Keith Ammann
Yep, That Guy
In 5E14, it was established that monsters could use the attacks in their Multiattack in any order. I'm starting to wonder whether that policy has changed in 5E24.
In the carrion crawler stat block, Multiattack is defined thus: "The carrion crawler uses Paralyzing Tentacles and makes one Bite attack." That's not in alphabetical order, nor is it in attack/ability order, as these things traditionally have been. Compare the behir: "The behir makes one Bite attack and uses Constrict." These are in alphabetical order—and in attack/ability order. The reversal of those on the carrion crawler suggests that the order is intentional.
If true, this is a very big deal. The optimal sequence for the behir, for instance, is to use Constrict before Bite. If the Multiattack order is prescriptive, then it's locked into a particular attack pattern that's suboptimal. The same goes for the displacer beast, whose Multiattack action consists of "one Rend attack and one Tentacle attack"—the traditional stat block order, optimal if the displacer beast is already adjacent to its target but not if it's approaching and wants to make a Tentacle attack while it's still 10 feet away, before moving into the target's reach.
If the order of actions in a Multiattack is no longer up to DM discretion, as it was in 5E14, that's the sort of thing that needs to be stated explicitly. I can't find anything that says whether it is or it isn't.
(I'm looking for actual answers here, not edgy opinions. Thanks in advance.)
In the carrion crawler stat block, Multiattack is defined thus: "The carrion crawler uses Paralyzing Tentacles and makes one Bite attack." That's not in alphabetical order, nor is it in attack/ability order, as these things traditionally have been. Compare the behir: "The behir makes one Bite attack and uses Constrict." These are in alphabetical order—and in attack/ability order. The reversal of those on the carrion crawler suggests that the order is intentional.
If true, this is a very big deal. The optimal sequence for the behir, for instance, is to use Constrict before Bite. If the Multiattack order is prescriptive, then it's locked into a particular attack pattern that's suboptimal. The same goes for the displacer beast, whose Multiattack action consists of "one Rend attack and one Tentacle attack"—the traditional stat block order, optimal if the displacer beast is already adjacent to its target but not if it's approaching and wants to make a Tentacle attack while it's still 10 feet away, before moving into the target's reach.
If the order of actions in a Multiattack is no longer up to DM discretion, as it was in 5E14, that's the sort of thing that needs to be stated explicitly. I can't find anything that says whether it is or it isn't.
(I'm looking for actual answers here, not edgy opinions. Thanks in advance.)
