Quick question on monster attacks.

[Lord Pendragon]

If a monster has an attack routine like this:

2 claws; bite

...and it moves thirty feet before attacking, what exactly can it do in that single attack action? 1 claw? 2 claws? 1 claw or 1 bite? 2 claws or 1 bite?

Thanks for any clarification.

 

[hammymchamham]

it gets 1 claw attack. You can't make more than one attack if you move (their are some exceptions, but the monters list such). The monster could bite, but the claw attack is listed first because thats the attak they favor.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Thanks hammy!

Last night it came up in a gaming session, and that's what I thought it was, but the DM wasn't sure so I wanted to double-check myself and make certain.

To my knowledge, the only way to circumvent this would be by using the Pounce (ex) ability of some of the great cats, right?

 

[Hypersmurf]

To my knowledge, the only way to circumvent this would be by using the Pounce (ex) ability of some of the great cats, right?

Open your MM to "Hydra" and drool...

I wonder if Hydras will be animals or magical beasts in 3.5... and what the ECL of an Awakened Hydra would be...

-Hyp.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Open your MM to "Hydra" and drool...

I wonder if Hydras will be animals or magical beasts in 3.5... and what the ECL of an Awakened Hydra would be...

-Hyp.

Good god. Not only can the hydra move and full attack, but then there's this:

A hydra’s Combat Reflexes feat allows it to use all its heads for attacks of opportunity each round.

Combined with a 10' reach, that means the first guy to close with the thing is looking at five attacks of opportunity!!

[edit] And that's only the weakest hydra. At its worst, that means twelve AoOs! [/edit]

 

[Hypersmurf]

Good god. Not only can the hydra move and full attack, but then there's this:Combined with a 10' reach, that means the first guy to close with the thing is looking at five attacks of opportunity!!

That's open to debate.

It's uncertain as to whether the Hydra is still limited to the "one AoO per opponent per round" like anyone else with Combat Reflexes.

-Hyp.

 

[Hypersmurf]

But even if you rule that they are limited in that way... I love hydras

-Hyp.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

That's open to debate.

It's uncertain as to whether the Hydra is still limited to the "one AoO per opponent per round" like anyone else with Combat Reflexes.

-Hyp.

Hmm. Good point. Reading that line, coupled with the fact that the heads can act independently, led me to conclude that the designers were basically treating each head as a separate creature. So the five AoO's would be resolved as if they'd come from five different creatures which happened to occupy the same space. Hence, the AoO limitation wouldn't come into play.

But limiting it in the standard way may be what they wanted. After all, the idea of the twelve-headed hydra is just...terrifying.

 

[Hypersmurf]

But limiting it in the standard way may be what they wanted. After all, the idea of the twelve-headed hydra is just...terrifying.

That is not a bad thing

And don't forget, a Lernean-12 can get up to 24 heads

Treating them as separate entities can lead to weird results in some cases, though... like Whirlwind Attack, for example.

-Hyp.

 

[Destil]

That is not a bad thing

And don't forget, a Lernean-12 can get up to 24 heads

Treating them as separate entities can lead to weird results in some cases, though... like Whirlwind Attack, for example.

-Hyp.

This isn't too weird, really, since the hydra is one of the few creatures with rules for striking specific body parts. Whirlwinding or cleaving through a few heads really should work, as long as you're going after them and not the body...

Fear for my players, who are going to need to fight a shadow-hydra next session which I'm describing as something completly unique. Wonder if the'll start loping off heads, or will their 3E sensibilities keep them from that option?