How do Dragon's attack?

[RigaMortus]

Let's say you have a Young Red Dragon. It is considered Large via the chart on page 68 of the MM (right under the Red Dragon area). Ok, so then I flip to page 61 in the MM and look up the kind of attacks Large Dragons get. It says they get 1 Bite, 2 Claws, 2 Wings and 1 Tail Swipe. Now I flip back to page 68 and look at the Attack Bonus, which is a +19. And this is where the confusion lies.

Does the Young (Large) Red Dragon get all 5 of it's attacks at +19 Attack Bonus, as a Full-Round action? Should I treat it like irrative attacks, subtracting 5 off the next attack, and so on?

Could use some clarification here if anyone knows. Plus the rule supporting how you came to this conclusion (my DM will want proof that this the correct way to do it).

 

[Berk]

I believe the bite is at +19 and the rest are at +14. Pretty sure about that. Almost positive. But not quite. =op

 

[Dwarmaj]

Dragons have one primary attack (Bite) and the rest are secondary attacks. The primary attack is at it's full BAB, while all secondary attacks are at -5 (-2 if it happends to have MultiAttack).

The bite is the primary attack since it uses the dragons full Str bonus, while the other attacks use only 1/2 the Str bonus (kinda like two weapon fighting).

 

[DreamChaser]

Also, dragons gain only one attack if they aren't taking the full attack action, just like any other creature. I would allow them to use any of their attack forms with their single standard action attack (since bite is the most powerful one, and it is primary.

DC

 

[Staffan]

Like any other monster with multiple natural weapons, it gets to use one of the weapons at full attack bonus, and the rest at -5. In the case of dragons, the primary attack is the bite, and all others are secondary (that's why the MM says things like "Claw attacks are at -5 to the attack bonus").

Medium-size and larger dragons have three or more natural weapons (bite, claw and wings), and thus qualify for the Multiattack feat. Those who take it would get the secondary weapons at -2 instead of -5.

So, on a full attack the Young red dragon would get:
1 Bite +19 (2d6+7)
2 Claws +14 (1d8+3)
2 Wings +14 (1d6+3)
1 Tail slap +14 (1d8+10)
If it takes the Multiattack feat, the 14s become 17s.

 

[Ferox4]

Dragons have one primary attack (Bite) and the rest are secondary attacks. The primary attack is at it's full BAB, while all secondary attacks are at -5 (-2 if it happends to have MultiAttack).

The bite is the primary attack since it uses the dragons full Str bonus, while the other attacks use only 1/2 the Str bonus (kinda like two weapon fighting).

Tail Slap does listed damage + 1.5 x STR bonus.

Dragons prefer to fight from a distance and will use their spells, breath weapons and other abilities before engaging in melee combat. Remember, dragons are frickin' smart - very smart - and will pick off either the weakest foe or the guy throwing magic around first. They will buff themselves up as much as possible (Haste, Mage Armor, etc.) before entering melee against seasoned warriors.

 

[Ferox4]

Dragons have one primary attack (Bite) and the rest are secondary attacks. The primary attack is at it's full BAB, while all secondary attacks are at -5 (-2 if it happends to have MultiAttack).

The bite is the primary attack since it uses the dragons full Str bonus, while the other attacks use only 1/2 the Str bonus (kinda like two weapon fighting).

Tail Slap does listed damage + 1.5 x STR bonus.

Dragons prefer to fight from a distance and will use their spells, breath weapons and other abilities before engaging in melee combat. Remember, dragons are frickin' smart - very smart - and will pick off either the weakest foe or the guy throwing magic around first. They will buff themselves up as much as possible (Haste, Mage Armor, etc.) before entering melee against seasoned warriors.

 

[Ferox4]

Dragons have one primary attack (Bite) and the rest are secondary attacks. The primary attack is at it's full BAB, while all secondary attacks are at -5 (-2 if it happends to have MultiAttack).

The bite is the primary attack since it uses the dragons full Str bonus, while the other attacks use only 1/2 the Str bonus (kinda like two weapon fighting).

Tail Slap does listed damage + 1.5 x STR bonus.

Dragons prefer to fight from a distance and will use their spells, breath weapons and other abilities before engaging in melee combat. Remember, dragons are frickin' smart - very smart - and will pick off either the weakest foe or the guy throwing magic around first. They will buff themselves up as much as possible (Haste, Mage Armor, etc.) before entering melee against seasoned warriors.

 

[Ferox4]

Dragons have one primary attack (Bite) and the rest are secondary attacks. The primary attack is at it's full BAB, while all secondary attacks are at -5 (-2 if it happends to have MultiAttack).

The bite is the primary attack since it uses the dragons full Str bonus, while the other attacks use only 1/2 the Str bonus (kinda like two weapon fighting).

Tail Slap does listed damage + 1.5 x STR bonus.

Dragons prefer to fight from a distance and will use their spells, breath weapons and other abilities before engaging in melee combat. Remember, dragons are frickin' smart - very smart - and will pick off either the weakest foe or the guy throwing magic around first. They will buff themselves up as much as possible (Haste, Mage Armor, etc.) before entering melee against seasoned warriors.

 

[Ferox4]

Dragons have one primary attack (Bite) and the rest are secondary attacks. The primary attack is at it's full BAB, while all secondary attacks are at -5 (-2 if it happends to have MultiAttack).

The bite is the primary attack since it uses the dragons full Str bonus, while the other attacks use only 1/2 the Str bonus (kinda like two weapon fighting).

Tail Slap does listed damage + 1.5 x STR bonus. So does Crush and Tail Sweep - though not applicable for this particular dragon.

Dragons prefer to fight from a distance and will use their spells, breath weapons and other abilities before engaging in melee combat. Remember, dragons are frickin' smart - very smart - and will pick off either the weakest foe or the guy throwing magic around first. They will buff themselves up as much as possible (Haste, Mage Armor, etc.) before entering melee against seasoned warriors.