Hit Locations and Armor

[pepe_andre]

Hey there,
as I know my players the will come the moment where one of them will try to outsmart one of their enemies by disarming them or crippling their leg. I am totally fine with such maneuvers and encourage my players to describe in what way their characters attack or dodge during combat scenes.
I think that especially a game set in the 17th century can only profit from such descriptions during combat.

This whole affair would be nothing noteworthy if we would play traditional D&D, but because we play M&M we need to deal with Armor Proof. If the henchman of the evil occultist only wears a breastplate, but my player wants to cut the henchman’s arm to force them to drop their weapon, then this hit location should not be protected by any armor. If I am to use this approach do you think it devaluates Armor Proof or is it a legitimate approach to combat for you?

I am a bit in a pickle and would really like some advice here!
Thanks!

[luke (Luke Wheel)]

Have you played the Burning Wheel? Because that’s where this line of design thinking ends!

M&M is meant to be simple, hit-point based combat. HP combat doesn’t handle locations or “called shots” well. How many hit points does your arm have? Your hand? Your finger? Your fingernail?

Maybe—MAYBE—for a very good situational description, either:
a) on a hit, give them the desired effect—weapon dropped!—but not the damage. Or
b) give them +1 to crit (but not to hit or damage). So if they’re trying to stab someone’s eye out, they crit on a 19-20, rather than a straight 20.