For the first set of characters that they've rolled up, my kids are spending a lot of time deciding what kind of helmets each will have. For most characters the choice is between leather and metal helmets, although for the fighters there is some discussion about a spiked helmet versus one with a plume.
I'm answering their questions with nuance and details while frantically wracking my brains for a mechanic to use with helmets. The boys have no idea what the rules are around helmets; Theo just bought a knight's helmet with a visor during our trip the previous week to Rocamador and they both assume something so important to them as a helmet must have an equally important part of the game. I'm not going to let them down.
Grognardia's rule of opponents automatically targeting bare heads seems a little too much. I'm planning on using a variation of jrients' exactly-how-dead table: instead of negative hit points, when a character dies, they're out of the current combat. When the fighting's over we roll 1d6 and find out if the character is really dead (1) or just mostly dead (2+). I decide that a leather helmet gives +1 to this roll, and metal helmet gives +2. If the adjusted roll is over 6, then the reports of death have been exaggerated and the character has 1d4 or maybe even 1d6 hit points left.
This rule turns out to be far to generous. Even my kids are a little surprised at the lack of mortality ("I thought you said someone was going to die, Daddy"). However, since the boys had quickly found healing potions anyway in their first day of exploration, I don't think it effects the outcome too much. I instead use the mostly-dead roll to inform what kind of scar the character has received, and the boys need no encouragement to draw the scars out in detail on the character sheets.
I'm answering their questions with nuance and details while frantically wracking my brains for a mechanic to use with helmets. The boys have no idea what the rules are around helmets; Theo just bought a knight's helmet with a visor during our trip the previous week to Rocamador and they both assume something so important to them as a helmet must have an equally important part of the game. I'm not going to let them down.
Grognardia's rule of opponents automatically targeting bare heads seems a little too much. I'm planning on using a variation of jrients' exactly-how-dead table: instead of negative hit points, when a character dies, they're out of the current combat. When the fighting's over we roll 1d6 and find out if the character is really dead (1) or just mostly dead (2+). I decide that a leather helmet gives +1 to this roll, and metal helmet gives +2. If the adjusted roll is over 6, then the reports of death have been exaggerated and the character has 1d4 or maybe even 1d6 hit points left.
This rule turns out to be far to generous. Even my kids are a little surprised at the lack of mortality ("I thought you said someone was going to die, Daddy"). However, since the boys had quickly found healing potions anyway in their first day of exploration, I don't think it effects the outcome too much. I instead use the mostly-dead roll to inform what kind of scar the character has received, and the boys need no encouragement to draw the scars out in detail on the character sheets.
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