The "called shot" problem

One of the things that D&D tries very hard to do is make combat both interesting and accurate. So if you wanted to strike a person's hand or wrist or even their helmet specifically, you should be able to, right? You might even grab the rules sheet and call this "a ranged disarm" -- as this forum suggests -- which means a -4 penalty and allow a ranged disarm attempt. Or what if you want to hit that little green gem in the monster's forehead?

Well, issues with this problem are several and well-noted.

Suggestions on this thread included a "called critical" where the attempt is to make a "critical strike" (how D&D handles damage to weak areas). The attack would be aimed at a particular portion of the body. If its critical, they hit that part.

One suggestion was "unless you're using another option, your character is already trying to do that and on a crit he succeeds."

Related:

• A variation on "power attack" using dexterity.
• Free vs. swift actions (also)
  

What's your AC?

Based on suggestions over at KingsWorkCreative, I created a character quicklook spreadsheet.

DM "smart sword" trick

Your players are going to do what they're going to do and its hard to put them in the right place at the right time for something you planned on happening. To not give them choices means they're on a "rail" system of gaming, which is boring.

Example: characters come across a huge door. I want to use it later for something but the characters are bound and determined to figure out some way to get through the door. I want to tell them "wait a second" but I have no way of doing that without giving something away. We waste like 20 minutes and the characters are frustrated nothing would open this door I've introduced. Frustrating.

What do you do?

Solution: A "smart" item. The item can either see into the immediate future or has advanced senses like heat vision, scry, detect alignment. Whatever powers I give it, in the game its really just a way to pass the characters hints about what to do without being overly obvious. How is it that this section of the dungeon has never been discovered before? Nobody had a sword like yours.

This trick has more than one use: imagine the characters have just encountered an enemy that is far more powerul than they. Their most recent encounters have been successful and they're feeling like a good fight. Realistically if they take on this enemy, they're going to get pummeled. I pass the characters a note explaining the sword is self-lowering itself. The characters get the message and try diplomacy instead without having to pay out big time in healing potions and magic with no return.

When the DM isn't having any fun

The obvious next step is to change -- when you're the DM and you don't like the way the game is going, you set the stage differently. You can't control the actors but you can certainly push them in directions you want to go.

Making a sharp, left turn is disruptive to the flow that the game has taken on. My characters have been wandering around a very well-developed setting, finding all sorts of side events and adventures to occupy them. There's nothing wrong with this but its becoming one long series of distractions away from what I originally planned and was excited about. I had a basic direction and a creative arc for the game that's not happening.

The initial drive was to get them to the "great hope of civilization" and put them under the employ of my central character. Now, I'm finding all these side adventures kind of tediously slow and I just want to get them somewhere that we can have more coheasive games. I'm having to stay extremely flexible and I'm pulling out all my creative powers. That's fine for one or two games where your characters go somewhere you didn't expect and you've got to pull shit out of thin air but how did it get here?

Possible reasons:

• Too easy Somewhere along the way I've neutered the major antagonist by making her minions a bunch of ponces.
• Too clear I gave away too much true information and its completely killed the mystery. Misinformation makes it harder for me to keep track of but it also creates a puzzle the characters must actively try to solve.
• Easy and getting easier My characters are rapidly going up in level and I still don't feel prepared to handle or play out high level adventures or challenges. My characters in effect are running rough shod over my plans. Just dynamically rebuilding enemies in a game to be more powerful than the characters feels a little wrong.
  

Thoughts and ideas are of course welcome if anyone's reading this.