I am currently GMing a pathfinder campaign and we are still learning the rules. I had my players fight a half-fiend Minotaur. Since the Minotaur's melee ability is written Great Axe +11/+6 does that mean he can make two attacks a round? Does he have to do it as a full round action? Can he also make a bite or gore attack the same round but at a penalty? Thanks for the help.
Ned
He can make two attacks a round with the axe as long as he is taking a full round action (no more than a 5 foot step). That is always what they mean when attacks are separated by a slash like that. A minotaur can also use its horns to gore at the +4 listed in the entry so long as it is making a full attack action. You can tell because it says "and" between the axe and gore entries in the attack line. Read the following from the universal monster rules:
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.
He can make two attacks a round with the axe as long as he is taking a full round action (no more than a 5 foot step). That is always what they mean when attacks are separated by a slash like that. A minotaur can also use its horns to gore at the +4 listed in the entry so long as it is making a full attack action. You can tell because it says "and" between the axe and gore entries in the attack line. Read the following from the universal monster rules:
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.
This!
Also, don't forget the rule of cool! If that fiendish minotaur were mine, I'd describe how he looks physically (serrated horns, iron-shod hoofs with spikes, hellish orange eyes that glow as if there were a fire behind them. Saliva that burns and leaves angry red weals on the skin (no damage, just cool looking. The marks go away with healing magic but not normal healing).
Most important rule:Show, Don't Tell!!!
He can make two attacks a round with the axe as long as he is taking a full round action (no more than a 5 foot step). That is always what they mean when attacks are separated by a slash like that. A minotaur can also use its horns to gore at the +4 listed in the entry so long as it is making a full attack action. You can tell because it says "and" between the axe and gore entries in the attack line. Read the following from the universal monster rules:
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.
Got it. But since he was a half-fiend the melee attacks are separated by commas. Does this change how it works?
No, it's just listing everything it can do.
Oops. I was looking at the base minotaur. I was trying to make it easy and outsmarted myself. Same ruling for those commas. Read the part about Natural Attacks I included.