Posted November 22, 2025 by luvasgg
#called shots #osr #ose
I assume characters are generally aiming for the torso when attacking. I'm contemplating using the following system for called shots in my OSE games.
Whenever a character calls a shot, the DM decides the size of the sweetspot of the place being aimed at, usually around 1 to 4 units. Reserve sweetspots with 1 unit to really hard to aim parts, such as eyes, a hand or a knee. Hitting the sweetspot will get the desired effect (more on this later).
The DM then decides on the margin of hitting. This should be higher than the sweetspot. As a general rule, the margin is double the sweetspot. So a sweetspot of 3 would have a margin of 6. The effect on hitting the margin depends on the desired effect for the called shot, but it should more or less halve it's potency. Think of hitting the margin as hitting the area immediately around the sweetspot, with a lessened effect. Some called shots might have no margin around it, depending on the situation.
To hit the sweetspot of a called shot, the character has to hit the AC of their target by less units than the sweetspot. This means, for example, a called shot with a sweetspot of 1 only fully hits when the attack roll lands at the AC of the target exactly.
To hit the margin of a called shot, the character must hit the AC of their target by less units than the margin (but missing the sweetspot).
Otherwise the attack fails. When calling a shot, there's no automatic hit on a natural 20, though automatic misses on a natural 1 persist.
Example: My character with a total +1 to hit calls a shot against an enemy with AC 15. The DM asks for a sweetspot of 3 and a margin of 6. This means if I roll a 14 through 16, I hit the called shot. If I roll a 17 through 19, I hit the margin. Rolling a 20 means a miss.
Leave this to the players to decided, adjudicating as needed. Maybe they want to hit an eye to blind the opponent, or to hit a knee to make an enemy run slower, or to hit a hand to disarm an opponent. In general, a harder to hit sweetspot should have more drastic outcomes when hit. In most cases, hitting a called shot deals damage (maybe even max damage) and causes an effect.
The margin is harder to adjudicate and goes case by case, though a good rule of thumb could be to deal half the damage they would deal on a normal attack.
Too many bonuses: If for any reason a sweetspot is impossible to hit because the bonuses of a character are too high (I'm not sure if that's mathematically possible, but let me entertain that case here), just roll the dice with no bonuses against an AC of 2. So a 1 is still a miss, but the sweetspot starts at 2.
AC too high: Whenever a creature has an AC that's too high for the character to hit (ie, it could only be hit with an automatic hit on a natural 20), consider allowing the player to hit a called shot on a 20. This might mean they wil be mechanically incentivised to always call shots depending on the effects you're allowing them to trigger off of it.
In any way you change this system, make sure you're not making it easier for a character to hit another by calling a shot.
Use this system when it makes sense, and adjust it according to each situation. A well positioned player might not need to even make a roll to hit a weak spot if it's big and close enough. A target that's too far should be harder to miss.
Some cases, for example, are probably better off handled as straight up combat maneuvers.