Called Shots (5e Variant Rule)
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When a character makes an weapon attack, it can choose to make the attack a Called Shot, before it rolls the die. If it does, it must choose where on the body of its enemy it is attacking. Oozes, Constructs, Undead, Plants, and Elementals are immune to the effects of called shots. As well, some characters will not have the pieces of anatomy required for the Called Shot to take full effect. The permanent effects of Called Shots can be removed via regenerate.
These rules are designed to make higher level combat less of a slog and to make Martial Characters more deadly. As the DM, you can adjust penalties and affects to fit your playstyle and world.
Types of Called Shots[edit]
| Body Part | Penalty | Effect | Critical Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arm | Disadvantage & -4 | Target has disadvantage on their next melee attack. | Target has disadvantage on melee attacks until they take a short rest. |
| Clavicle | Disadvantage & -4 | Target's Strength Score is decreased by 1 until a long rest. | Target's Strength Score is Permanently decreased by 2. |
| Ear | Disadvantage & -12 | +2 weapon damage die and target becomes deafened until short rest or healing magic. | +2 weapon damage die and ear is destroyed; if target has more ears, they become deafened until a long rest and permanently suffer disadvantage on sound-based Wisdom (Perception) checks. If they have no other ears, they become deafened. |
| Eye | Disadvantage & -12 | +1 weapon damage die and target becomes blinded until short rest or healing magic. | +2 weapon damage die and eye is destroyed; if the target has other eyes, they become blinded until a long rest and permanently suffer disadvantage on sight-based Wisdom (Perception) checks. If they have no other eyes, they become permanently blinded. |
| Foot | Disadvantage & -8 | +1 weapon damage die and target is knocked prone. | +1 weapon damage die and foot is removed; if the target has other feet, they are knocked prone and their movement is permanently decreased by 5 feet. If the target has no other feet, their movement is permanently halved. |
| Hand | Disadvantage & -8 | +1 weapon damage die and if they are holding an object, it is knocked out of their hand. | +1 weapon damage die and hand is removed. If they have no other hands, they cannot wield weapons or interact with objects. |
| Head | Disadvantage & -8 | Target cannot take reactions until the start of their next turn, unless they have multiple heads. | Target becomes stunned until the end of their next turn. If they have more than 1 head, they instead suffer disadvantage on all attack rolls and ability checks until the end of their next turn. |
| Heart | Disadvantage & -12 | +2 weapon damage die | +2 weapon damage die and Target makes a Constitution Save with the DC equal to half the damage caused by the attack. On a failure, they are reduced to 1 HP. |
| Leg | Disadvantage & -4 | Target's movement is decreased by 5 feet until a short rest or magical healing. | Target's movement is decreased by 5 feet. If it has already been decreased by a called shot against this leg, the leg is destroyed. |
| Vitals | Disadvantage & -4 | Target's Constitution score is decreased by 1 until a long rest. | Target's Constitution score is permanently decreased by 2. |
| Throat | Disadvantage & -12 | +2 weapon damage die | +3 weapon damage die |
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