Innate attack help!

[Anna Gale]

Hi, I just joined these forums after looking around and seeing how helpful everyone is to other people with GURPS questions, and I thought I might as well ask mine.

I'm building a power for a superhero game who has a wooden sword that she can channel energy through in order to make it as sharp as a metal katana, effectively changing the damage from strait crushing to cutting for swing and impaling for thrust. One thing is I want the ability to be constant, as in, once she starts to channel the energy, it stays on until she turns it off, or reaches her maximum duration. I gave it Switchable and Max duration to accomplish this. However, my GM said that I can't put a duration or switchable on an Innate Attack, which is what I'm using as a base.

I have looked around the forums to try and see if someone's asked something like this, but I haven't found anything that is close enough, but sorry if I missed one. Thanks in advanced for any reply's!

[Proteus]

You could buy Payload, limited to the swords, add the +50% Cosmic enhancement to make it extra-dimensional, and then be able to "swap" one of them out for the other. The fact that it's the same sword would essentially be a special effect (though maybe worth a slight discount, since you couldn't "retrieve" the "stored" sword if the other had been taken).

[Anna Gale]

That could work, but as I want it a super power, meaning it works better than an actual katana. I would if it would help to show the limitations and enhancements I have on it currently?

Innate Attack, cutting 7/lvl
Melee 1,2 -20%
ST based +100%
Switchable +10%
Thrusting blade +15%
Requires Wooder Sword -20%
No Blunt Trauma -20%
No Knockback -10%
Nuisance Effect makes sword glow blue -5%
Takes extra time 2 -20%
Costs 3 FP -15%
Max Duration 30 seconds -75%

[kdtipa]

Originally Posted by Anna Gale

That could work, but as I want it a super power, meaning it works better than an actual katana. I would if it would help to show the limitations and enhancements I have on it currently?

Innate Attack, cutting 7/lvl
Melee 1,2 -20%
ST based +100%
Switchable +10%
Thrusting blade +15%
Requires Wooder Sword -20%
No Blunt Trauma -20%
No Knockback -10%
Nuisance Effect makes sword glow blue -5%
Takes extra time 2 -20%
Costs 3 FP -15%
Max Duration 30 seconds -75%

An innate attack is something that does damage when used... it doesn't really have a duration beyond "immediate". I think instead of trying to modify it so that the ability has a limited duration, I might try the tactic of limiting the amount of use... as in... you choose to use the ability in a given round, and you can only do that so many times before you tire out.

Also, if the attack is cutting, it doesn't do the blunt trauma anyway. If this attack is replacing the wooden sword's effects, you wouldn't have the blunt damage from it. As for no knockback, cutting damage only does knockback if it doesn't penetrate DR... though I suppose the limitation could be saying it doesn't do knockback even then.

"Enhanced Sword"
cutting innate attack
- Melee 1,2 (-20%)
- ST Based (+100%)
- Costs Fatigue: 1 per use (-5%) [I lowered the cost since it would be paid per attack]
- Accessibility: Must have sword (-20%)
- Follow-Up (+0%, follow up to attack with sword) [this should make it so your attack roll with the sword is all you need to hit with the power]
- Nuisance Effect: Makes sword glow blue (-5%)

I guess that set up isn't really what you're going for... but it shows how you'd limit the use without an innate attack that has duration. If I was going to do this that way... I might look at striking strength instead. If you add a fatigue cost to that, along with the accessibility around the sword, and maybe even a reduced duration, you could get the increase to damage.

And maybe there's a way to link the two... put the fatigue cost and so forth on the striking strength, and use the link enhancement to link it to the cutting attack... so you can use the cutting damage when you have the striking strength going... Hmm... this post is long... I'll try another approach... maybe see if anyone else posted already.

[kdtipa]

quick additional post: this is an interesting exercise trying to build this power. Neat idea for the power.

[kdtipa]

Here's my current attempt...

-----------------------------
Striking Strength
- Costs Fatigue: 4 fatigue for first minute, 2 fatigue per minute to maintain (-20%)
- Accesibility: Must use wooden sword for strikes (-20%)
- Takes Extra Time: 2 rounds of concentrate, starts on 3rd round (-20%)

Total cost per +1 to ST: 2 points


Enhance Sword (Cutting Innate Attack)
- Accessibility: Must have Striking Strength going (-20%)
- Follow Up: Strike with wooden sword (+0%)
- Melee 1,2 (-20%)

Total cost per 1d of cutting damage: 4 points

----------------------------------

I think it accomplishes most of what you want to do, and for a pretty great price. The big thing I don't think it does is change the damage from the sword attack to cutting. That would be why you'd want to use the Strength Based enhancement on the innate attack, but there's no way I'm familiar with to make the innate attack have a duration for a single fatigue cost. As GM, I might be tempted to just hand-wave it, and say that when this is running, your normal attack is cutting too. I mean... all you'd have to do is get a better weapon to get cutting damage to begin with... it's not like it would be a huge advantage.

[Bruno]

My instinct is to make your boken a crushing innate attack (melee, Reach 1,2) with a cutting Innate attack (melee, reach 1,2) as an Alternate Attack.

It's a free action (that you can only do once per turn) to switch between modes of an Alternate Attack, sort of like thumbing the fire selector switch on a battle rifle to switch between single fire, three-round burst, full automatic. It stays in the new "mode" until you change it again

See page 61 in the Basic Set for more on Alternate Attacks.

[Anna Gale]

Thank you for all your help! I've decided to work with kdtipa's idea of using striking ST and an innate attack together to get the effect I want, so yeah, thanks again!! =D

[Dragyn]

In either case, you'll also need to build another Innate Attack to represent the impaling thrust. Then buy it (or the cutting one, depends on which is less) as an Alternate Attack.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Dragyn

In either case, you'll also need to build another Innate Attack to represent the impaling thrust.

Nope. Thrusting blade +15% is from Power Ups 4, and covers that.