If you’ve played Eternal Darkness (and if not: strongly recommended), you may be familiar with its finisher mechanic: the character can attack a freshly killed hostile to regain Sanity. Since hostiles tend to drain Sanity when they see the player, taking the time to make it extra-dead is generally a good idea.
I’ve been thinking that Cataclysm could use something along these lines, for when butchering that kill isn’t an option (you don’t need zombie meat, no space, no time, etc) but you want to eliminate the corpse.
(Or, you saw a zombie necromancer doing its thing and want to make sure your kills stay down.)
Mechanical thoughts, by all means subject to discussion:
- Finishing would take somewhere between 1.5-3x the time of a “normal” attack, depending on weapon/skill, and requires that one be standing on the corpse
- Finishing destroys the corpse, permitting door closure, etc
- Finishing gives a morale bonus, probably based on the hostile’s Difficulty (or maybe difficulty v. relevant skills–a Brute isn’t as much a threat to Dodge/Melee/Cutting 5 as it is to D/M/C 3)
3A) If one feels Guilty for killing the target, Finishing doesn’t provide a morale bonus but no further penalty (may the child rest in peace, etc).
How it works in-game thoughts:
Unarmed: snaps neck/back, etc (OK, wouldn’t destroy the corpse outright, but still)
Bashing: Smashes the head into pulp
Cutting: Clean decapitation/bisection
Piercing: Messy decapitation
Firearm/Archery: Headshot is obvious, but if the weapon’s not silenced I’d suggest going to Bashing instead
Thoughts?
