Weird notation in MH3
 

In MH3, there are a lot of notations that look like this. This is for the Werewolf. "Bite (15): 2d+1 cutting; Reach C. Made as a Deceptive Attack
(-2 to defend against).
Claw (15): 2d+3 crushing; Reach C. Made as a Deceptive
Attack (-2 to defend against).
Running Claw or Bite (14): Either attack above, made as a
Move and Attack instead of a Deceptive Attack; ignore the
skill cap of 9."

What is this? Does it cost points? I have no idea how to even START reading this, so if someone can help me, that would me greatly appreciated. Also, if it says it in the book, I'm sorry for my own stupidity.

Re: Weird notation in MH3
 

These are notations on attack patterns. They do not cost points. I'll dissect the examples you gave.

"Bite (15): 2d+1 cutting; Reach C. Made as a Deceptive Attack
(-2 to defend against)."

The attack is a bite made with skill 15. It does 2d6+1 cutting damage. It can only be used in close combat. It has taken a preset penalty to it's chance of hitting in exchange for increased difficulty to defend against (deceptive attack.).

There is absolutely nothing to apologize for. These forums are for questions.

Re: Weird notation in MH3
 

So for the last one, it's saying to ignore the skill cap of 9 for Move and Attack. So this is free for the Werewolf Template? Can any character build attacks like this?

Re: WEird notation in MH3
 

That's what it says. I don't know where it got that from.

Re: Weird notation in MH3
 

MH3 is Enemies, not character templates. Some of the Enemies may have abilities that are generally unavailable for PCs. So no, PC werewolves don't get a free Move and Attack (ignore the cap of 9) ability.

That said, the Move and Attack abilities could be purchased as Unique Techniques; see the relevant pages in Martial Arts and examples like Flying Lunge for details.

Re: WEird notation in MH3
 

There are a few cases where you build a technique that pays a point to ignore that cap for that one attack only. Most of the time techniques are not broken down into the details of how they are built, your refered to the MA book for building your own. They just list the cost and effects.
By the way costs in points are usually written up as [10] in GURPS templates.
I read it just as the first responder did. The (15) is the effective skill and is a short cut to save you time in play. Writing these up like that once you get used to the way it is said makes it faster as all the info you need is right there in one place.

Re: WEird notation in MH3
 

It's a summary of how this evil werewolf attacks. The details are explained in "How to Use This Book" in the introduction to MH3.

The werewolf rolls 15 or less to bite. This is a Deceptive Attack, so the defender's active defense is at -2. If the werewolf hits, he bites for 2d+1 cutting damage.

The claw is pretty much the same thing.

The running claw or bite is a special case, because werewolves (as described in the text) like to make surprise attacks. This allows the werewolf to take a full Move while still attacking. There is no skill cap of 9. He rolls against a 14 or less to hit.

It doesn't cost points, because everything in MH3 is a bad guy. They aren't built with points. They have stats, and they exist for the champions to kill or otherwise defeat them. As the author, I assure you that I made no attempt to keep track of the bad guys' point totals; I assigned them stats designed to make them a challenge for the champions in MH1.

No, the creature statistics in MH3 are completely separate from the PC templates in MH1. Read "Why Aren't I This Tough?" in the introduction to MH3, and also read the last introductory paragraph of Chapter 5 of MH1, for details on why.

Re: Weird notation in MH3
 

There are tricky ways to build this as a Technique, as per Martial Arts. It is likely to require a point expenditure, but I'll leave this exercise to the player who wants the ability.

Re: Weird notation in MH3
 

-1 for breaking a rule (the 9 cap) and the usual -4 for move and attack makes it a -5 technique, specialized per attack most likely. I would assume it's a Hard technique due to breaking the rule. The werewolf apparently has it bought up to -3 (comparing all the numbers) so if it were a player, it would have 3 points spent on being able to do it with Bite, and 3 points spent on doing it with Claw.

But again, monsters don't have point budgets, and the only purpose of "point costs" is staying inside a budget. They really have no real significance beyond that.

There's nothing wrong with making a monster as a full character writeup - and if you have the kind of mind that finds working in that mode more inspirational, more power to you.

Re: WEird notation in MH3
 

There's also the issue of whether a GM would allow such a Technique without at least an Unusual Training/Unique Technique/whatever unusual background at perk level.