Sap

Sapping someone - i.e., hitting him over the head in order to knock him out is a maneuver you undertake when you wish to capture an enemy alive (or just incapacitate him without killing him).

To do this, the attacking character makes a Called Shot at an additional -4 to hit (so it's -8 total, plus the usual Called Shot penalties of having to announce your maneuver before initiative and suffering a +1 to initiative).

If the attack hits, the character rolls ordlnary damage for the weapon. He gets a 5% chance of knockout (as per the Punching and Wrestling rules) for every point of damage he does, up to a maximum of 40%.

Example: Sir Amstard wants to knock out a noble opponent rather chan killing him. He attacks to Sap the opponent. Luckily, even with the - 8 to hit, he successfully hits his foe. With his sword, he rolls 6 points of damage. This gives him a (6x5%) 30% chance of an instant knock out. On his percentile dice. he rolls 42; he has failed this time. He'lI try again.

The damage done by Sap attacks is the same as that done by Punching: In other words, only 25% is normal, or "permanent" damage. The other 75% is temporary, and wears off after a short while.

When using a special or magical weapon to perform the Sap, you do not count the weapon's attack or damage bonus. You're not using the weapon the way it is meant to be used, you're hitting your target with the flat of the blade, with the hilt or pommel of the weapon, etc, Therefore, those bonuses don't count for anything.

When performed on a character who is asleep or magically held, the Sap maneuver automatically hits. The chance for knockout goes up to 10% per point of damage done, up to 80%. However, if the subsequent percentile die roll is 81 or higher, the victim is not knocked out, he's been awakened by the attack. (Why try a Sap maneuver on an already asleep target? Because you may want to kidnap him or smuggle him out of a cell and can't risk him waking up and alerting the guards.)

The Sap maneuver can only be performed wth melee weapons or bare hands; it cannot be performed with missile weapons. (Or can it?)

The Sap maneuver is usable only on Small (S) or Medium (M) monsters; it will not work on Large (L) or bigger monsters such as dragons. They just can't be knocked out with this maneuver.