D&D 3E/3.5 3.5 / Natural And Melee Weapon Combination

[GhostBear]

Hello,

I'm going to be playing a snake-like critter in an upcoming game, similar to a Yuan-Ti. In addition to a standard melee weapon, I'll also have access to two natural weapons: A bite (primary), and a tail slap (secondary).

My question is about combining attacks. Can all three (melee, bite, tail slap) all be used as a full-round action in combat? Or can only one or the other be used (weapon only, or both natural attacks)? Or could the melee weapon replace the primary natural weapon, allowing the secondary to be used?

I've been scouring the d20 SRD for a while now but the Natural Weapons section doesn't make mention of this situation. Can someone help me out? I feel like I've read rules on this before but now I can't find them!

And yes - I have a rattle on the end of my tail and stuffed as many ranks as I could into Intimidate - because it's going to be awesome to stare at someone and start that rattle up...

 

[Sekhmet]

You can use all natural attacks in the same round as manufactured attacks, so long as they do not occupy the same space.
For example, a Vampire (who gains a slam attack) can use either use a Sword and Shield OR a Slam, but not both. He can, however, still use a Slam attack while using a Sword (with no shield).

If you have a Manufactured Weapon (we'll say a Long Sword) with a Bite and Tail Slap, all three can be used every round in which you utilize the Full Attack action.

 

[GhostBear]

Thank you very much for the quick reply!

 

[Wyvernhand]

Like almost everything else in D&D, there's an app handbook for that: Natural Attacks and You: A miniguide. Co-written by yours truely.

 

[ksbsnowowl]

From the SRD: Special Abilities :: d20srd.org

Some creatures combine attacks with natural and manufactured weapons when they make a full attack. When they do so, the manufactured weapon attack is considered the primary attack unless the creature’s description indicates otherwise and any natural weapons the creature also uses are considered secondary natural attacks. These secondary attacks do not interfere with the primary attack as attacking with an off-hand weapon does, but they take the usual -5 penalty (or -2 with the Multiattack feat) for such attacks, even if the natural weapon used is normally the creature’s primary natural weapon.

In your example, assume you had a Strength of 14 (+2 modifier), and BAB of +8. Assume you use a medium longsword and both your natural attacks deal 1d4 base damage. You could attack with a longsword and you bite, and your tail at the following modifiers:
Longsword +10/+5 (1d8+2) and Bite +5 (1d4+1) and Tail slap +5 (1d4+1)
If you took the Multiattack feat, the bonuses would be:
Longsword +10/+5 (1d8+2) and Bite +8 (1d4+1) and Tail slap +8 (1d4+1)