My Search-fu has failed me, and while I can find several threads focused on the subject of natural attacks, none of them seem to answer my particular question.
I am converting the kythons over for a campaign I will be running. For those of you not in the know, a kython is a fiendish repitle/insect thing that has long been feared by players who encounter them because the severe power slant they have on their Upper-End of the CR. Part of my goal is to balance them out a little better while still maintaining a reason to fear them, but I've run into a bit of confusion that I can't seem to answer.
Since pretty much forever, I've always just had the assumption that if you had more than one natural attack, without some kind of actual exception to the rule, only one of them could be a primary attack. So, if you had a bite and two claws, only either your bite or your claws would be primary - unless, for example, you had a racial feature that let you treat them all as primary attacks. For the life of me I couldn't tell you if this is an actual rule, or just a quirk of the system that I picked up somewhere along the line.
But my question is this. With that in mind, the table for Natural Weapons in Bestiary I lists specifically whether a natural weapon is primary or secondary. But...does that mean, that's how that attack is always used barring "Specific Trumps General?" Or, does one of them get used as a natural attack for your monster, and the rest you delegate as secondary? Again, using my example above, does a creature with a bite and two claws treat them all as primary attacks (as noted on the table), or do I have to choose one as primary and then choose the other as secondary?
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certain types of attacks are primary, and certain are secondary. if only 1 then its a primary, regardless, and if you use a manufactured weapon, all natural are secondary
Since pretty much forever, I've always just had the assumption that if you had more than one natural attack, without some kind of actual exception to the rule, only one of them could be a primary attack. So, if you had a bite and two claws, only either your bite or your claws would be primary - unless, for example, you had a racial feature that let you treat them all as primary attacks. For the life of me I couldn't tell you if this is an actual rule, or just a quirk of the system that I picked up somewhere along the line.
The 3.5 rules were like that. One natural attack type was primary, while all others were secondary.
The Pathfinder rules changed this, instead opting for the table listing certain natural attacks as always primary, and others as always secondary (with a few exceptions as pointed out by other posters).
Thanks, all. I was leaning towards the idea that the chart wasn't pre-empted, but I wanted to make sure. :)