Darts and Needle Weapons in Fantasy HERO, Alternate Rules As they currently stand right now, Darts, Needle weapons and other small sharp projectiles are actually close to useless in the HERO system. They either do too much damage, or none at all, and anything resembling resistant defenses on the part of the character will just shrug them off. ThereforeI propose the following change: Darts and Needle weapons should be ranked as 1D6 NND attacks that don't work vs Armour or other coverings with a rPD of 2 or higher. This means that they are small sharp weapons which will pierce the targets skin and cause pain, but little damage unless they strike a vital point. (They would probably do BODY if they hit the eyes, for example, it's the GM's call.) If the target wears armour of any kind above normal clothing the darts will probably not penetrate, but bounce off the armour or just stick harmlessly in the leather hide. These darts can of course be laced with poison or drugs, which would act as a carrier attack on top of their normal damage, and their base thrown damage effect can be increased by 1DC as with any other NND attack improved upon by martial skill, skill levels or extra damage classes representing skill. In Martial Arts games where Pressure Point rules are in effect, these darts can act like the Nerve Strike maneuver done at range, and produce similar effects as the GM sees fit in his campaign. |