Script: Hit Locations in GURPS

Script: Hit Locations in GURPS

Another video transcript.

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.