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I have a question on how Extraordinary Abilities stack with the Full Attack Action.

Take this Leshy,Gourd for example, it can make a melee slam attack and a Ranged attack with the Seed attack.

Can he with a Full Attack Action use both its Slam and Seed attack?

Davide Melfi
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  • Welcome to the site! Take the [tour]. There's a similar question for D&D 3.5e here, but Pathfinder tends to change things from its forebear when it feels like it. Thank you for an interesting question and for your participation. Have fun! – Hey I Can Chan Jul 06 '17 at 10:09

1 Answers1

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No

"Extraordinary Ability" is not a type of action. You can have Extraordinary Abilities that give you passive bonus to some rolls, that require some action to be activated, or many other things.

Quick explanation

For the Leshy case, it has two attack mode: slam and seed. The fact that the seed attack is an extraordinary ability doesn't change anything. As the two attacks are listed separately:

Melee slam -1 (1d3-2 plus ensnare)

Ranged seed +3 (1 plus ensnare)

They are separate attacks that can't be used at the same time.

Long explanation

In general natural attacks can only be used with other natural attacks, or with weapons, in which case the following rule applies:

Creatures with natural attacks and attacks made with weapons can use both as part of a full attack action (although often a creature must forgo one natural attack for each weapon clutched in that limb, be it a claw, tentacle, or slam). Such creatures attack with their weapons normally but treat all of their available natural attacks as secondary attacks during that attack, regardless of the attack’s original type.

The seed attack is not a natural attack (or it would be specified as "seed" does not figure among standard natural attacks). I guess you can read the seed attack as a weapon attack (it seems like that's not at all intended but the rules are vague enough so the doubt is permitted), but in that case keep in mind your slam attack will become secondary. What is more likely is that the seed attack is neither one or the other, like the special attacks you can get when casting ray spells. These attacks typically can't be used as part of a full-round.

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Anne Aunyme
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    The game consistently lists attacks separately, even when the reader knows a creature can switch between its melee and ranged attacks during a full attack (cf. the ogre fighter, the human barbarian). And both slam and seed are natural attacks. – Hey I Can Chan Jul 06 '17 at 11:43
  • what makes you think seed is a natural attack? – Anne Aunyme Jul 06 '17 at 11:50
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    Were the seed attack a manufactured weapon, the seeds would be listed in the creature's gear entry; instead, the melon-monster "can hurl its seeds as a ranged attack." I can't imagine the poor cantaloupe dude going down to fantasy Home Depot's gardening department and saying, "Hey, I'm out of seeds. Can you sell me some?" – Hey I Can Chan Jul 06 '17 at 11:58
  • @AnneAunyme in addition to what HICC said, the creature entry normally lists a single attack option and multi attack options when those are available. If the Leshy could make a slam AND seed attack on the same round, that option would be listed right after the single attack option. – ShadowKras Jul 06 '17 at 12:43
  • @ShadowKras It would probably go a long way toward answering the question if the idea that A creature can't mix natural melee attacks and natural ranged attacks were ever called out specifically. Is it? – Hey I Can Chan Jul 06 '17 at 12:48
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    @HeyICanChan: you are assuming that each attack is either a natural attack or a manufactured weapon one, but that's not true. You can for example have ray attacks from a spell which are neither natural nor manufactured weapon. – Anne Aunyme Jul 06 '17 at 14:06
  • I admit there are exceptions—it's Pathfinder: exceptions are the rule. Effects like rays, however, typically referred to as weaponlike and/or bring their own rules. I'm not sure how that applies here, though. – Hey I Can Chan Jul 06 '17 at 14:14
  • The table in the natural attacks link lists COMMON natural attacks, and is definitely not meant to be comprehensive. Does this affect your answer, Anne? – godskook Jul 06 '17 at 15:43
  • Natural attacks that are not common are specified as such, more or less clearly. Here there is nothing that points toward this interpretation, so it's not a natural attack. – Anne Aunyme Jul 07 '17 at 07:53