Biped Eidolon leg attacks

[Tryn]

Hi,

One of my player is playing a summoner with a biped Eidolon.
He added a claw evolution (leg), now his biped eidolon attacks with his feet-claws and hand-claws.

Is this legit?
For me it feels a little bite strange (especially if I imagine how a biped creature attack with feets and arms at the same time...).

[Vrischika111]

seeing the the claw evolution specifically mentioned that it can be applied to Legs (once), then I'd allow as many attacks as allowed per the eidolon level.

for the attack look and feel, imagine a martial artists, round-kicking and giving punches.

[lemeres]

That rule about claws on legs.....

You see, one of the problems with the rules for making eidolons is that they have to be flexible enough to deal with all the strange forms eidolons can have.

Typically, humanoids only get talons or a rake attack on their legs. However, that rule was written with quadrapeds in mind, since they can have claws on their forelegs (a tiger is a good example). But at the same time, bipeds could get the legs evolution (hey, it gives you more speed), and thus become 4 legged. So the designers just kind of said 'I give up' and left it in the broadest strokes possible (Since it would make the rules far, far more complicated than they needed to be, and people are already confused by eidolons).

So yes, 1 pair of claws on the legs are allowed.

[Timothy Ferdinand]

I was asked the same question by one of my players a few months ago and took a slightly different approach. If you look at the Brimorak demon (a biped outsider with hooves) it only has one hoof attack but the stat block goes on to state "Against a prone foe, a brimorak can make two hoof attacks rather than just one." So I took the view a biped could reasonably fight and keep its balance if it attacked with its arms and one foot (hoof or claw) unless (1) its opponent is prone, in which case it can use both hooves/claws on its legs or (2) if the eidolon has the flight flight evolution, again, it can use both hooves/claws on its feet whilst flying. That seemed logical to me and backed up by an existing creature stat block (the Brimorak).

[♣♠Magic♦♥]

If you know anything about Pokemon, imagine Blaziken.
If you don't, I'd appreciate not being attacked for saying this.

[David knott 242]

I think I recall seeing an opinion from the developers that bipedal creatures in general should not have claw attacks on their legs, with no exception made for bipedal eidolons. I cannot locate that discussion at the moment, but I know it is somewhere on these message boards. It does not help that as best I can tell this opinion does not appear in any FAQ or official update that can be easily found and referenced.

If the general ruling is that you cannot have claws on legs that are your sole means of support, then the eidolon rules would be clearer if they said that you can have one pair of claws on your legs if you have four or more legs.

[Celanian]

From the Bestiary FAQ

Claws and Talons: If I gain claw attacks, can I put those claw attacks on my feet?

If you are a bipedal creature (roughly humanoid-shaped, with two arms and two legs), your claws must go on your hands; you can not assign them to any other limb or body part.

If you are a quadruped (or have more than four legs), you can have claws on your feet. If you have claws on all of your feet, normally you can't use all of those claw attacks on your turn unless you have a special ability such as pounce or rake.

Talons are much like claws, but go on a creature's feet, usually a bipedal creature (especially a flying bipedal creature such as a giant eagle or harpy). An ability that grants you claw attacks cannot be used as if they were talon attacks (in other words, you can't "re-skin" the ability's game mechanics so you can use it on a different limb).

[David knott 242]

Ah thanks -- I didn't think to look there.