Question: Rules on biting

[Psyduck]

I have currently made a barbarian, and one of the main things I'm going to use him for is grappling and biting. Does anyone have any suggestions on how much damage this should do?

 

[IceBear]

I wouldn't allow any damage for a human bite (at best 1hp total).

IceBear

 

[Umbran]

Human (or demi-human) bites don't do a whole heck of a lot of damage. Our teeth aren't made for it, and our jaws don't have much strength. You won't be killing many things by gnawing them to death...

 

[Moto Jojo]

I would just do the grappling normally, and include bites in the description of the combat.

 

[Psyduck]

Thanks everyone. I have one more question; should this count as regular damage, or subdual damage?

 

[Nish]

Thanks everyone. I have one more question; should this count as regular damage, or subdual damage?

If you take a -4 penalty to hit, then yes it would be normal damage. However, you might try convincing your DM to allow you to create a feat that would allow you to do normal damage while grappling without the penalty. Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Bite. Seems reasonably balanced...

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Isn`t the correct feat for this "Improved Unarmed"?
Since you do not actually bite, it would only be a unarmed Attack...

 

[Psyduck]

Isn`t the correct feat for this "Improved Unarmed"?
Since you do not actually bite, it would only be a unarmed Attack...

I'm not quite sure what you mean, since he's actually going to be biting. The best I could come up with is that it is a small weapon in a grapple, and I will plan on using it there.

 

[IceBear]

How much damage are you going to allow the bite to cause? I really don't think it's a good idea to allow humans to bite for damage. Are you going to allow Strength to modify the damage? If you say a bite causes 1 point of damage, and the character has 18 strength, suddenly you've allowed the guy to cause 5 points of damage. I would not allow it. Just think of the biting as occurring within the grapple, not as a seperate attack.

IceBear

 

[Psyduck]

How much damage are you going to allow the bite to cause? I really don't think it's a good idea to allow humans to bite for damage. Are you going to allow Strength to modify the damage? If you say a bite causes 1 point of damage, and the character has 18 strength, suddenly you've allowed the guy to cause 5 points of damage. I would not allow it. Just think of the biting as occurring within the grapple, not as a seperate attack.

IceBear

That sounds fair, but would it still count as subdual damage? Even if someone took an exotic feat for this, in a grapple you aren't making an attack; you're making a grapple check. Maybe rule it as if you want it to be real damage, go for a grapple with a -4? unless you have unarmed attack? should a bite count as unarmed?