Crippled
Legs) disadvantage. If your hand get crippled, you drop whatever you were
holding in that hand. If you were using two or more hands to hold something,
make a DX roll to avoid dropping it. While you cannot use the hand for
anything, if you have a shield strapped to your arm, you can still block with
it, but you cannot attack with it. Until healed, you have the One Hand
disadvantage.
GURPS
Martial Arts adds some new rules. On any hand or foot hit with a crushing, cutting,
piercing, or tight-beam burning attack, roll 1d. On a 1, the attack hits a
joint. Joint hits work the same way as for limbs, but the total penalty to
target a joint deliberately is -7 instead of -5, and the injury required to
cripple an extremity is any injury over HP/4, not HP/3. Extremities do not have
veins and arteries to target, however. Partial injury rules also work
differently.
If
you want some extra detail, you can check out Pyramid #3-100 that includes rules
for getting fingers or toes broken or severed.
The next hit location is neck. It can be targeted at -5. Increase the wounding multiplier of
crushing and corrosion attacks to x1.5, and that of cutting damage to x2. If
you miss by 1, you hit the torso instead.
GURPS
Martial Arts, yet again, expands the rules. On any neck hit with a cutting,
impaling, piercing, or tight-beam burning attack, roll 1d. On a 1, it hits a
vein/artery. Also roll 1d for crushing attacks from behind; a 1 indicates a spine
hit. Crippling the spine this far up – a “broken neck” – causes Quadriplegic
(p. B150), not merely Lame (Paraplegic). This occurs automatically if Neck Snap
(p. 77) or a throw from a Head Lock (p. 74) inflicts injury over HP to the
neck!
Just
like limbs, the neck also has the artery/vein sublocation that can be targeted
at -8 with the same effects. Cutting, impaling, and piercing attacks to the
neck can cause severe blood loss even if they don’t hit veins or arteries. Make
bleeding rolls every 30 seconds, at -2. Also, First Aid does not work when
stopping bleeding from the neck – use Surgery instead.
GURPS
Martial Arts also adds a major neck wound table with some crippling effects.
Now, the final body part is the head. Before I get into the
sublocations, I want to say that it works differently for the purpose of
striking and grappling. If you want to grapple the head, it is considered to be
a single hit location that is targeted at -3. This -3 already includes the
halving of the hit location penalty. This was introduced in GURPS Martial Arts:
Technical Grappling.
GURPS
Basic Set, for the purpose of striking, separates the head into three hit
locations – face, skull, and eyes. All three hit locations use a
different critical hit table (p. B556).
Let’s start with the skull. The skull can be targeted at -7 (or at -5 from behind as per
GURPS Martial Arts). If you miss by 1, you hit the torso instead. The skull
gets extra DR 2, and the wounding modifier for all attacks, except fatigue and
toxic, is increased to x4. If you deal enough injury to inflict shock, then the
target must make an immediate HT roll to avoid knockdown and stunning. This
roll is at -10 for a major wound to the skull.
GURPS
Martial Arts introduces some extra rules. Bleeding due to a cutting, impaling,
piercing, or tight-beam burning attack to the skull makes you roll twice as
often as normal. Also, First Aid does not stop such bleeding, you need Surgery.
Finally, there is also a major skull wound table for some extra crippling
effects.
Eyes can be targeted at -9 (or at -8 if
you are an octopod or an ichtyoid), but only with impaling, piercing, or
tight-beam burning attacks, and only from the front or the sides. If you miss
by 1, you hit the torso instead. Injury over HP/10 blinds the eye. Otherwise,
treat as skull, but without the extra DR!
Finally,
we have the face. Face can be
targeted at -5 (or at -7 from behind, as per GURPS Martial Arts). If you miss
by 1, you hit the torso instead. Corrosion damage gets a x1.5 wounding modifier
and if it inflicts a major wound, it also blinds one eye (both eyes on damage greater
than full HP). If you deal enough injury to inflict shock, then the target must
make an immediate HT roll to avoid knockdown and stunning. This roll is at -5
for a major wound to the face.
Pyramid
#3-100 also introduces rules for facial injuries reducing Appearance.
GURPS
Martial Arts expands the rules for this hit location and introduces new
sublocations – ear, jaw, and nose. On a hit from in front, roll 1d. A 1 means a
skull hit if the attack was impaling, piercing, or tight-beam burning, a nose
hit otherwise.
An
ear can be targeted at -7. If you
miss by 1, you hit the torso. Treat it as a face hit, except when making a
cutting attack specifically to slice off the ear. In that case, injury over
HP/4 is lost, but has no special effect. But if you inflict twice that amount, you remove the ear.
This is a major wound that triggers knockdown without the normal -5 for facial major wounds. It also may reduce
Appearance. Bleeding rolls due to severed ears are at -1.
Pyramid
#3-100 expands these rules and allows crushing attacks to target ears for
special effects. Crushing injury that causes major wounds imposes a -5 penalty
on knockdown rolls and also inflicts cauliflower ears. The same article has
rules for treating this condition.
Jaw can be targeted at -6 and only from
the front. If you miss by 1, you hit the torso instead. Treat a hit as an
ordinary face hit, except that a crushing blow gives the victim an extra -1 to knockdown
rolls. Pyramid #3-100 has additional rules for losing teeth and breaking the
jaw.
Nose can be targeted at -7 and only
from the front. If you miss by 1, you hit the torso instead. It is treated as
an ordinary face hit, but injury over HP/4 breaks the nose. This counts as a
major wound and gives the victim No Sense of Smell/Taste until it heals. You
can also try to cut off the nose with a cutting attack. This counts as a normal
major wound without the -5 penalty on the knockdown rolls, but any excess
damage is lost. However, if you deal twice the injury required to cripple the
nose, you slice it off and reduce the victim’s Appearance by two levels.
Bleeding rolls due to a crippled nose are at -1.
But that’s not all! GURPS Loadouts: Low-Tech
Armor introduces some new rules. If you hit the face, you may roll 1d. If you
roll a 1, you hit the jaw; if you roll a 2, you hit the nose; if you roll a 3,
you hit the ear; if you roll 4 or 5, you hit a cheek; if you roll a 6, you hit
the eye. Note that these rules seem to be incompatible with the rules from
GURPS Martial Arts, where you have a chance to hit the skull.
The
cheek is another new sublocation
that can be targeted at -6. There are no special effects, but this location
exists just in case you left it unarmored.
And
that’s it. You have to keep in mind that most of the rules that I described
here may change if your body plan changes. For example, if you have more than
two arms, then the arms themselves are thinner and hence easier to cripple.
Certain features, quirks, advantages, and disadvantages may either change a
penalty to hit some hit locations, remove some hit locations entirely, or add
new ones, such as tails, wings, strikers, etc. There are also some extra rules
that take hit locations into account, such as Last Wounds (p. B420), Body Hits
(p. HT162), partial armor, Duck! (Pyramid #3-34), and so on. And vehicles have
an entirely different set of hit locations.
awesome breakdown! thank you!
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