In many games I’ve run, there’s always a circumstance where a player would like to take a called shot at an enemy. Within Pathfinder RPG, and even DnD, there are no substantial rules or tables for making a called shot against an enemy and what the results are. So my gaming group and I have come up with a simple system that is friendly to both the player and the DM. (Note that this rule can have devastating effects on your monsters, so use it with caution.)

So to begin with you need to establish what the player is trying to hit that way you can decide the difficulty of the attack. The called shot should be increased based on the size of the location being attacked, but before you do, you need to understand the difference between what is and is not a called shot. To make a called shot first, the player must specify the location of the enemy they wish to attack. (Declaring that you want to attack the left flank of a large creature, like a dragon, isn’t a called trigger, that’s called an attack.) The area must be a very specific location, such as between the ribs directly below the enemy’s armpit. /creature, or eye would be an acceptable statement.

Now you as the DM need to decide how difficult it is to reach that specific location based on a few simple questions. How big is the area being attacked? To help, here is a simple table based on size location.

Good: (this is 6 inches or less) +8 added to base Armor class to hit area.

Diminutive: (7 inches to 1 foot) +4 added to base Armor class to hit area

Tiny: (1ft 1in to 2-1/2ft) +2 added to base Armor class to hit area

Small**: (3ft to 5ft) +1 added to base Armor class to hit area

**(These areas only need to be entered or approved by the DM if the creature is Huge or larger)

Now that you have determined the difficulty of attacking the area, you need to decide if there are any additional factors to add to the difficulty before making the attack, such as whether the target area is armored. if so, armor breaking penalties should be applied normally. (an alternative option is to add an additional AC bonus to the target area based on the material the armor is made of).

Quilted: +1/Leather/Fur/Studded: +2/ Metal: +3**

**(Special metals like adamantine should still apply their damage reduction rating if the area is hit.)

The attack is now made against the target location. As the DM, you must determine if the called shot will be a fatal blow if the attack lands. If the attack has the potential to kill the target if successful, I’ve devised a rule to determine if the target survives the hit. If the attack is successful, the target must make a DC 10 Fortitude save + damage dealt or die. (Like I said before, this can be used to take down monsters with one hit and forces the DM to execute their villains carefully, but remember that the DM’s monsters can also target, and not all shots called are fatal.)

Alright, let me give you an example to clear this cloudy water up a bit.

“Crow the Barbarian has met Thwak the Orc Warlord in close combat! Early in the fight Thwak landed some devastating blows on Crow and the result for our hero looks grim. Crow decides that he has to win this fight in one blow or be defeated.” slain by the monstrous Orc. So Crow declares that he wants to make an accurate shot using his great sword and plunge it into the mighty Orc’s throat. Thwak has a starting armor class of 20, but hitting him in the throat is much harder than just hitting him directly and the throat is a fine target that increases Thwaks armor class by an additional +8, causing his adjusted AC be 28. Fortunately for Crow, the area is not armored, so no further adjustments are needed to hit the area. his attack. Raven has +14 to hit with his Enchanted Greatsword and rolls a 16. (14+16 = 30) Raven lands a powerful slash across Thwak’s throat (now obviously a greatsword to the throat has the potential to be fatal, so (This attack will force a Fortitude save.) Raven’s damage while wielding his greatsword is 2d6+8, so he rolls damage normally as he would any attack. Raven deals 14 damage to Thwak’s throat and forces a Fortitude save difficulty of more than 10 damage dealt, so Thwak needs to roll his Fortitude save to a total of 24 or higher to survive the attack. Thwak gets a +10 on his Fortitude save, but only rolls a 4 on his save, failing the check, and having his head removed when Crow severs his head from his shoulders.”

This rule may take a while to get used to, but it has the potential to add to the flavor of your combat scenes by forcing your playgroup to do more than just roll dice and tell you damage. This rule can be used for any attack that requires an attack roll, even touch/ranged touch spells!

Enjoy.