Look into Ultimate Combat and Called Shots. Its a variant rule though. Can't quite sever limbs, but you can do substantial damage.
For most of the life of D&D severing limbs has been considered to be a special rule, at best. In general severing limbs is not something the game designers introduce because if PCs can sever NPC limbs, then NPCs can sever PC limbs. Some players might consider it not much fun to lose an arm or a leg.
But if you really want to play with limb severing as an option, then a coup de grace on a targeted limb is not a bad way to handle it. Although you might want to have specific amounts of damage so that severing a hand is easier than severing a leg. Or not.
4 Winds Fantasy's "Strategists and Tacticians” makes severing limbs a special combat maneuver. You can also just look at the it (and other interesting maneuvers) at the Pathfinder SRD.
For most of the life of D&D severing limbs has been considered to be a special rule, at best. In general severing limbs is not something the game designers introduce because if PCs can sever NPC limbs, then NPCs can sever PC limbs. Some players might consider it not much fun to lose an arm or a leg.
But if you really want to play with limb severing as an option, then a coup de grace on a targeted limb is not a bad way to handle it. Although you might want to have specific amounts of damage so that severing a hand is easier than severing a leg. Or not.
Meh... boring players maybe. I grew up playing WFRP where characters could loose an limb at the drop of a hat! It can be a very interesting element of a character.
If you're magically inclined and 3.5 is allowed, you might look into the Disintegration Savvy feat, which lets you affect only a body part of a creature with Disintegrate, albeit for the normal mount of damage.
The Skulls and Shackles player's guide has an optional rule that's worth a look. Also Grendel from Bestiary 4.
Well... could real slashing weapons actually sever limbs in one clean swoop?
I get the feeling that cutting one's arm would take several hits...
I would use something like skull & shackles. Anything more exact will not be fun for players.
The Skulls and Shackles player's guide has an optional rule that's worth a look.
And I'll post it so he doesn't have to search for the Player's Guide and download it.
PEG LEGS & EYE PATCHES
This optional rules system gives GMs a way to assign scars and major wounds to their PCs. Before implementing this system, consider these rules carefully. Major wounds can have major effects upon play, and some groups may not appreciate such debilitations, preferring the threat of death and an unscarred resurrection over a thematic crippling.
These rules are a variation on the optional massive damage rule found on page 189 of the Core Rulebook. Whenever a character takes damage equivalent to massive damage, he must make a successful DC 15 Fortitude save or be reduced to –1 hit points and gain a permanent debilitating scar or handicap. These effects are randomly determined by rolling 1d20 on the table below. Effects are permanent and cumulative, though the GM should reroll results that seem too crippling or don’t make sense—such as a character losing a hand two or three times. The regenerate spell heals scars and restores lost limbs, removing both positive and negative effects.
Rules for eye patches, peg legs, and prostheses to cover injuries and replace lost limbs may be found in Pirates of the Inner Sea.
d20 Battle Scar or Amputation
1–5 Minor scar—interesting but otherwise cosmetic
6–8 Moderate scar—cut on face (+1 bonus on Charisma-based skill checks for first scar only, consider subsequent cuts as a major scar)
9 –10 Major scar—severe cut on face (–1 penalty on Charisma-based skill checks**)
11–14 Loss of finger (for every 3 fingers lost, –1 Dex)
15–16 Impressive wound (–1 Con)
17 Loss of eye (–4 penalty on all sight-based Perception checks)
18 Loss of leg (speed reduced to half, cannot charge)
19 Loss of hand (cannot use two-handed items*)
20 Loss of arm (–1 Str, cannot use two-handed items*)* Losing a single hand or arm does not affect a spellcaster’s ability to cast spells with somatic components.
** At the GM’s discretion, characters with major scars may also be granted a +1 bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate checks against other pirates, as the scars of battle are much admired by pirates.
If you have a player that wants to start the game missing a limb, there's also this trait:
One of your legs was bitten off below the knee by a shark when you were just a child, and was replaced with a wooden peg leg (Pathfinder Player Companion: Pirates of the Inner Sea 20). You’ve long since gotten used to your prosthesis, however, and take none of the normal penalties from having a peg leg. You’ve had to learn to deal with the pain of your injury as well, and you gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves. Ever since your accident you’ve hated sharks, and you also gain a +1 trait bonus on damage rolls against sharks and other animals with the aquatic subtype.
It can be reflavored as you will, and even apply to different limbs (if your character wants to start with a hook hand, or prosthetic, for instance).
There's even a number of magic items that cater to this sort of thing (like a hook hand that still allows a caster to perform somatic components with it), but I'm not going to paste those.
There used to be a weaker verson ov vorpal called slashing but I don't think it has made it to the nodern game.
Well... could real slashing weapons actually sever limbs in one clean swoop?
I get the feeling that cutting one's arm would take several hits...
I'd say yes. Granted, this wasn't against moving targets, but still...
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I would permit the defender to choose to have a severed limb or other form of severe injury in place of dropping below zero HP. He'd stop at zero, and be Staggered ... a good representation, IMHO, of being in a state of shock over losing a (something).
This puts it neatly in the player's hand; if he doesn't want to deal with having a missing appendage, he doesn't have to.