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I'm a druid with a level 7 T. Rex animal companion. When casting Animal Growth and Strong Jaw on it, what does its base damage roll become? Without AG and SJ it is 2D6. It is a bit confusing as I have read on other forums different answers. Could you provide your reasoning why it is what you say it is, so it will be easier for me to understand?

Secondly, how would the Trex's 7th level "Strong Bite" ability come into play? Would it be +20 damage because you would technically have STR 30 (22 base without AG) at that point with Animal Growth the size of the Trex would go from large to Huge resulting in a +8 to STR. Is this correct?

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The relevant table for damage dice is hidden under the description of the feat Improved Natural Attack. The damage progression goes as follows:

1d2, 1d3, 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 2d6, 3d6, 4d6, 6d6, 8d6, 12d6.
                         ^ You are here

Animal Growth increases the T. Rex's size, which moves its damage dice up one slot on this table to 3d6. Strong Jaw does not actually change the size of its target, but does move its damage dice up two slots.

1d2, 1d3, 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 2d6, 3d6, 4d6, 6d6, 8d6, 12d6.
                                        ^ You are here!

Total, the spells move us up 3 slots on this table, landing us at 6d6, which is the new value of your animal companion's base damage dice. It started at Large size and is now one size larger, making it Huge. The actual increase in size also grants it a +8 bonus to strength.

I messed up the damage bonus calculations to start, but Anne Aunyme got it right in their answer. After all the buffing, your companion will have 30 strength, giving it a +10 modifier. Strong Bite lets it apply twice its strength modifier to damage, giving it a total damage output of 6d6+20 per attack.

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Considering Strength, your Tyrannosaurus starts with 14, gets +8 at lvl 7 and +8 as a size bonus from Animal Growth -> It makes a total of 30, so a +10 modificator. With Strong Bite it means it will add 20 to its damage rolls.

Considering the damage roll itself... Well, there is no clear rule about this:

You can use the calculation of Sardonic which makes sense and brings you to 6d6 but the official table for natural attacks suggests that it's not the only way to calculate that (even if this table is not usable here since it doesn't cover the size category of your Tyrannosaurus' bite). This FAQ post has been posted later and is way more coherent. As it is a bit long and how it works has already have been explained on this website I won't explain it here, but in the case that interests us it yields 6d6 too.

Conclusion (unless you use another weird way to calculate): 6d6+20

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Is doing 6D6+20 Damage respectable at level 7, or would you consider that small fries compared to say a Fighters damage output? \$\endgroup\$
    – Atalius
    Commented Feb 15, 2017 at 23:43
  • \$\begingroup\$ You have to consider how often you hit, too, to make this kind of comparison. At lvl 7 your animal companion has +5 from BAB and +10 from Strength, which means it hits with +15. You can then compare with the arguably not optimized iconic fighter or iconic barbarian and see Mr Rex deals very honorable punches. \$\endgroup\$
    – Anne Aunyme
    Commented Feb 16, 2017 at 9:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ And that's not even considering the 3 feats your T-Rex gets. For sure you can pump that even higher. \$\endgroup\$
    – Anne Aunyme
    Commented Feb 16, 2017 at 9:18
  • \$\begingroup\$ Good point, which brings me to my next question in terms of damage. I'm aware of Vital Strike adding to the damage but are there other feats specifically which would help the Trex deal more damage. I'm under the impression that INA (Improved Natural Attack) although good would not stack with AG and SJ. \$\endgroup\$
    – Atalius
    Commented Feb 16, 2017 at 19:23
  • \$\begingroup\$ Can't see why it wouldn't, but that's pretty far from the scope of this question. I think you will have more reliable answers if you ask another one. \$\endgroup\$
    – Anne Aunyme
    Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 9:01

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