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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7057080" data-attributes="member: 20323">I see, you're asking about the philosophy of monster design. I'm on your page now.Yes, your interpretation of the action - lean down to grab, lift to mouth and bite - is how I'd do it in my own game too. Personally, I'm very willing to hack monster design to get the result I want, and it's primarily an artistic process for me (I find the maths mostly easy to work out). In this context, however, I was deliberately limiting myself because I realized the OP was coming from a different framework than me. I started to add stuff (like the limb devouring) and then caught myself and stopped. I think    [MENTION=6776548]Corpsetaker[/MENTION] was looking for a more 3e style direct translation of "ghast template applied to hill giant, and leveled up."To your question from my own perspective...Yes, I think claw/claw/bite can feel incongruous, depending on the monster. For example, bullywugs biting as part of a multiattack feels off to me (in the case of the bullywug I'd just give it 2 spear attacks, ignore its bite, and if necessary adjust CR accordingly). OTOH, a bite as part of a multiattack fits quadrupeds like dragons just fine.More broadly speaking, as DM I've always found narrating a non-lethal bite from a large/huge monster to be challenging; the adult blue dragon bite you...you take 30 damage, you're hurt but you're not dead...um...Now, I've become more savvy about how to narrate these things, but it still isn't 100% natural, I have to think about it: The blue dragon clamps down over your head and arm, your magic staff the only thing keeping its jaws from snapping shut. <> Razor sharp teeth dig into your shoulder and a mild electrical current runs through your body, as you can see pinpoints of blue-hot lightning dancing deep in its gullet. In frustration, the dragon dislodges the staff from its mouth, knocking you to your side. <<However, because the attack doesn't knock prone, I have to remember to narrate that the PC recovers and is not Prone.>> Quickly rolling to your feet, you see crimson blood running down your arm to your fingers.What's narratively jarring for me is that in movies and literature when a big thing bites a little thing, it's usually curtains for the little thing...unless they're swallowed whole and can escape from inside...or sacrifice a piece of equipment to jam its jaws open.One of the things that I've come to miss in D&D is players being comfortable with the DM ad-libbing these sorts of complications. Maybe it was just because we were kids and barely knew what we were doing, but I would always be aiming towards creating these kinds of scenes when a bite attack from a big monster came into play. In adulthood with more savvy players and D&D being more transparent, you'd really need players to be onboard with this sort of improvising. I actually was called out on it by some players (who'd adopted D&D during 3e and played 4e) who felt like I was changing the rules under their feet.</blockquote>

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