Innate Attack Projectile Based On Completely Inappropriate Skill

[Pseudonym]

I'm trying to simulate the effect of a magic weapon from a video game: in the realm of video games, common sense is violated all the time. Specifically, in this example, a divine spear is able to shoot seemingly divine projectiles, but doesn't require beam casting aptitude to use it.

So my query is, is there a reasonable power enhancement to allow a totally inappropriate skill to launch projectiles? I'm thinking in this example Spear, or slightly more appropriate Thrown Weapon (Spear). Googling, I feel like the second one might be justified as a 0-point feature just as it is sometimes appropriate to use gun skill for innate attacks, but I think the first one *might* be a perk level advantage because of things like Gazer, but it might also be a bit more expensive than that. So in my head I was thinking if the ability to use a "weird attribute" for one specific attack is 1 point, then using a "weird skill" for one specific attack might be worth 2 points.

Any thoughts?

[Nereidalbel]

Power-Ups 1: Imbuements actually covers melee weapons making long-range attacks.

[Pseudonym]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

Power-Ups 1: Imbuements actually covers melee weapons making long-range attacks.

Hm, I heard good things about imbuements. Maybe I should give that a look. Thanks.

[ericthered]

Innate attacks merely require a skill to use. The default is a DX/Easy Skill, but with powers you can attach it to any skill that fits the fluff. Simply say the attack uses spear and be done with it.

[Anaraxes]

As Pseudonym said, but:

There's nothing wrong with using Innate Attack (Projectile), or Guns, for a weapon that works just like a long-range firearm or magic bolt-thrower, even if it happens to look like a spear. The appearance is just fluff.

If you can also use the weapon as a spear, then you just have two weapon skills. You might use Spear to fight in melee combat, while using IA or another skill to shoot at ranged targets. Compare with using both Guns and Spear (bayonet) with the same musket or rifle.

[dfinlay]

Are you building this as a gadget? If not, it seems to be a property of an item, which is worth [0] by definition (Just as you don't have to pay for the Innate Attack of a gun you bought or found, you shouldn't have to pay for this). I assume this is the case because the only reason to make it spear-based is if you want anyone who knows spear to be able to use it.

If this is instead an aspect of a character and not an aspect of a weapon, I would advise against doing this. Give the character Innate Attack skill equal to their spear skill if it matters to you that they're the same and fluff it as using spear skill, but (in spite of the fact that there are GURPS mechanics that let you do this), there really isn't a fair price for letting a melee weapon skill double as a ranged weapon skill (the fair price is however many points it would take to get the ranged weapon skill to the same level, which depends on your level of investment in the melee weapon skill.

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by dfinlay

there really isn't a fair price for letting a melee weapon skill double as a ranged weapon skill

Imbue 3 [40] and at least [1] point in Project Blow. So, 41 points is the RAW price for this.

[Pseudonym]

Well, the concept is that any character that knows how to use this spear can shoot lightning bolts with the spear (at the cost of durability of the weapon, probably analagous to casting from Weapon Hit Points or HT; the damage to the weapon is easily fixed by people learned in mundane smithing.)

Imbuements seems to be the opposite of what I want. It seems to describe an individual that can cause any of a class of items to exhibit a particular exotic effect (Gambit can turn small items into explosives, Link can magically make any arrow fiery, icy, or divine, etc.)

I'm asking specifically if there is a mechanic to take an attack that is probably something like

Innate Attack (Impaling) 3 (Stunning +x%, Incendiary +x%, Costs Weapon HP -x%, Magic -x%)

And say, add an enchantment to the same weapon to make the projectile use a very unlikely skill which is most likely to be much better for the type of character that would wield it (that is, it is likely a person that specializes in spears is going to have a good spear skill; it's practically a tautology)

That being said, in hindsight, I think having the attack based on a regular innate attack skill is probably ok too.

It's a weird kind of fun I have, but I like taking artifacts from other games and translating them into GURPS mechanics, and since someone in Dark Souls doesn't need to be especially good at magic to use the magical properties of the spear, I mentally converted that to, "Someone in GURPS that uses the magical properties of this spear doesn't need to be especially good at Innate Attack."

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Pseudonym

someone in Dark Souls doesn't need to be especially good at magic to use the magical properties of the spear, I mentally converted that to, "Someone in GURPS that uses the magical properties of this spear doesn't need to be especially good at Innate Attack."

Innate Attack is not inherently magical, though. The definition of the Advantage is merely "a natural or built-in attack". The skill description argues against it merely because it was though of as non-weapon attacks: "attacks that originate from you as opposed to a weapon in your hand." This doesn't require magic.

Innate Attack skill doesn't benefit from the Magery talent, nor does it help to have other magic-enhancing traits like high IQ. It's a physical skill, not a magical one. Being good at directing the attacks isn't connected with being good at performing the magic -- any more than being a good shot with a rifle implies being good at chemistry, machining, or aerodynamics.

I suggested two skills simply because being able to shoot with the spear doesn't imply any ability to use it in melee combat, and vice versa. If Dark Souls characters never engage in melee combat with the thing, it doesn't much matter whether you call the ranged skill "Innate Attack" or "Guns (Divine Spear Bolt)". If the weapon does get used two different ways, two different skills seem appropriate. (Does Dark Souls even have a notion of character skill?)

[Nereidalbel]

Build it with Metatronic Generators, using the melee and ranged attacks as AA to each other.