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If I am reading Dead Reign correctly it seems like even if you do an Aimed + Called Shot you would be at a -3 or so to strike a Romero-type zombie in the head to kill it. You could gain an additional +1 to strike if you are within 15 ft. of it. Of course a natural 20 would automatically hit and do triple damage in this instance, taking up 3 attack/actions.

Does this seem correct or is the Called Shot penalty for small objects for things smaller than a humanoid head?

In the world I will be running head shots kill zombies.

Where did you see a -3 penalty to hit heads?

Given that you need a natural 17+ to hit necks/heads the usual purpose of strike bonuses seems moot aside from making them harder to dodge, and I don't know how often zombies try to dodge gunfire

Well, as far as I can tell, firearm accuracy is incredibly poor in Dead Reign compared to our world.

-Vek
“Headshots on a stationary target aren’t difficult.”

Not only are head-shots more difficult than they should be to make, a zombie's head can have more SDC and AR than your armored character.
The game's premise is cool, but the way it was written makes it impossible for characters to do anything but run themselves to death.

daddystabz wrote:If I am reading Dead Reign correctly it seems like even if you do an Aimed + Called Shot you would be at a -3 or so to strike a Romero-type zombie in the head to kill it. You could gain an additional +1 to strike if you are within 15 ft. of it. Of course a natural 20 would automatically hit and do triple damage in this instance, taking up 3 attack/actions.

Does this seem correct or is the Called Shot penalty for small objects for things smaller than a humanoid head?

In the world I will be running head shots kill zombies.

It's already included. Normal roll for a zombie's locations (including the jaw, BTW) is 15+ to inflict damage to the SDC (after that being depleted, you've either deprived it of a limb or opened its torso to inflict HP damage...& coincidentally only needed 8+ to now inflict damage), it's only the neck (SDC eliminated = decapitation) or head (SDC eliminated = brain exposed, need to do full HP damage to kill it, or "insta-gib" it if your initial attack was 3x its SDC) that needs the 17+ to damage it.

The real killer actually is that you cannot use any strike bonuses if targeting the Neck or Head. Which makes ZERO sense to me. That's like saying a highly-trained sniper with a high-level WP skill is no better at making a head shot on a zombie than an untrained tyro that managed to not be scared s***less & suffer any penalties when firing. Bull. F***king. S***. You should be able to use any applicable strike penalties on any called shot against zombies, including headshots & neckshots.

That being said...if you manage to decapitate a zombie, or have managed to remove all of its limbs, I would allow for a bonus (or effectively a reduction), because now you can walk up to the limbless zombie, roll them over with your boot, hold them down with said boot (or have someone else hold them down for you), & hold the barrel of your gun directly against their zombie flesh. I'm not saying it's an insta-hit, but it should be much easier to shoot out the brains of a zombie you have immobilized on the ground when your barrel is pressed right against their cranium.

daddystabz wrote:If I am reading Dead Reign correctly it seems like even if you do an Aimed + Called Shot you would be at a -3 or so to strike a Romero-type zombie in the head to kill it. You could gain an additional +1 to strike if you are within 15 ft. of it. Of course a natural 20 would automatically hit and do triple damage in this instance, taking up 3 attack/actions.

Does this seem correct or is the Called Shot penalty for small objects for things smaller than a humanoid head?

In the world I will be running head shots kill zombies.

A Natural 20 would be an "automatic critical strike" but not an "automatic hit" as the zombie/target could also roll a Natural 20 to dodge/parry. Defenders win all ties.

I agree but do the non intelligent types of zombies dodge?

hbrika wrote:I agree but do the non intelligent types of zombies dodge?

I'd say not, and even the intelligent ones would have to know the attack is coming first.

Veknironth wrote:Well, as far as I can tell, firearm accuracy is incredibly poor in Dead Reign compared to our world.

-Vek
“Headshots on a stationary target aren’t difficult.”

I have to agree; the rule about burst-fire not being able to take out a specific target is also wonky; I'd say the book's author is either trying WAY too hard to achieve some kind of "game balance", or isn't familiar with fire-arms... possibly both.