When is PC Mutilation "Good"?

[thelotusflower]

In DND the spell restoration can restore lost limbs and such so long as the character wasn't born with the deformity.  This should be something considered by the DMs because it's a spell that is hard to come by though at the same time people getting cut up can really encourage their players to get bummed out.  If I were playing a melee fighter and lost an arm, I'd much rather be killed than become useless.

[Blue41]

Unless you happen to dual-wield or use a two-handed a weapon. Unless you're built specifically to use one of those two styles but now cannot. Some people can work with that and still have fun- others don't. Nothing against them, if you're not enjoying playing your character, you should make one that you can enjoy.

Losing a limb isn't something that should be downplayed because a DM will hook me up in a month or two. It's as serious as anything else, and if it's earned, get to hacking. If not, there are other ways to make your enemy 'feel' their loss.

[Pentaxius]

Indeed, the mechanical of lost limbs can be more or less crippling depending on your opponent, thus I would consider this as a weighting factor before mutilating someone (or to choose the appropriate body part...).

Don't forget, you can just as easily, for sake of conflict intensity - clip away fingers, ears, nose, or even castrate your target These do not generally come with permanent and crippling mechanical consequences (depending on the overseeing DM, maybe a slight CHA reduction, maybe WIS if you pluck an eye).

Before chopping off an arm of a two-handed fighter or a spellcaster, consider the other options available, and trust in your fellow player to accordingly update his PC's description and roleplay appropriately.

[Moonlighter]

Do correct me if I am wrong, but the mechanical penalties for losing a left arm is simply that you can't hold two-handed weapons. It doesn't even affect AB or reduce the number of attacks a, let's say, monk, has. Mechanically, it barely hurts to lose a left arm. Perhaps doesn't hurt at all.

... For one class. For several others it is not only quite literally crippling but utterly destructive. Specifically fighters, dual wielders and anyone who does 1h+board.

I lost an arm as a Dual Wield and Shortbow Rogue once, as an example. I could use neither that I had invested feats in.

That wasn't fun.

Any shield-bearer is forced to go down to bucklers, losing AC, and that's just if they lose the hand. If they lose the whole arm, they're fucked. No shield at all. Big loss in livability, typically 2-3 AC.

And honestly, I rarely see limb mutilations done well.

I've seen it done, tacked onto a complete mugging of a PC's supply and gold after abusing a bugged summon to win in the first place, I've seen it done when the PC in question was not even the person who subdued them/won the conflict, I've seen it done in a number of bad ways and never really a 'good' one.

It can be a very permanent thing in the grand scheme of how EFU works.

[Spiffy Has]

In DND the spell restoration can restore lost limbs and such so long as the character wasn't born with the deformity.  This should be something considered by the DMs because it's a spell that is hard to come by though at the same time people getting cut up can really encourage their players to get bummed out.

If you loose a limb, it has been ruled on EFU that no amount of regeneration/restoration/greater restoration will restore your person unless a DM says so- and most times, they won't. Loosing a limb a serious  business and should take an equally serious effort to regain it, other than "lol I found greater restoration scroll."

[Decimate_The_Weak]

The only time that I really find it fitting that somebody has lost their entire arm, or half of it for that matter is; a result to an epic confrontation in which it was lost in the heat of battle, a dire bear or similarly vicious predator biting off your arm/leg, or perhaps even some infestation such as Slaadi or worse.
 
I think, as a legal punishment, it's much more common for somebody to lose their fingers, hands, eyes, tongues, or even get branded before the possibility of removing the entirety of their arm is even an option... it doesn't even make sense.
 
The only reason that it's really an option is because it can be represented IG visually with the PC model.
 
We can come up with classier ways. Don't let the limits of the game limit your roleplay.

[Ziya]

Yea, that's quite the hefty penalties for certain builds, as much as it might be negligible for the lucky few.

I still remember William and how I wince OOC-ly as I watch his months-long struggle to restore his arm and fail repeatedly. The difficulty of 'restoring a limb' in EFU is such that it seems if someone does have a build focused on being two-handed and lose an arm, he is essentially mechanically screwed.

[thelotusflower]

If you loose a limb, it has been ruled on EFU that no amount of regeneration/restoration/greater restoration will restore your person unless a DM says so- and most times, they won't. Loosing a limb a serious  business and should take an equally serious effort to regain it, other than "lol I found greater restoration scroll."

How many Greater Restoration scrolls have you found?  It should certainly be more difficult to bring people back from the dead than to regrow their limbs. But as someone has already stated, it's far easier just to die and be raised.

[RuinedDesires]

I cannot say I agree with those opposing limb loss. Nor can I say I understand why you believe that a limb loss is more detrimental than death. Death should by no means be a temporary move. It should, above all other things be the end of your characters tale, the part where you and others say good bye to that Character.

I understand, that every now and then people thwart death, that the death you received did not feel justified nor warranted be it is what it is.

In my eyes, a limb removal avoids death. When I plan to kill a character I do so because I do not want that characters story to end and this is my alternative to them. It is my opportunity to them to welcome the challenge of a lost limb, take it into their story and use it to find new and interesting solutions.

While yes, not all DM's are wanting or have the time to aid players who have lost those limbs I would also point out that a player taking a limb does need to confer with a DM on the matter.

Furthermore I think that if you have suffered such a crippling consequence to your actions towards another character or group, you should have time to truly suffer. Too often do we bring down the guillotine on interactions that could have lasted more longer and been far more interesting.

To me, a Hero that lost his limb to a villain and slowly recovered from that tragedy ,by either replacing or learning to do without the limb. Who then proceeds to enact vengeance on the villain is a far more interesting story from an outside perspective. Than say the Hero was brutally butchered or more common than not, was killed, brought back and ganked him with superior numbers.

I have, on numerous occasions played PC's with lost limbs. Some from creation but more often than not taken during conflict or DM events. More often than not these characters have gone on to be my most enjoyable and while certainly frustrating I am glad I stuck with them to achieve what I did with them.

[Spiffy Has]

How many Greater Restoration scrolls have you found?  It should certainly be more difficult to bring people back from the dead than to regrow their limbs. But as someone has already stated, it's far easier just to die and be raised.

Several in my time- granted, they aren't 'common', they are even 'rare', but they do drop from time to time. They can also be made (items with it) So yes, it is easier to die/get raised than it is to restore a limb- but that is the double standard of efu, replacing a soul into a body (and heal what killed them) is apparently much easier for the gods than it is to regrow a limb from scratch!

[PanamaLane]

I already weighed in here, but I want to mention one more thing. Mechanics are important, but the moment they take precedence over story telling they do a great disservice to the server. Losing an limb would mean far more to your character than, "hey I can't use my shield" it should define one of the major challenges in their hero's journey. A true hero always gets the piss knocked out of him at first before coming back to triumph over their enemy.

[Paha]

If it's really fitting for your character, for some wacky, perverted reason to go and mutilate your target, then that's IC. It never hurts to have thought of courtesy in it, but neither you nor target should feel horrible OOC, and neither side should take guilt for it, or be persecuted over it.

If this is however an intention of yours, you will need a DM there to see it through. This isn't something you do just to whip it off. It is macabre act. In some cases, it's involved in law enforcement in the crude style, where it fits. That's case by case. It is still quite disturbing and should be something done only if it truly reflects your concept and characteristic, or there was a reason to it.

It's pointless to go into many arguments of it, as each event is it's own individual and unique beast. Small reasons, nuances, situation, time, place - all are in effect.

That's my piece on it and I tend to go by it as I happen to oversee anything like it.

[Kandebyn Olar]

How can cutting a guy's arm or leg be worse than cutting it's ugly head off?

If you can respawn/raise dead, don't tell me the wizards and clerics of Faerun haven't figured out a way to make limbs grow back...

I say there's too much focus on OOC. Some people simply don't fear PvP because they know the other player(s) won't straight up kill your ass or maim you into a medieval wheelchair.

I have seen my fair share of defiant knights knocked down prone, then laugh at the face of those threatening their very existence. Then they get killed and complain, boohoo, grief!

I want to see characters beg for their lives, like insects. Because when you're knocked prone and a guy is holding his sword to your neck, that's what you are, a miserable insect awaiting to be crushed!

[Spiffy Has]

There are ways to restore limbs. None of them are easy. The 'raise dead' option is available due to OOC reasons, as it truly does suck to loose a third of your xp over something critting you with his scythe when you lagged.