[RPG] Does the Giant Elk receive a bonus Hooves attack vs a Prone foe

attackdnd-5emonstersprone

The Giant Elk entry says:

Charge. If the elk moves at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a ram attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Then in the attacks block, it states (bold for emphasis):

Hooves. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one prone creature. Hit: 22 (4d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage.

So does the Elk receive a bonus Hooves attack vs a foe it just knocked prone? If so, would it receive this bonus attack against a prone foe every round it remained prone? One assumes that if the foe is not prone, the Elk would not get this attack at all with the way it is written.

Best Answer

No, the Giant Elk is given only one Action (and no Bonus Actions), and thus can only choose to do one of the available actions.

The text for Charge reads (MM, pp325)

If the elk moves at least 20 feet straight towards a target and then hits it with a ram attack...

Your Actions(and specifically those for Attacking) are as follows (MM, pp325)

  1. Ram
  2. Hooves

The Charge means you are choosing the Ram Attack.

The next round, if the creature is still prone, you may attack with the Hooves. Otherwise, it's just another Ram attack without the charge (unless you take the OA to move away and run again at them.)

And as Andras says, there ARE beasts like the Elephant (MM, pp322), that have viable Bonus Actions available to them.

Trampling Charge. If the elephant moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a gore attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 12 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, the elephant can make one stomp attack against it as a bonus action.

The (Giant) Elk, however, is not one of them.

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