Natural Attacks and High BAB


Rules Questions


Okay, now, I'm already pretty familiar with these rules, and I'm looking for a little clarification on one SPECIFIC element:

Is it possible to use a single natural attack in place of a manufactured weapon, using your BAB normally?

Some detail: I have a Shifter in the group I am running a game for, and I am trying to figure out some details of how his build will shake out. If he's level 6, Can he swing his single claw twice, treating it as a manufactured weapon? Or is that simply disallowed? I know he can make two attacks with, say, a club and then one with his other claw at a -5 if his hand is free.

If he DOESN'T use his off hand claw as a weapon, say he's holding a shield or a torch or something, Can he just take his normal two attacks, a Claw at +6 and a claw at +1, or is that simply not possible? If it is possible, can he take both attacks and still use his off hand claw?


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No to everything above, basically. Natural weapons don't get iterative attacks from BAB in the way you describe.


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There is an exception in that Shifters get an ability called Shifter's Fury, which lets them use a single Natural Attack for iteratives as if it were manufactured.

FAQ wrote:

Shifter’s Fury (Ex): At level 6, a shifter gains the ability to make several ferocious attacks with the same natural weapon. Instead of attacking with all her natural weapons, the shifter can choose a single natural weapon and make a full attack with that natural weapon, gaining a second iterative attack at a –5 as if it was a manufactured weapon. When she does so, all her other natural attacks count as secondary attacks and don’t benefit from shifter’s claws. At 11th level, she gains a third iterative attack at a –10 and at 16th level, she gains a fourth iterative attack at –15.

This will be reflected in the next errata.


LeMoineNoir wrote:

There is an exception in that Shifters get an ability called Shifter's Fury, which lets them use a single Natural Attack for iteratives as if it were manufactured.

FAQ wrote:

Shifter’s Fury (Ex): At level 6, a shifter gains the ability to make several ferocious attacks with the same natural weapon. Instead of attacking with all her natural weapons, the shifter can choose a single natural weapon and make a full attack with that natural weapon, gaining a second iterative attack at a –5 as if it was a manufactured weapon. When she does so, all her other natural attacks count as secondary attacks and don’t benefit from shifter’s claws. At 11th level, she gains a third iterative attack at a –10 and at 16th level, she gains a fourth iterative attack at –15.

This will be reflected in the next errata.

Wow. Holy crap, lol, thank you. These two responses have cleared this up pretty well for me. No one but shifters can do what I described, and shifters can due to this class feature.

Thanks. ^_^

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