When is a bite finessable?


Rules Questions


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Pathfinder Maps Subscriber

When is a bite attack finessable ?

Example: A Kitsune has a bite attack, but only when in Kitsune form. Under what circumstances is the bite finessable ? Does the feat Weapon Finesse affect the answer ?

Silver Crusade

You have to have the feat Weapon Finesse to do so.

Silver Crusade RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

SlimGauge wrote:

When is a bite attack finessable ?

Example: A Kitsune has a bite attack, but only when in Kitsune form. Under what circumstances is the bite finessable ? Does the feat Weapon Finesse affect the answer ?

Weapon Finesse can apply to any natural attacks because they are considered "light weapons" for that purpose. If you don't have Weapon Finesse, you use your Str mod. The only exception to this is that any Tiny creature uses Dex instead of Str to determine their CMB, but that doesn't affect normal attacks (so a tiny creature grappling with their mouth would automatically use Dex instead of Str, but just attacking with a bite would still use Str.


Pathfinder Maps Subscriber

Ok, so Weapon Finesse works because of the "Special: Natural Weapons are considered light weapons".

If the Kitsune attacks with ONLY her bite, it's primary, but if she attacks with a weapon in her hand AND her bite, it's secondary, so she takes an additional -5 to the bite, correct ?


If you have the Weapon Finesse feat and a natural attack, you can use your dex bonus instead of strength bonus on to-hit rolls.

In human form, the kitsune does not have a natural bite attack, thus they can't make an attack, thus there is no finessing.

If the kitsune is in the alternate form and has the weapon finesse feat, every attempt to bite something with the natural bite attack would use dex instead of strength.

Silver Crusade RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

SlimGauge wrote:

Ok, so Weapon Finesse works because of the "Special: Natural Weapons are considered light weapons".

If the Kitsune attacks with ONLY her bite, it's primary, but if she attacks with a weapon in her hand AND her bite, it's secondary, so she takes an additional -5 to the bite, correct ?

Correct on both counts. In addition, if she attacks with only her bite, and she has no other natural weapons, she adds 1.5x her Str mod to the damage, instead of 1x. That's only when it's used as a primary attack and if it's her ONLY natural weapon.

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

SlimGauge wrote:
If the Kitsune attacks with ONLY her bite, it's primary, but if she attacks with a weapon in her hand AND her bite, it's secondary, so she takes an additional -5 to the bite, correct ?

Correct.


Pathfinder Maps Subscriber

If she has a strength penalty instead of a bonus and attacks only with her bite, she doesn't take 1.5x the penalty to damage, correct ? Only bonuses are multiplied ?

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Correct.

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