The Weapons and Combat FAQ

The Hollow Earth Expedition (HEX) roleplaying game has been in existence for about five months now officially, and there are many elements of the game system that have aspects to them that make the players, and GMs, think a little bit. This Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) page is designed to answer some of the commonly asked questions about one of the more complex HEX game elements - Weapons and Combat.

Weapons and Combat Frequently Asked Questions

I have been running a test combat and I don't understand why anyone without the Accuracy Talent would want to try a called shot to a vital area - wouldn't the smart money be on letting your opponent roll his Defense or "take the average" on Defense? Please help!

Good question. Characters with the Accuracy Talent benefit the most from a called shot to a vital area. For other characters, there is little difference between pointing the gun and pulling the trigger, hoping to hit a vital spot. Normal characters are less likely to make a called shot because they don't get as much of a benefit out of doing it.

Making a called shot has its advantages, however, even if the character lacks the Accuracy Talent. For example, when spending Style points to boost a called shot, it can be more attractive to the player if they know they are spending Style to negate the penalty and then get to make a roll as if they had the Accuracy Talent. It's a much more expensive way to achieve the same result, but that's how it should be for a character lacking that particular Talent.

I think the statistics on Grenades in HEX need to be altered. As it stands grenades cause 4L damage to everything in a 5-foot radius and you only get your Passive Defense and armor against the damage. What this means is an average person with a Body of 2 only stands to take (on average) 1-2 Health from being caught in a grenade blast. At worst he'll be KOd providing his Health is 4 which most average adult humans have.

Grenades aren't ineffective, it's just how they're described in the book. Jeff's intent behind the explosives rules is that they do the listed amount of damage to everything in the area of effect. Essentially, the listed rating is average damage for that explosive. If you were to roll it, you would use double the listed rating. Jeff says that he did it this way because he wanted to avoid double dice rolling. If your character wanted to toss the grenade into a particular spot, such as the open mouth of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, the character would have to roll to make the throw and then roll for the grenade damage. Instead, Jeff decided to list the average damage so that it could be handled with one roll.

Incidentally, if the character made the throw, he'd probably ignore the Defense of the Tyrannosaurus Rex and possibly crank up the damage because of the Area of Effect attack going off inside its body. Jeff said he would have to think about it some more, but maximum damage (i.e., double damage if using the average damage value) would probably be appropriate.

I'm having some trouble understanding the Called Shot rules. Can you explain these to me?

The Called Shot rules (see HEX page 119) do have somewhat of a learning curve. The Example of Play in the book (HEX , pp. 138-141) includes the use of Called Shots, but here's a simple example that will hopefully clear some of it up.

Character A has a total Attack Rating of 8 with her firearm and is shooting at NPC 1, who has a Defense of 4. If Character A shoots normally, she would roll her 8 dice and compare the successes against NPC 1's Defense roll of 4 dice.

If she tried to do a Called Shot, she would reduce her Attack Rating by her target's Defense (lowering it from 8 to 4), but every success she rolled would be an automatic hit; NPC 1 would not be able to roll his Defense to reduce the damage.

An astute reader would notice that, assuming average values, the amount of damage in either case would be the same (i.e., average Attack of 4 against average Defense of 2 yields 2 hits; average Called Shot of 2 would also yield 2 hits). Where Called Shots become an asset is when the attacking character has the Accuracy Talent, which reduces Called Shot penalties. If character A had Accuracy 1, her Called Shot Attack Rating would be 6 instead of 4, yielding an average damage of 3. Increase the Accuracy Talent level, either with Style Points or through Experience Points, and, well, Annie get your gun!

Special thanks to Jeff Combos, Melissa McNally, M. Sechin Tower, and the folks on the Hollow Earth Expedition (HEX) forums for their help in the compiling of this FAQ information.

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