Dismemberment
SSome characters—and their players—take great pleasure in using their weapons to potentially maim their foes. If you want to add an additional layer to combat, consider using this variant rule.
When a character scores a critical hit with a weapon that is capable of removing a limb, such as a lightweapon or vibroweapon, have them roll an additional d20. If they roll a 20 on the second d20 roll, they successfully remove a limb from a creature, or potentially slay the creature outright.
The character should then roll percentile dice and consult the Dismemberment table below.
Dismemberment
| d100 | Result |
|---|---|
| 01-40 | You remove a hand. If the creature has more than one hand, determine which hand you cut off randomly. |
| 41-70 | You remove both hands. If the creature has more than two hands, determine which hands you cut off randomly. |
| 71-90 | You remove a leg. The creature's speed is halved if it has at least one more leg. Otherwise, its speed is reduced to 0 and it is knocked prone. |
| 91-98 | You remove both legs. If the creature has more than two legs, its speed is halved. Otherwise, its speed is reduced to 0 and it is knocked prone. |
| 99-100 | You remove a head. The creature dies if it can't survive without the lost head. |
If a creature is immune to the damage dealt by the weapon, it can not be dismembered by that weapon. If the creature is resistant to the damage dealt by that weapon, when you roll the second d20 to determine whether or not you remove a limb, you do so with disadvantage.
If you roll a result on the Dismemberment table, and the creature lacks the chosen limb, you instead deal additional damage equal to the attack's governing ability modifier.
A creature with legendary actions can use its Legendary Resistance to avoid dismemberment, instead taking the additional damage equal to the attack's governing ability modifier.
More Common Dismemberment
You can readily increase the potential for this rule through a number of house corrections. As it stands, not account for advantage/disadvantage, you have a 1/400 (or .25%) chance to trigger a dismemberment when you make an attack roll. This increases to 39/8,000 with advantage (or .4875%), almost doubling the potential. You can increase it even more by changing the initial trigger to any critical hit, instead of just a natural 20, or increasing the range on the additional d20 from beyond just a natural 20, or both.