Rules for knocking out an enemy using melee weapons/brawling

[scott2978]

So, I am running D6 Star Wars again after a number of years of Pathfinder, and I came up against a situation that has bugged me about Pathfinder too.

The PCs snuck into an "enemy" compound (it was manned by friendlies during a training exorcise) and rather than shoot their blasters on stun and alert the whole compound to their presence, they wanted to stealthily sneak up and put the guard in a headlock or something to knock him out quickly and non-lethally.

Pathfinder and every 3.x RPG uses "non lethal damage" which is a mode of attack in which you deal damage that knocks the target unconscious rather than killing them once they reach 0 hit points. The problem with this is you suffer penalties to hit enemies with a lethal weapon "non lethally" like clubbing someone with the pommel of a sword or dagger (it's a real technique, look it up) or even like when Wesley hits Inego Montoya over the head with the pommel of his rapier to knock him out because it would be a shame to kill him.

5th Edition D&D has a blanket rule that if you ever deal enough lethal damage to kill someone, you can instead declare that they are unconscious instead of dead. I really like it.

However back to D6... I could not find any rule about knocking someone out without using a blaster set for stun. In the meantime I ruled that if the PCs get the drop on someone and successfully hit the target dealing at least one wound, that it works exactly like a blaster set for stun and knocks them out for 2D minutes, but this is just a house rule.

What's the official rule for this?

[Whill]

[CRMcNeill]

Short version? Just have Brawling inflict Stun damage, with Normal damage only possible with special training (Martial Arts).

Of course, accidents happen, so on a Wild Dice result, have Stun inflict normal, and vice versa. This works best if you treat all the Damage dice as potential Wilds, so the stronger characters (rolling more dice) are more likely to hurt someone by accident.

Oh, and here’s my version of Stun Damage, which effectively treats it like ionization for characters.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[shootingwomprats]

[garhkal]

I've usually seen lots of DM's let (BRAWL only), folks pull their punches, so the PC's can "Cap" out at doing just incapacitated, when they brawl (or M/art) foes, but if they get a 1 on the to hit die, the damage is lethal, and they can't do that cap.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[cheshire]

I came up with a mechanic on the fly in a one-shot where a player wanted to know what it would take to cold clock an unaware character. (Yes, it was PC to PC violence, and everyone at the table thought it worked in context.)

I said that if she could roll a Difficult on her skill roll, and then roll Wounded for damage, then it would grant that as just unconscious for several minutes (I can't remember how long at the moment).

I figured that the Difficulty skill check would represent knowing how and where to hit someone without crushing her skull, and the Wounded damage would be high enough threshold to allow the other PC to have the possibility of brushing it off.

I was satisfied, and wouldn't mind using that method again.
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Before we take any of this too seriously, just remember that in the middle episode a little rubber puppet moves a spaceship with his mind.

[Whill]

Good ideas here.

My method of just allowing player's characters to choose to do stun damage for brawling may not as realistic as other ideas here, but I feel it accomplishes something important. It allows players to have a nonlethal course of action when applicable. Conversely, it allows me (as GM) to have another option to subdue PCs without accidentally killing them (or relying on fudging to much) when appropriate.

However, my stun damage chart does include some additional effects including a wounded result, so it is still possible to accidentally hurt someone more than intended. Just not in lethal way.
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Star Wars D6 Damage

[garhkal]

Thinking on it, should a PC be required a roll against alien species, before they're able to do this? Especially on something NOT their own race?
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Savar]

[garhkal]

Other than one medic pc, i hae NEVER seen someone take a specialty in alien species.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[MrNexx]

[Mamatried]

I generally rule that a stun effect 0-3 is enough to stagger an enemy in unarmed melee or with a blunt weapon.

wounded and incapacitated I would rule as knock out.

Now I am not a trained martial artist by far but I do have the ability to at least try somewhat to control my force in a punch, giving someone a hard punch but the odds of that punch being lethal is not much.

and we are talking str vs str roll.

I am actually inclined to rule that someon untrained in melee combat/brawling would deal less damage, this becuse knowing how to strike will increase the effect of the strike.

So if Brawling damage is str (+ various technique bonues) then I would see this with someone trained.

while I would rule since there is no such rule pr raw that untrained brawl/martial arts (blunt) deals maybe 1/2 damage.

An average 2D stenght untrained person will punch for 1D and his melee damage will be calulated as str+weapon damage (1D+weapon)

Further more I would allow someone trained at higher difficulty to choose if a strike is letal of subdual, if the latter then any damage over incapacitated is ignored.