Large-Area Injury

Some attacks affect much or most
of the victim’s body – for instance,
dragon’s breath, a bomb blast, a huge
fire, or immersion in an acid pit. In
particular, any damage described as
being “area effect” or “cone,” and any
external explosion, inflicts large-area
injury.
A melee attack from an attacker
whose Size Modifier exceeds that of
his target by seven or more is also a
large-area injury – if the attacker is
striking unarmed or with a weapon
scaled to his body size. (If he wishes
to target a hit location, his tiny vic-
tim must be pinned or otherwise
immobile.)
Damage Resistance protects nor-
mally against large-area injury – but if
your DR varies by location, your
“effective DR” is the average of your
torso DR and the DR of the least pro-
tected hit location exposed to the
attack (which could still be your
torso), rounding up. If your DR varies
against different attacks, “least pro-
tected” refers to the location with the
lowest DR against that particular type
of attack.
A location protected by cover or
masked by the body does not count as
“exposed to the attack.” Against an
explosion or cone, only locations fac-
ing the blast or cone are exposed (e.g.,
if you’re turned away, your face and
eyes aren’t exposed). For damage
caused by immersion in a hazardous
environment (e.g., fire or acid), only
the immersed locations are exposed.
Against a true area effect, all locations
are exposed.
Don’t modify large-area injury for
hit location (that is, treat it as a torso
hit) unless only one location is
exposed. If a single limb (hand, arm,
etc.) is exposed, damage in excess of
that required to inflict a major wound
is lost.