Action Dice (how do they work?)

[hehateme30]

Sorry if this is incredibly elementary but just want to be sure I am doing this right....

Monster "Sample troll" gets a claw +0 or bite +0. Action Dice: 2d20 Does the monster choose one attack and roll 2d20 and add them for its lone attack?
Ex: rolls a 10 and a 17 for a 27 claw attack.
OR
Does the monster roll a d20 for each ?
Ex: rolls a 10 (to claw with) and a 17 (to bite with).

alternately....

Monster "Example snake" gets a bite+0 and tail slap+0. Action Dice: 2d20 Does the monster roll 2d20 for each attack?
Ex: rolls a 10 and 15 (for a 25 bite) and a 14 and 19 (for a 33 tail slap)
OR
Does the monster divvy his action dice up among attacks?
Ex: rolls a 10 (for a 10 bite) and a 6 (for a 6 tail slap)


Thanks to whoever can answer this because the action dice are the only thing that have me scratching my head following my first perusal of this amazing tome.

[smathis]

Sorry if this is incredibly elementary but just want to be sure I am doing this right....

Monster "Sample troll" gets a claw +0 or bite +0. Action Dice: 2d20 Does the monster choose one attack and roll 2d20 and add them for its lone attack?
Ex: rolls a 10 and a 17 for a 27 claw attack.
OR
Does the monster roll a d20 for each ?
Ex: rolls a 10 (to claw with) and a 17 (to bite with).

alternately....

Monster "Example snake" gets a bite+0 and tail slap+0. Action Dice: 2d20 Does the monster roll 2d20 for each attack?
Ex: rolls a 10 and 15 (for a 25 bite) and a 14 and 19 (for a 33 tail slap)
OR
Does the monster divvy his action dice up among attacks?
Ex: rolls a 10 (for a 10 bite) and a 6 (for a 6 tail slap)


Thanks to whoever can answer this because the action dice are the only thing that have me scratching my head following my first perusal of this amazing tome.

My understanding is that a monster with 2d20 would get two attacks, rolling a d20 for each.

So I'd guesstimate that the "or" monster could do a claw/claw, claw/bite or bite/bite. Whereas the "and" monster always does a bite AND a tail slap. The "or" monster gets to choose. The "and" monster doesn't. But both roll a d20 for each attack and get two attacks per combat round.

[Rick]

Each round, a character or monster may move its normal
speed and do one thing for each of its action dice.

Actions, page 77

Troll: Init +6; Atk bite +10 melee (2d8+6) or claw +8 melee
(dmg 2d6); AC 19; HD 8d8+6; MV 40’; Act 3d20;

When not encountered in its lair, a troll typically attacks
from ambush. Each round it can bite then claw twice.

Troll, page 429

[hehateme30]

Thanx ...had I skipped right to the octopus section (8d20 action dice) it would have all come together quicker.

[Troy812]

On that same thread... could that troll, BITE, BITE, BITE? ...or claw, claw claw?

[Colin]

On that same thread... could that troll, BITE, BITE, BITE? ...or claw, claw claw?

I'd let it claw thrice (because clawing seems a lot faster for it based on the original bite + 2 claws), but I wouldn't let it bite thrice (because it seems slower to do). Generally, critters can wave their arms about violently a lot faster than they can sink their fangs in repeatedly.

Colin

[Rick]

On that same thread... could that troll, BITE, BITE, BITE?

This one could

[Belares]

On that same thread... could that troll, BITE, BITE, BITE? ...or claw, claw claw?

I'd let it claw thrice (because clawing seems a lot faster for it based on the original bite + 2 claws), but I wouldn't let it bite thrice (because it seems slower to do). Generally, critters can wave their arms about violently a lot faster than they can sink their fangs in repeatedly.

Colin

I think that is feasible but i would go "old school" and do the claw, claw, bite. Of course if troll is grappled then maybe bite, bite, bite is better...hehe.

[Semi-Retired Gamer]

I'm not the OP but all of your replies are greatly appreciated by me also. I just got the DCC RPG book last night and the Action Dice had me thrown for a loop on the first read. It's crystal clear now. I must say that the overall tone and spirit here is much better than many rpg forums. People seem to answer questions with references instead of making infantile remarks.

[Skyscraper]

People seem to answer questions with references instead of making infantile remarks.

That's because we're so much better than them.

And we run faster.

[Semi-Retired Gamer]

People seem to answer questions with references instead of making infantile remarks.

That's because we're so much better than them.

And we run faster.

Running faster always helps!!

[nudnic]

I was juts thinking about these questions. It seems like some monsters show Bite or claw (griffin) and others say bite and claw (manticore.) Both have 2d20 action dice. In both cases the bite does more damage. If a monster could bite twice with it's two action dice that would be most efficient option.

[GnomeBoy]

I was juts thinking about these questions. It seems like some monsters show Bite or claw (griffin) and others say bite and claw (manticore.) Both have 2d20 action dice. In both cases the bite does more damage. If a monster could bite twice with it's two action dice that would be most efficient option.

It could be as simple as different authors and it doesn't really impact things. It could also be because the manticore ALSO has a one of two possible tail attacks, which sets it apart from the griffon, but that's a deeper linguistic dive than I'm up to at the moment...

Ultimately, the question to ask yourself as the Judge is: can this creature bite twice in a single round? Just because it's a better attack, doesn't mean they can employ it that fast, and maybe that's why they have other attacks...