Natural Attacks
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All about Natural Attacks, their side effects, and how to improve upon them. This base can be associated with a Natural Attack. Natural attacks usually come from creatures or animal companions. Here is a review of what Natural Attacks are available, their side effects, and how they improve.
Natural Attacks
| Attack | Effects | Tiny | Small | Medium | Large | Gigantic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claw | Bleed/Poison/Trip | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 1d10 | 1d12 |
| Claws | Bleed/Poison | 1d2 | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 1d10 |
| Bite | Bleed/Poison/Trip/Grapple/Burn | 1d2 | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 1d10 |
| Grip | Grapple/Trip | 1d2 | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 1d10 |
| Trample | Trip/Shoved | - | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 1d10 |
| Slam | Trip/Shoved | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 1d10 | 1d12 |
| Whip | Trip/Grapple/Poison | 1d2 | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 1d10 |
| Sting | Poison/Bleed/Burn | 1d2 | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 1d10 |
| Spit | Poison/Bleed/Burn | 1d2 | 1d2 | 1d4 | 1d4 | 1d6 |
| Gore | Trip/Shoved | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 1d10 | 1d12 |
| Tail Sweep | Trip/Shoved | 1d2 | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 1d10 |
Improving Natural Attacks
Improvements are earned as an Animal level up and get a Natural Attack Improvement. More on what can be improved upon below.
- NOTES:
- All Natural Attacks use Dexterity for Accuracy and Strength for Bonus Damage unless specified otherwise.
- In the descriptions below, some text will be in bold. This bold implies that this attribute can be adjusted or otherwise affected by a Natural Attack Improvement.
- All Attack types can have their damage die improved upon. However, they can only be improved twice.
- All Attack types can have their Accuracy improved upon, with each improvement providing a +1 to Attack Accuracy. An Animal can only improve a Natural Attack in this way 5 times.
- All Attack types can have their Damage improved upon, with each improvement providing a +2 to Attack Damage. An Animal can only improve a Natural Attack in this way 3 times.
- All Attack types can have the Attribute Theme that affects either Accuracy or Bonus Damage changed to a different type using an improvement.
- Claw
- By default, a Claw only does damage. 1 of the following Effects can be added: Bleed/Poison/Trip. Claw can have Trip as an effect alongside Bleed or Poison but not both.
- Claws
- This gives each claw a chance to attack. This is not like the Bonus Action rules for a sidearm or secondary attack. Instead, this is considered the primary attack that just happens to have two accuracy checks. Each check determines if one of the claws hits. Doing a Claws attack means the Animal is committing to a full-round action. If the creature doesn't wish to do that, they can attack with just 1 Claw. By default, a Claws attack only does damage. Only one Effect can be added: either Bleed or Poison. A Natural Attack Improvement can be added so that if the Animal chooses to only attack with one Claw, the damage die counts as if the Attack was a 'Claw'. This unlocks the 'Claw' attack, which automatically gains all the improvements already given to Claws and allows for the availability of the 'Trip' Effect.
- Bite
- A highly customizable attack. Bite can be improved to have any two combinations of Effects. Effects are Bleed/Poison/Trip/Grapple/Burn. An improvement to 1 effect also counts as an improvement to the other effect.
- Grip
- This attack automatically starts out with Grapple as an effect. It can also gain the Effect Trip.
- Trample
- This cannot be used by a Tiny creature. The target of this attack has to be the same size or smaller. Can gain 1 of the following Effects: Trip/Shoved. A Trample attack has the same restrictions as the Charge Combat Technique. However, with Improvements, it can ignore the 10ft requirement and/or ignore difficult terrain.
- Slam
- The target of this attack has to be the same size or smaller. Can gain 1 of the following Effects: Trip/Shoved. An Improvement can unlock the use of Slam along with a Charge Combat Technique. If done so, the Animal gains Advantage +1 on damage rules. Improvement to this adds +2 to damage. Slam uses Constitution for Bonus Damage instead of Strength, as Constitution can imply a girthy body.
- Whip
- This is a melee attack with a Reach effect. By default, the Reach effect is 5ft, which can be extended. Can gain 1 of the following Effects: Trip/Grapple/Poison. An improvement to this attack unlocks the ability to pull a successfully grappled target towards the companion by 5ft per round. Whip uses Dexterity for both Accuracy AND Bonus Damage.
- Sting
- By default, a Sting gets 1 effect of Poison/Bleed/Burn. However, it cannot use an Improvement to add more Effects. An Improvement can be used to either convert this into a Ranged attack with 25ft + 5, or a Melee attack with 5ft reach. If it becomes Ranged, then it loses a level in Damage die and uses Dexterity for Bonus Damage instead of Strength.
- Spit
- This is considered a Ranged attack and not a Melee attack. Its Range is 30ft + 10ft. The improvement provides a +10ft. Can gain 1 of the following Effects: Poison/Bleed/Burn. This uses no Attribute for Bonus damage; however, an improvement can change this to use either Dex/Con/Wis.
- Gore
- A devastating forward charge attack using tusks, horns, or heavy head crests. Gore automatically adds the companion's Advantage Die to damage when used at the end of a successful Charge combat technique. It can gain 1 of the following Effects: Trip/Shoved.
- Tail Sweep
- A sweeping bludgeoning strike with a tail or tail club. By default, this attack has a reach of 10ft. An Improvement can unlock the use of the tail sweep to target up to **two** adjacent enemies with separate accuracy checks. It can gain 1 of the following Effects: Trip/Shoved.
Explaining and Improving Effects
- NOTES:
- Default Effect Damage: Extra damage caused by an effect is calculated as 1/2 of the maximum value of the parent damage die, rounded down to the nearest standard die size (e.g., d4/d6 $\rightarrow$ 1d2; d8/d10 $\rightarrow$ 1d4; d12 $\rightarrow$ 1d6). The minimum damage die is 1d2. If an effect says it provides Default Effect Damage, then that is how it is calculated.
- In the descriptions below, some text will be in bold. This bold implies that this attribute can be adjusted or otherwise affected by a Natural Attack Improvement.
- Bleed
- Bleed is an effect that causes extra damage over many rounds. The damage is the Default Effect Damage die. And the number of rounds is equal to the Dexterity mod + 0 of the creature. Minimum of 1 extra round. The round that the strike happened doesn't count although the target does take bleed damage. Another successful attack simply resets the counter; the number of rounds doesn't stack, and neither does the damage.
- Poison
- The effect can have a saving throw. The target has a Constitution based saving throw DC8 + Creature Level to see if they avoid the effects of poison. The poison can either be Default Effect Damage or 1 point of Ability damage. The number of rounds is 1d4. Just like with Bleed the round, the effect started on doesn't count. Once poisoned, the target cannot be poisoned again unless the Poison has worn off.
- Trip
- The effect has a saving throw. The target can do a Dexterity based saving throw DC12 + (Str or Dex Mod whichever higher). This is subject to change. If the DC is improved upon, the 3rd improvement makes the trip attempt automatic (no check required by the companion to initiate), though the target still receives their Dexterity saving throw to avoid being knocked prone.
- Grapple
- The effect has a saving throw. The target can do a Strength based saving throw DC12 + Strength Mod. If successful the attack has now transformed into a grapple. An attack that can transform into a group has to sacrifice 1 die level. This reduction in die level and be removed with an improvement. The target cannot be larger. If so then the attack happens but the grapple doesn't.
- Burn
- This is a chemical damage effect. It causes Default Effect Damage. The number of rounds is 1d4+1. The d4 and the +1 are affected separately by a Natural Attack Improvement. The Damage type is Chemical. However, this can be adjusted to a hybrid of Chemical-Thermal. To learn more about damage types go here.
- Shoved
- This effect has a saving throw. The target can choose to either attempt to Dodge: Dexterity Save DC12 + Dex Mod. Push back: Strength Save DC14 + Str Mod. Or lastly Absorb: Constitution Save DC12 + (Str or Dex Mod, whichever is higher). There is a misc +0 bonus to the DC of all possible options. Dodge requires that there be room to move out of the way and that nothing impede that movement, including difficult terrain. Push back doesn't reverse the shove; it just stops both the target and the attacker from moving. Absorb, however, will cause extra damage in the form of Non-lethal damage (every 10 is equal to 1 lethal) to be given if successful. The damage die rolled for this is the Natural attack that activated this effect. If successful, the attacker rolls a Strength check DC10 and if successful, pushes the target back 5ft + 5ft for every 10 the DC was beaten/optional. The target takes +0 fall damage, which bypasses DR.
- Blinded
- An acid, ink, or toxic venom spray that temporarily blinds the target. The target must make a Dexterity or Constitution saving throw (whichever is higher) with a **DC10** + Creature Level. If they fail, they are afflicted with the Blinded condition (imposing disadvantage on their attacks and granting advantage to attackers) for **1d4** rounds. The target can spend a Move Action to wipe their eyes, ending the effect early.
- Dazed
- A heavy concussive blow that staggers the target's cognitive processes. The target must make a Constitution saving throw with a **DC10** + Strength Mod. If they fail, they are Dazed (can only take a single standard or move action on their next turn, but not both) for 1 round. A companion can only attempt this once per encounter per target.