aim -- call your shot at a body region or target
How you play
1. aim -- show your current called shot
2. aim <region> -- head, neck, torso, arms, hands, legs, or feet
3. aim <target> -- a specific spot: liver, temple, forearm, heart, …
4. aim clear -- stop calling shots (swing where the fight opens)
By default the engine aims for you -- whatever the fight opens up, drifting toward the head when you press or catch a foe exposed. Every swing still picks a fine spot (jaw, solar plexus, forearm, …) and combat lines name it. A called shot overrides that: every swing goes for the spot you named until you 'aim clear'. It is a standing preference, like stance -- it persists until you change it, and it resets when a fight ends.
Why call a shot:
- Armor gaps. A hit is only blunted by the armor actually covering the spot it lands on. Aim at an unarmored region (legs, say, against a foe in a breastplate) and far more damage gets through.
- Located marks. A solid hit to a vital or limb spot leaves a short combat mark the next rounds feel (separate from lasting wounds on score):
Legacy vitals liver / solar plexus / floating ribs / kidney / throat -> winded (output drops)
lead calf / knee / thigh / ankle -> hobbled (evade worse)
temple / jaw / chin / skull -> staggered (aim drops)
Expanded spots (their own marks)
eye -> blinded (aim tanks)
brow / nape -> dazed (timing slips)
mouth -> gagged (harder to commit power)
collarbone -> splinted (guard hurts)
heart -> shaken (center-mass panic; not winded)
gut -> cramped (doubled over; not winded)
shoulder / upper arm / elbow -> hampered (swing won't finish) forearm / wrist / knuckles / fingers -> deadened (grip weakens)
hip / heel -> unsteady (footing slips; lighter than hobbled)
The trade: a called shot is a narrower opening, so it is a little harder to land than swinging at whatever presents itself. A critical always leaves its mark; an ordinary hit must land solidly (not a graze).
Located hits also wear down a regional structural pool (bruised / wounded / disabled) that persists across fights. Combat marks fade in a couple of rounds; wounds stick until treat / rest / clinic. See help wounds.