Rezzing the thread a little bit with a question for coup de grace attacks...
How should these be handled, exactly? I know in another thread it was suggested to use a +10 mod for severity checks when auto confirming hits, but rolling on the table doesn't exactly produce results that make sense, so I've just let them deal max plus bonus damage, and then handled the save and all that as normal. Is there a better/funner/nastier solution? :-)
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@White,
I think there are a number of options here. 1) The rule is intended to deal a lot of damage and kill things outright. That seems to be the intention, and I'd probably keep it that way. 2) See #1, but possibly add a critical effect on the off chance that they live.
A helpless target has an AC 5 (I think), so that severity bonus roll will be pretty hefty, allowing you to deal some significant critical effects.
Alright, cool; I forgot that the AC they'd technically be rolling against (if they were to roll) would be 5, that changes a lot too.
Food for thought with others looking at this, I've also considered using the called shot rules in the appendix, and have my players tell me 'I go for their throat/eye/heart'. I'm not sure if I'll implement this, because we don't use the called shot rules as is, and my players tend to get 'decision-paralysis' when provided multiple options, but I think its a good way to tie in critical effects in those few cases where people survive the coup.