Innate Attack Advantage

Variable

Innate Attack

You have a natural or built-in attack with which you can inflict physical damage (for nondamaging attacks, see Affliction, and Binding. Examples include a dragon's fiery breath, a robot's built-in blaster, and a god's ability to hurl lightning bolts.

By default, this is a ranged attack with 1/2D 10, Max 100, Acc 3, RoF 1, Shots N/A, and Recoil 1, although you can apply modifiers to change these statistics.

An Innate Attack inflicts 1d damage per level. Its cost per level depends on the type of damage it inflicts:

Burning (burn)

Your attack inflicts damage using flame, an energy beam, or localized electrical burns. It may ignite fires! 5 points/level.

Corrosion (cor)

Your attack involves acid, disintegration, or something similar. For every 5 points of basic damage you inflict, reduce the target's DR by 1, in addition to regular damage. (Living beings heal natural DR at the same rate as HP.) 10 points/level.

Crushing (cr)

Your attack inflicts damage through blunt impact, like a bludgeoning weapon or an explosive blast. It is likely to cause knockback, and is more effective at inflicting blunt trauma than other types of damage. 5 points/level.

Cutting (cut)

Your attack inflicts lacerations, like those caused by an axe or broken glass. Multiply penetrating damage by 1.5. Cutting attacks can inflict blunt trauma and cause knockback. 7 points/level.

Fatigue (fat)

Your attack is nonlethal. It might involve a low-amperage electric shock or a "mind blast," or even inflict a weakening effect such as hypothermia or starvation. It reduces FP, not HP, and cannot affect machines. 10 points/level.

Impaling (imp)

Your attack inflicts stab wounds, like a spear or an arrow. Double penetrating damage in flesh! Impaling attacks can target the eyes and vital organs, can inflict blunt trauma, and may slip through high-tech flexible armor. 8 points/level.

Piercing

Your attack involves a fast, blunt projectile, such as a bullet, or is sharp but too small to qualify as impaling, like a dart or a stinger. It may inflict blunt trauma, and can target the eyes and vital organs. There are four subclasses of piercing attack:

Small Piercing (pi-): Use this for very low-energy projectiles (e.g., blowgun darts), or for attacks that tend to punch through the target and leave a small wound channel (e.g., armor-piercing bullets). Against flesh, halve damage that penetrates DR. 3 points/level.

Piercing (pi): Use this for most rifle and pistol bullets. 5 points/level.

Large Piercing (pi+): Use this for attacks similar to large-caliber solid bullets, or for smaller projectiles that create large wound channels (e.g., hollow-point bullets). Multiply penetrating damage in flesh by 1.5. 6 points/level.

Huge Piercing (pi++): Use this for attacks that leave an even larger wound channel than large piercing. Double penetrating damage in flesh! 8 points/level.

Toxic (tox)

Your attack inflicts cellular damage, in the manner of disease, poison, or radiation. It cannot normally affect machines. The modifiers Cyclic, Onset, and Resistible are usual, but not required. 4 points/level.

Partial Dice

You do not have to buy whole-numbered dice of damage. Each ±1 to damage counts as ±0.3 dice. Round the final cost up. For instance, an Innate Attack that does 1d+2 damage counts as 1.6 dice. If it were crushing (5 points/die), it would cost 1.6 × 5 = 8 points.

Some attacks do only 1 point of damage. This counts as 0.25 dice. Once again, round cost up. Such attacks can still be deadly – especially if they involve the Follow-Up or Cyclic enhancement!

Special Modifiers

Many special modifiers for Innate Attack appear under Attack Enhancements and Limitations. You can use these to create almost any attack – built-in guns, lasers, jets of liquid fire, gale-force winds, etc. – and to duplicate the capabilities of weapons listed in GURPS books.

Fatigue and toxic attacks intended to simulate poison or disease require modifiers. Noxious agents on Claws, Teeth, darts, etc. use Follow-Up). Gases and sprays use Respiratory Agent or Contact Agent, often with Area Effect), Cone, or Jet. Attacks that depend on touch or on skin contact use Blood Agent or Contact Agent, plus one of Aura or Melee Attack. Regardless of other modifiers, Innate Attacks are treated as ranged attacks unless given the Melee Attack limitation; then they're considered melee weapons.

Description

After applying all relevant modifiers, name and describe the attack. You can be as general as "dragon fire" or as specific as "9mm machine pistol cybernetically implanted in right arm." At the GM's discretion, the description can imply additional noncombat abilities; for instance, a jet of high-pressure water could put out fires. The GM has the final say as to whether your description fits the campaign setting, and may modify the attack if necessary.

Alternative Attacks

If you have multiple Innate Attacks, you may define them as being the same basic attack, but with different settings, ammo types, etc. Determine the cost of these "alternative attacks" as usual, but only pay full price for the most expensive attack. Buy additional attacks at 1/5 cost (round up).

This can save a lot of points, but there are drawbacks. First, since the attacks represent a single ability, you cannot use them simultaneously, even if you are capable of multiple attacks. This also prevents you from combining them with the Link enhancement. As well, any critical failure or malfunction that disables one of your attacks disables all of them. Finally, if your most expensive attack is somehow drained or neutralized, none of the cheaper attacks will work.

You may also apply this rule to multiple Afflictions or Bindings, or any combination of these with Innate Attacks that you cannot use simultaneously. With the GM's permission, you can apply this rule to multipurpose Strikers as well.