[HOE] A different Harrowed wounds issue

[Robert Holland <robert@macauley.com>]

Speaking of Harrowed wound levels, here's something that I've been pondering for
a while. Shouldn't Harrowed be able to take more damage to the guts than living
folks before being (temporarily) put down? For normal folks, a killing would to
the guts is supposed to indicate that some internal organ(s) required for
survival (heart, lungs, etc.) has been damaged beyond its ability to function,
right? All a Harrowed needs its torso for is to hold its limbs and head
together, so it should be able to keep fighting well after its internal organs
have been shredded, up to the point where the bone and muscle is so badly
damaged that it can no longer support the movement of the limbs. The books are
full of lines like "...a fellow who can shoot himself in the heart and keep on
laughing learns to accept these things" and pictures of Harrowed taking rifle
rounds straight through the chest and still fighting, but other than the
immunity to Aztec Surprise, there's no mechanic to reflect this extra toughness.


Of course, their noggins are no tougher because a blown-off head kills a
Harrowed just as dead as a breather, and their limbs are no tougher because no
matter how much pain tolerance you have, simple mechanics prevents you from
aiming a gun with a broken arm or running on a shattered leg.

I've been thinking about a mechanic to address this. First off, any solution
should probably apply to Walkin' Dead as well, since they don't need their
squishy bits any more than Harrowed do. How does allowing undead to take, say,
6-8 wounds to the guts rather than 5 (with wound penalties increasing
commensurately) sound? Also, I'm pretty sure I remember reading that Harrowed
don't take an extra die of damage from gizzard hits, but if the books don't
actually say that, it should be the case. Comments?

--Robert Holland

"The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig
trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars." 
--Isaiah 9:10