How often does Aura hit an attacker?

[Yako]

I was stating up some monsters that would have an aura and I ended up wondering how exactly this interacts with multiple attacks and other circumstances.

1) If a character were to punch another one with aura with multiple attacks per round, will he suffer damage once or for each successful attack he makes?
2) If you are grappling / grappled by a character with Aura, will you suffer extra damage for attacking your opponent, even though you are already in full contact? Will you suffer damage when trying to break free? Would you suffer damage if you use some other grappling option that involves contact?
3) Would someone with Aura still inflict damage with HIS attacks if he already has you grappled?
4) Does someone with Aura get to add his Aura's damage to ALL attacks he makes with his bare hands against an opponent, or only for the first time he makes contact?

Right now, I honestly feel a bit confused.
It seems logical that touching someone several times briefly within one second should never inflict more damage than being in full body contact for the entirety of that second, but if I where to go that way, then I am not sure if the aura should add to each and every unarmed attack...
But every monster I saw stated up, for example in DUngeon Fantasy, gave me the impression that indeed, every attack is supposed to benefit from Aura.

I feel that the sanest approach should be "damage once per damage inflicting attack by the one to possess Aura and one time passively if there has been any contact this turn", but I am really not sure about what the rules are intended to be read as.

[Refplace]

My thinking is every time you hit someone with Aura your vulnerable to it and once per turn if grappling.
I can see where the idea of each hit not stacking but consider your using force every time. So if you punch something with spines or corrosive blood you should get hurt every time.

[Anthony]

Be careful trying to apply logic to rules. Realistically, aura should probably either be reduced effect based on contact time (which will tend to render it useless for anything but grappling) or have a limited proc rate (e.g. an electric charge that has to recharge after it zaps someone), but RAW does not have any such limitations.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Yako

It seems logical that touching someone several times briefly within one second should never inflict more damage than being in full body contact for the entirety of that second

I agree, lower incremenets of exposure time (like maybe requiring 1 second for -5%) would cancel out the strikes and require grappling, but some kind of additive exposure time (like maybe landing 5 punches = 1 second worth of grappling?) for hits would be good.

[Kromm]

Fort the sake of game balance, Aura shouldn't damage anyone more than once per turn. Otherwise, you'll get silly results in close combat. Measure "turn" from start to start: From when I start this turn until I start my next turn, a given Aura can hurt me only once, no matter what me and the person with the Aura do, either during the active part of my turn or during everything that happens afterward.

Aura (+80%) + Melee Attack (-30%) is worth +50% because it could affect all the attackers around you if they foolishly decided to swarm you in close combat. We eyeballed that as being approximately equal to Area Effect, 2 yards, +50%, which always affects an area of similar size to "my hex and all the hexes around me." The upsides "discourages attackers" and "requires no action" and the downsides "specific trigger condition" and "has no range" looked like a wash. If you start adding what amounts to Rapid Fire to it, it soon gets out of whack . . . if you really want that, buy Rapid Fire and say the Aura can affect each person up to RoF times. For instance, Aura (+80%) + Melee Attack (-30%) + Rapid Fire, RoF 3 (+50%) would cost +100% and be able to affect a given enemy up to three times (say, once for you punching him and twice when he punches you twice).

[Gnome]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Fort the sake of game balance, Aura shouldn't damage anyone more than once per turn. Otherwise, you'll get silly results in close combat. Measure "turn" from start to start: From when I start this turn until I start my next turn, a given Aura can hurt me only once, no matter what me and the person with the Aura do, either during the active part of my turn or during everything that happens afterward.

Aura (+80%) + Melee Attack (-30%) is worth +50% because it could affect all the attackers around you if they foolishly decided to swarm you in close combat. We eyeballed that as being approximately equal to Area Effect, 2 yards, +50%, which always affects an area of similar size to "my hex and all the hexes around me." The upsides "discourages attackers" and "requires no action" and the downsides "specific trigger condition" and "has no range" looked like a wash. If you start adding what amounts to Rapid Fire to it, it soon gets out of whack . . . if you really want that, buy Rapid Fire and say the Aura can affect each person up to RoF times. For instance, Aura (+80%) + Melee Attack (-30%) + Rapid Fire, RoF 3 (+50%) would cost +100% and be able to affect a given enemy up to three times (say, once for you punching him and twice when he punches you twice).

So if I have Aura and Extra Attack, and I punch you twice in one turn, the second hit does no damage?

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Gnome

So if I have Aura and Extra Attack, and I punch you twice in one turn, the second hit does no damage?

That's what he said (if the build is absent the Rapid Fire Enhancement). Makes less sense if you're punching Covered-In-Shards-of-Glass Man, makes more sense than the continual full-body hug from a fire elemental doing less damage than slapping one twice. That comes down to your mental image of the fluff text. Once-per-turn makes lots of sense from a points balance perspective.

[Hide]

Originally Posted by Gnome

So if I have Aura and Extra Attack, and I punch you twice in one turn, the second hit does no damage?

IMO, Since you are paying for an advantage, with an extra attack, Altered Time Rate (or anything similar) it should be possible adding more "aura hits" w/o including RoF modifiers. Consider you could shot an arrow two times if you have extra-attack enhanced with multi-strike.

Originally Posted by Kromm

Fort the sake of game balance, Aura shouldn't damage anyone more than once per turn (...)

I think this may break weapon builds such as "the sword of lighting which burns you as it cuts you and does not require recharge". IIRC you could build such weapons with magic enchantments, your personal aura, imbuements, follow-ups, among others... and IIRC it does not say the extra damage type works only once or that you must waive either type of damage (i.e exchanging impaling or cutting with burning if using a flame sword). How should I assess that?

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Hide

I think this may break weapon builds such as "the sword of lighting which burns you as it cuts you and does not require recharge". IIRC you could build such weapons with magic enchantments, your personal aura, imbuements, follow-ups, among others... and IIRC it does not say the extra damage type works only once or that you must waive either type of damage (i.e exchanging impaling or cutting with burning if using a flame sword). How should I assess that?

That's just an attack with Follow-Up on the basic attack. This is also how the punches of fire elementals and similar abilities are presented in GURPS books. Generally, if your own body weaponry always adds a little something, buy a follow-up attack. Aura isn't really meant to cover things like that.

[Yako]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Fort the sake of game balance, Aura shouldn't damage anyone more than once per turn. Otherwise, you'll get silly results in close combat. Measure "turn" from start to start: From when I start this turn until I start my next turn, a given Aura can hurt me only once, no matter what me and the person with the Aura do, either during the active part of my turn or during everything that happens afterward.

Aura (+80%) + Melee Attack (-30%) is worth +50% because it could affect all the attackers around you if they foolishly decided to swarm you in close combat. We eyeballed that as being approximately equal to Area Effect, 2 yards, +50%, which always affects an area of similar size to "my hex and all the hexes around me." The upsides "discourages attackers" and "requires no action" and the downsides "specific trigger condition" and "has no range" looked like a wash. If you start adding what amounts to Rapid Fire to it, it soon gets out of whack . . . if you really want that, buy Rapid Fire and say the Aura can affect each person up to RoF times. For instance, Aura (+80%) + Melee Attack (-30%) + Rapid Fire, RoF 3 (+50%) would cost +100% and be able to affect a given enemy up to three times (say, once for you punching him and twice when he punches you twice).

Thanks for the answer, that definitely helped a lot for clarification.



Regarding the issue of follow up, I would likely see it as fair to give a player character - a monster does not really need it after all - an 1/5 discount for buying the follow up on top of the aura if both of them have the same damage etc.
That should be fair if one wants "every time I strike you and once per second if you touch me".

The rapid fire thing I feel a bit iffy about, but mostly because I think rapid fire as an enhancement is just way too cheap, but then again, it is much less of an issue here than in its usual application.