[SCAR]

Originally Posted by Peter V. Dell'Orto

Didn't Kromm write a whole post once carefully breaking down how this all worked? I'd like to find that again but searching on "DWA" or "Extra Attack" doesn't narrow down the hits much on this forum.

I found 3 posts from Kromm, the first strongly indicates the text in Martial Arts covers this.

Originally Posted by Kromm

Yep. I wrote a long essay on this for Martial Arts -- even though the Basic Set already says 80% of this stuff -- because it's clear that people have trouble sorting out all the bits and pieces. The essay wasn't cut, so once the book comes out, there will be a one-stop FAQ for "Can I stack multiple-attack Thingy X with multiple-attack Thingy Y?", "Can I intersperse steps between multiple attacks?", "Can I spread multiple attacks across multiple foes?", "Can I take close-combat actions like 'break free' as part of a multiple-attack sequence?", etc. Sorry to make people wait for it, but it isn't a short essay that we've approved as a preview.

Originally Posted by Kromm

No, I'm right and the book is imprecise. We clarified this greatly in Martial Arts: "Each level of the Extra Attack advantage gives one additional attack per All-Out Attack, Attack, Committed Attack, Defensive Attack, or Move and Attack maneuver. Extra Attack benefits only those maneuvers." Also: "A fighter . . . can't sacrifice attacks to perform tasks covered by other maneuvers. He cannot make multiple posture changes . . . hastily Ready an unready weapon . . . count his turn as more than one second of Concentrate, or Aim or Evaluate on a turn when he attacks." In short, Extra Attack is one extra attack roll on your turn when you take an offensive maneuver. It isn't an extra Attack maneuver.

Originally Posted by Kromm

Well . . . the next time I'm asked for errata for a new printing, I'll add this one. The wording in the Basic Set is wrong. The only way to get an extra maneuver in GURPS is via Altered Time Rate or spell effects (like Great Haste) that emulate it. There are lots of ways to gain extra actions (small-a attacks, small-f feints, etc.) -- including Dual-Weapon Attack, Extra Attack, and Rapid Strike for attacks and feints, and Fast-Draw rolls for readying things -- but these don't add maneuvers. Maneuvers have an action component, a movement component, and a defense component. While it's fine to add extra actions, adding the entire maneuver gets crazy. (And why on earth would one ready a breath weapon, anyway? Attack abilities explicitly don't need readying.)