Called Shots

To make a called shot, a player must announce his intention before any initiative dice are rolled. Upon doing so, he suffers a +1 penalty to his initiative (representing the time spent carefully aiming his attack). Naturally, you can take Called Shots with melee, thrown, and missile weapons, and even with weapon-like spells such as Magic Missile.

When the character does get the chance to act, his attack roll suffers a -4 penalty. If the roll succeeds, the called shot accomplishes what the player wanted; if Ihe roll missed, no damage occurs.

Because the AD&D game uses a generalized system for damage, called shots cannot be used to accomplish certain things. Against a creature, a called shot will only cause the normal amount of damage allowed the weapon. Attempts to blind, cripple, or maim will not succeed. So what can it do?

Called Shots can be used for a variety of purposes. The most important of these are: Disarming a weapon; striking a specific body part; smashing something being held; bypassing armor; and special results. Called shots can be very useful in activating the trigger of a known trap (if this can be done with a weapon) or in impressing the locals in an archery contest.

Disarming a weapon warrants its own maneuver, so you'll find "Disarm" below.

Striking a Specific Body Part

As it mentions in the DMG, again under "Hitting a Specific Target," the normal AD&D game is not geared toward a hit-location system which chronicles where every blow lands and which body parts get injured. We'll be presenting some options for that sort of thing later in this chapter, but this section concerns something slightly different.

Monsters often have body parts or features with extraordinary or magical effects: examples include the eyes of the beholder, tentacles of the carrion crawler, individual heads of the chimera, and so on. Many animated statues are motivated by a medallion, inscription, or imbedded gem.

A hero can take a called shot to attack those very specialized locations: this is a very heroic thing to do. It's up to the DM to determine how much damage such body parts can take; some will take as little as 1 point of damage before being destroyed, while others may be expressed in fractions of the creature's normal hit point total.

Smashing Something Being Held

Often, an enemy will be holding something and a hero will not wish him to hold on to it. If the attacking character wishes to knock it out of his hand. that's the Disarm maneuver; if he wishes to destroy it in the opponent's hand, that's Smashing Somelhing Being Held.

If an alchemist is holding a bottle of flammable liquid to hurl at the party, it's very heroic to swing a sword or throw a knife and smash it while he holds it up to throw; With one blow, you've protected your friends and immolated an evil enemy. If a demonic foe has finally gotten his hands on the Cursed Wand of Anti-Llfe, it's more than appropriate to fire an arrow or quarrel and smash it in the demon's hands.

Again, the DM decides how many points it takes to smash such things. In the case of a vial of liquid, it 's not much-one or two at most.

Bypassing Armor

This option is not present to let heroes bypass or ignore the AC value of normal armor. If that were allowed, all PCs and all monsters would be using the Called Shots maneuver almost exclusively, which would be very annoying.

No, the Bypassing Armor option is used when the DM has introduced a monster or enemy which can't be beaten any way except through the discovery and exploitation of its "weak spot." Like Talos, the invulnerable bronze man of Greek myth, these monsters are impossible to damage (this is usually expressed as a monstrous AC and an invulnerability to any but the most powerful of magical weapons - +4 or better): however, each one has a weak spot.

These weak spots are always visible to the eye, if the hero thinks to look for it and can see the body part where it is. (For example, a dragon might not want to fly; this is so that it can keep its wings folded down over its unarmored spots.) A clever warrior will realize that it's coverlng up for something and try to trick it into moving its wings.

If a hero is bright enough to look for the weak spot, and perhaps trick a monster into showing the weak spot, the warrior can then take a Called Shot and hit it. He'll do the monster great damage (or perhaps kill it outright: that's for the DM to determlne).

Examples: A dragon which has invulnerable hide (but which, suspiciously, never opens its mouth to breathe flame... because its inner mouth is not armored a mechanical man with a small, nearly·invisible slot used by the inventor to open it up (but which a hero with a knife can use to damage its internal machinery a warrior with armored skin but an unarmored ankle; a mummy which keeps one arm crossed over its chest to protect its otherwise undefended heart; a 9' high golem whose weak spot is the unseen top of its head.

Again, this only works when the DM has created a monster which can (or must) be defeated in this very way. If a fight isn't going the characters' way but the characters are gradually doing damage to the monster, then the monster probably isn't one of these invulnerable beasts with weak spots, and it's pointless to take lots of Called Shots at random body parts "just in case."

Special Results

Finally, the Called Shot can be used for a variety of special results, especially neat and interesting results such as the ones you see in movies and fiction. Examples:

Carving Initials Into Someone. Each successful Called Shot will enable a character with a sharp blade to slice one letter or initial into a tabletop, a wall... or the neck of an opponent. This does only one point of damage, and has one of two results: Against an enemy of equal or lower level or influence, it can cause the enemy to lose morale or surrender (DM choice against an enemy of equal or higher level or influence, it will be considered such an insult that this enemy will not rest until you are dead. Thus, it is best performed against enemy minions to impress and scare them, to persuade them to run away or help you. Performed against enemies who are your equal in ability or status, this maneuver merely earns you a foe for life.

Cutting Buttons Off. Each successful Called Shot will enable a character to snip off one button, brooch, gem or other sartorial element from an enemy's outfit. It can also be used to nip a necklace off someone's head, spring the catch on a bracelet, etc. This has the same good effects as carving initials into someone, but will not earn you the enmity of an opponent who is your equal.

Stapling. This classic maneuver is best performed with a thrown knife, throwing axe, or with an arrow or quarrel, though it can be performed with sharp melee weapons. The target must be near some piece of fumiture or wall, and that furniture or wall should be wood, plaster, or any other material that such a weapon will penetrate. With a successful Called Shot, you staple some item of the target's clothing (your choice) to that nearby surface. The target must spend a combat round getting himself free. (This does not require any sort of roll; it just takes a few moments to pull the knife free, tear the cloth of his garment, whatever it takes.) If someone attacks him while he is pinned, he suffers a -2 penalty to AC (i.e., a 3 becomes a 5) and attacks. If the target is stapled and must defend himself while trying to tear himself free, he suffers those AC and attack penalties but will be able to tear himself free after a total of three rounds.

Hostage-Taking. If a character successfully grabs a victim during one round (see the Grab maneuver, below), he may use a Called Shot on his next round to put his dagger to the hostage's throat. This does no damage to the hostage, but the attacker can then, at any time, drive the knife home for twice normal damage (which he will probably do if the hostage does not surrender, or if someone else he is threatening does not surrender.)