Confused about Creature stat charts?

[ZhanStrider]

Hello all!

I need to run a few dragons, and I'm confused as to why there Is a space for "base attack" AND a space for "attack". Also, with so many secondary weapons (tails, wings, claws) how many attacks per round does a dragon get?

Thanks!

[OldTrees1]

The "Attack" line is the attack the creature can do as a standard action. (sometimes multiple options are listed).
The "Full Attack' line is similar but requires the "full attack" action.

The Base Attack Bonus line is about the Base Attack Bonus (BAB). BAB is a statstic that is used to calculate a few things. BAB + relevant modifiers (Str/Dex, Magic, Weapon Focus, ...) is the calculation for the Attack Bonus (used in the "Attack" and "Full Attack" lines). BAB + relevant modifiers (Str, Size, ...) is used to calculate your grapple bonus.


Dragons in the Monster Manual use slightly different monster stat charts since there are so many ages x colors.
There should be a table named "Dragon Space/Reach, Attacks, and Damage"
This lists the type/number of attacks a dragon gets as they age and the damage each of them does.
During a standard action attack the dragon attacks with their Bite at their full Attack Bonus (that is the Attack Column)
During a full attack the dragon attacks with all their attacks (except Crush or Tail Sweep) (Bite is at the full Attack Bonus and the rest are at the full Attack Bonus -5)

So an Adult Red Dragon's Full Attack would be:
Bite: +31 melee, 2d8+11 damage (crit on 20 for x2 damage)
2 Claws: +26/+26 melee, 2d6+5 damage (crit on 20 for x2 damage)
2 Wings: +26/+26 melee, 1d6+5 damage (crit on 20 for x2 damage)
1 Tail Slap: +26 melee, 1d8+5 damage (crit on 20 for x2 damage)
So 6 attacks as a full attack action

[Allanimal]

The number of attacks a dragon gets depends on its age. See the table at the beginning of the dragon section. It specifies bite/claw/tail/wing/etc damage based on age. If the entry for the attack form and size is "-", that means it doesn't get it at that age.

The Dragon stat blocks are a bit different than others. The table is very general, the Base Attack column shows the BAB, the Attack column adds to the BAB the STR and SIZE modifiers only, as far as I can tell. Feats, items, spells, etc. will adjust the actual number.

Also, remember that only one natural attack is primary, the others get a -5 to hit, unless the dragon has the multi attack feat (then it is only -2).

You also need to select feats for the dragon based on the age, which can adjust these numbers as well.

A dragon doesn't reach the older age categories without being smart. It should have plenty of tricks available to defend itself. It should use environment to its advantage, as well as items from its hoard, well selected feats & spells. These will all affect the attack numbers, assuming the dragon bothers getting into melee range with mere adventurers.

[XionUnborn01]

Just a little more clarification from OldTrees post. I'll use examples from young adult black dragon from page 72 of the MM.

The dragon has a base attack bonus of +16, just like a fighter of 16th level, the BAB works just like you get from a class.

The 'Attack' Line is used for when the dragon can only use a standard action to attack, for the black dragon this is his bite so it's +20 and he only gets his one bit attack.

The 'Full Attack' is when he can use a full attack, like when he starts adjacent to an enemy. The young adult black dragon entry gives the list of his attack routine he has. His primary attack (his bite) is made at his full attack bonus while his other attacks are made at a -2 (because of his multi attack feat).
So if the dragon were to full attack it would go: Bite, claw, claw, wing, wing, tail slap.
The bite is at +20 to attack (he has weapon focus bite), and all other attacks are at +17.

Hope this helps.

Edit: Dragon'd

[Urpriest]

More generally: True Dragon stats are stats for how to build the monster, they're not the stats for the monster itself. You need to know how to properly build a monster to run one. If you don't know that stuff, you need to learn it. There's a guide in my sig that should explain all that.