Malidiction with Emanation: Targeting Question

[Nedorus]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Here are some references that should help you better understand Emanation.
GURPS Powers, p. 39 (Affliction - field), p. 54 (Field), p. 61 (Pheromones'), p. 65 (under alternatives lists it as an option for Affliction).
p. 40 under Gasses is I think especially relevant.
A gas that surrounds the attacker has Emanation (-20%) instead. Insidious gases have No Signature (+20%) and possibly Onset (variable). There’s no roll to hit; gas has a chance of affecting everyone exposed to it.

Not it specifically calls out no roll to hit.

Thank you so much for providing these!
This is exactly the kind of very strong argument (quote, ruling etc.) I was looking for.

The sections you cited either say "No roll to hit is required" or "There’s no roll to hit".
Interestingly Sensory Attack P40 states

Originally Posted by Sensory Attack P40

As with gas, no roll to hit is necessary

while the entry for Gas on the same page states

Originally Posted by Gas P40

There’s no roll to hit

Consequently these two phrases seem to be used interchangeably. That leaves a sliver of doubt in my mind whether critical misses can still happen but I would accept that “There’s no roll to hit” could take preference.

While writing this and re-reading some sections for Affliction in Powers P38 I find this:

Originally Posted by Curse P39

The only requirement is Malediction [...] There’s never any roll to hit;
Maledictions use a Will roll instead.

So there’s no Attack Roll but a Quick Contest instead. I forgot about that somehow.

So with an Affliction the victim gets an Active Defense and a Resistance Roll while for the same effect with Malediction the victim only gets to do a Quick Contest.

That’s a significant improvement. I was always under the impression that the cost of Malediction stemmed from “target’s DR has no effect [...]”.

That would have solved the question about the attack roll for an Affliction with Malediction, Area Effect, Emanation quite easily. Now we know that both Malediction and Emanation take away the need to roll to hit.

That still leaves the question on “targets” for a Malediction with Emanation.

[Nedorus]

P.S-:
I was looking for this when I wrote my above arguments. But I only now found it again.

Originally Posted by Kromm

The general principle is that unless a rule is explicitly ruled out in a situation where it would apply (and I think a mechanic for DR depletion and a mechanic for DR reduction clearly apply to DR), it does apply. We don't explicitly say that cutting damage gets its ×1.5 injury vs. targets that aren't alive, but it does . . . we just leave it out of Injury to Unliving, Homogenous, and Diffuse Targets and assume that people will apply the multiplier because we didn't say not to. Most rules work like that in GURPS. The onus of proof is on those setting out to prove that rules don't apply, not those merely asserting that rules continue to apply.

Whether this is a good rule isn't what I'm discussing here. I'm explaining how the rules actually work.

Bold high lighting is mine.

This is what I applied to rolling to hit and targeting when doing the construction from

Affliction

to

Affliction with Area Effect, Emanation and Malediction

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Nedorus

Thank you so much for providing these!
This is exactly the kind of very strong argument (quote, ruling etc.) I was looking for.

Your welcome :)
I searched for Emanation in Powers and found those, several others could have ben referenced too but I thought it was likely enough.
Yeah, Malediction gives several rather significant benefits, hence the high cost increase.

Originally Posted by Nedorus

That still leaves the question on “targets” for a Malediction with Emanation.

This is answered under Area Effect and its various modifiers.
Everything in the area is affected unless you apply another modifier.
Accessibility could limit the targets, such as in Smite which has Accessibility, only evil supernatural entities. Smite wont affect normal people even if the area because of the Accessibility limitation.
Selective Area (p. B108) lets you specify which part of the area is affected. So you could say "dont hit anyone behind me", "affect everyone except whomever might be in that hex over there", etc.
Selective Effect (GURPS Power-Ups 4: Enhancements, p. 16) would let you specify who is affected based on criteria you choose - but you have to be able to see them to exclude them. Worth reading, that page goes into more detail and has a paragraph on Afflictions.

So bottom lining it. Emanation affects everything in its area (except the user who it radiates out from). Think of it as a pulse of energy.
But you can alter that so the pulse only affects certain areas (Selective Area, like a flashlight instead of a simple lightbulb) or it can be set to exclude certain targets (Selective Effect).
Selective Effect is in some ways more versatile but has the drawback of you have to be able to target them, hence taking away some of the advantage of Area Effect.

Let me copy this fromt hat supplement as I tihnk it does a good job.
"Area-effect abilities should generally take Selective Area
(p. B108) instead of Selective Effect, but either one may fit. The
former allows the user to precisely control the area of effect,
while the latter allows him to control the targets affected."

In the case of Smite or something like it using Selective Effect you would need to know who was evil, perhaps with a Detect. The Accessibility on it means you don't need the Detect and the power is overall cheaper, but it can ONLY affect supernatural evil.