House Rules

Only one for the moment

Hit Locations: This is an attempt to make combat slightly more realistic without adding too many modifications, as well as promoting role-play. This is done by adding a simple 2d6 dice roll after the hit roll succeeds. I know that adding the dice together doesn't exactly fit the SR system, but it was the only way I could get the odds right. Use the table below to determine where the hit lands to allow role-play, and/or the addition of modifiers.

Hit Location Table: (2d6)
2: Head
3: Right Leg
4: Left Leg
5: Torso
6: Left Arm
7: Torso
8: Right Arm
9: Torso
10: Right Leg
11: Left Leg
12: Head

If I figured my odds right, the odds of a Torso shot, where most people are trained to aim, is 1 in 3; a hit to the limbs is 1 in 7; and a chance head shot is 1 in 10.5. Of course, you can still make called shots to specific body parts. This is just for your average "I shoot him" action.

Serious Wounds and Hit Locations: If you don't mind a little extra book keeping, you can add a little more realism by keeping track of damage to specific hit locations. This doesn't really change the damage system, because a deadly wound still takes the character down, and lesser wounds still cause the same modifiers. But if a character takes two slugs to his shooting arm, it's going to affect a little more than +2 to hit and -2 to initiative. I use the following
modifiers, in addition to the normal wound modifiers, if a location takes a serious wound, either from one hit or multiple hits.

Head: Target is blinded, and/or deafened. This can be temporary or permanent, depending on the situation and the GM's mood.

Arms: Arm is effectively immobilized. If it is the character's primary (weapon) arm, use offhand target modifiers, and add +1 for all two handed weapons (rifles, large swords, etc.)

Legs: Movement is halved and adds +1 to all target numbers if the character is standing.

Torso: No extra modifiers.

You'll notice that I didn't give any modifiers for two extremities having serious wounds. That's because two serious wounds would put the character out anyway. But, as you probably play Shadowrun if you're reading this, you already know that.

Well, that's it. Please send your comments, criticisms, and thoughts.

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