Power Attacking Dragon

[juliaromero]

A dragon's bite is it's primary attack. Normally it only gets 1xstr bonus on bite damage, but the beginning of the monster manual says if a creature only attacks with it's primary weapon it gets 1.5 x str bonus on damage. So, when a dragon charges with its bite, for example, would it get 1.5 x str bonus on damage?

Also, if it does get 1.5 x str bonus on the bite (or even for the tail slap which it always gets 1.5 x str) would you give it 2x power attack damage like for a two handed weapon?

Also, do you think a dragon should be able to "power crush" on the first crush attack? Although, there is no to hit role, so this seems weird. Actually, it's not even clear from the text if the initial crush attack should deal any damage at all (though it seems stupid that it wouldn't).

 

[kjenks]

Since it doesn't have hands, and it doesn't wield a weapon in two hands, it can't get the 2x Power Attack damage bonus.

Don't pity the poor dragon. He has enough going for him that the difference between 1x and 2x Power Attack won't matter much.

 

[saucercrab]

A dragon's bite is it's primary attack. Normally it only gets 1xstr bonus on bite damage, but the beginning of the monster manual says if a creature only attacks with it's primary weapon it gets 1.5 x str bonus on damage. So, when a dragon charges with its bite, for example, would it get 1.5 x str bonus on damage?

I took that rule to mean if a creature only has one attack, period, then it got 1.5x Strength bonus to damage, not if it can only attack once (because of movement, etc.).

 

[Evilhalfling]

to answer your question no.
monsters get the damage bonus I suppose because it is there only option- therefore assumed to have more musles of be comparativly larger or something. thus making it equivilent to a 2 handed weapon.


But dragons do get 1.5x str on a tail attack
I would assume they get x2 power attack with it as well.

Disclaimer: this post is more option then rules based.

 

[Limper]

to answer your question no.
monsters get the damage bonus I suppose because it is there only option- therefore assumed to have more musles of be comparativly larger or something. thus making it equivilent to a 2 handed weapon.


But dragons do get 1.5x str on a tail attack
I would assume they get x2 power attack with it as well.

Disclaimer: this post is more option then rules based.

I'd say you have the spirit of it.

If you can squeek it in toss Leap Attack on the dragons feats.

 

[Arkhandus]

The SRD's Monsters (Intro-A) section states that the creature normally only gets 1-1/2 times its Strength bonus to damage with a primary natural attack if that's their ONLY natural weapon. Some creatures have a unique exception, such as dragons with their tail slap, tail sweep, and crush. The crush attack of true dragons would apply Power Attack damage by my judgement of its wording (it starts off saying 'this special attack' and describes some other stuff making it out to be mostly like a normal grapple attack).

However, the wording of Power Attack can be taken to mean either, that you simply use it before rolling any melee attacks for the round, or could mean that you only use it just before rolling melee attacks. The way it's worded, there's no way to tell which is the spirit of the rule, but the simplest and thus most likely meaning is that you can use it on any round, and then if you happen to do any melee damage that round, you apply the Power Attack that you activated earlier that round.

HOWEVER, there is nothing whatsoever indicating that natural weapons get to apply double Power Attack damage. The descriptions of dragon natural attacks never state that they're treated as two-handed, and indeed most of them are stated as being considered secondary rather than primary. Unarmed attacks and natural attacks are considered light weapons, and the PA description notes that despite the normal restriction against applying the feat towards light weapon attacks, you can apply it with unarmed strikes and natural weapons. They still count as light weapons, but apply Power Attack normally. The feat only mentions applying itself double when you wield a two-handed weapon or use a one-handed weapon with two hands. Natural weapons are neither of those, so they DO NOT apply double Power Attack, just normal PA.

Full Attack
This line shows all the physical attacks the creature makes when it uses a full-round action to make a full attack. It gives the number of attacks along with the weapon, attack bonus, and form of attack (melee or ranged). The first entry is for the creature’s primary weapon, with an attack bonus including modifications for size and Strength (for melee attacks) or Dexterity (for ranged attacks). A creature with the Weapon Finesse feat can use its Dexterity modifier on melee attacks. The remaining weapons are secondary, and attacks with them are made with a –5 penalty to the attack roll, no matter how many there are. Creatures with the Multiattack feat take only a –2 penalty on secondary attacks. The damage that each attack deals is noted parenthetically. Damage from an attack is always at least 1 point, even if a subtraction from a die roll reduces the result to 0 or lower.
A creature’s primary attack damage includes its full Strength modifier (1-1/2 times its Strength bonus if the attack is with the creature’s sole natural weapon) and is given first. Secondary attacks add only 1/2 the creature’s Strength bonus and are given second in the parentheses.
If any attacks also have some special effect other than damage, that information is given here.
Unless noted otherwise, creatures using natural weapons deal double damage on critical hits.

 

[dcollins]

I'm pretty sure there's a FAQ entry that says a monster cannot get x1.5 damage by voluntarily switching to a single attack. You might want to look that up.

 

[Arkhandus]

Irrelevant. The first line of my above statement already clarifies. It's from the SRD quote I included.

If a creature only has one natural weapon, period, then it gets x1.5 Str bonus to damage. If it has any other natural weapons, it never adds x1.5 Str bonus to damage. Number of natural attacks doesn't matter, it's the number of natural weapons. The rule is at least nominally based on the assumption that in nature, an animal with only one attack form will, at least if predatory, have developed great musculature towards the use of that one attack.

Specific creature entries can make exceptions, as with a dragon getting extra Str damage for its tail and crush attacks, but these are not the rule, and neither are they dependant on the number of attacks made. A dragon striking with one claw only or just a bite still doesn't get x1.5 Str mod to damage.