You know, I honestly think that you think EVERYTHING is a Special Ability, and your validation for such is because it isn't typed.
See the FAQ, and All About Polymorph 3. This is all spelled out there in detail, though that's hardly the only place.
In general, untyped abilities are Ex. Abilities are anything that you can do. Abilities which are not Special Abilities are Na, which are abilities that are inherent to your physical form (such as your ability to breath air, gained by physically having lungs, or your ability to fly gained by wings). Ex abilities are non magical abilities that aren't given strictly by physical form, such as your ability to make special trip attacks as a wolf, or all non magical class features. Sp abilities are always declared as such, as are Su abilities.
News flash. It it isn't cast as a Special Ability, it isn't. That is RAW. Now let's tackle your logic.
No, actually, that's false. That is not RAW, that's just something you made up. Plenty of abilities aren't specifically labeled, and yet are later clearly referenced as being special abilities (always Ex). For example, Sneak Attack and Sudden Strike are not listed in their original entries (Rogue and Ninja) as anything... yet are later referenced as Ex Special Attacks elsewhere.
In fact, page 17 of the FAQ explicitly says "It's reasonable to assume that sneak attack is an extraordinary ability. When in doubt, the DM should decide if an umarked ability qualifies [for Cunning Brilliance]. Anything that lacks a clear, supernatural element should be fair play."
So, the default case is that unmarked abilities that lack a clear supernatural element are in fact Ex Special Abilities. THAT is Raw.
Since Trip and Attack are synonymous within the rules,
No they're not, not even close. A trip attack is a specific type of attack. Your statement is like saying that square is synonymous with rectangle. It's clearly, obviously false.
that is everyone can do
No they can't. Creatures without a strength score like Shadows can't trip.
- it it's part of combat - can be substituted for each other, saying Tripping is a Special Ability would also mean you are trying to say attacking its self is.
False. Tripping is a special case subset of attacking. Rules which apply to attacks apply to trips... but rules which apply to trips do not apply to attacks. Trips are called out as Special. Attacks are not. Get that straight. Your statement is like saying that rectangles and squares can be substituted for one another, so saying squares have four equal sides is like saying rectangles do.
Now let's look at this. Attacking is the result of your physical form's muscles moving a weapon around yet attacking cannot be a natural ability. Similarly, breathing is the same thing as attacking.
That's just you making stuff up. Breathing is an NA ability. Attacking might be an Na ability... I don't know as I've never seen it typed, nor does it matter in any situation I know of. But Tripping is referred to as a special attack, which suggests to me that it's a special attack. Certainly, tripping is a special kind of attack.
And remember, the default case as stated by the FAQ is that abilities are probably Ex.
Given that the rules do explicitly state Special Abilities must by listed in a monster entry and no monster notes the Special Ability to breath under Special Qualities. All monsters lack the Extraordinary ability to breath leading them to suffocate and die.
Breathing is explicitly Na. See Rules of the Game All About Polymorph 3. Also, the rules do not state explicitly that Special Abilities must be listed in a monster entry. That statement is, like most of your argument, just made up. Abilities which are labeled as being Special Abilities in a monster entry are obviously Special Abilities, but no rule states that all of a monster's special abilities must be listed in the entry. In fact, many monsters do have Special Abilities not directly listed in their entry... for example, most monsters do not explicitly lay out all their type traits (Constructs and Undead tend to, but humanoids rarely have their racial proficiencies laid out). So, clearly false. Also, many monster entries do mention their ability (or lack thereof) to breath in the entry... for example, all aquatic creatures, all amphibious creatures, all undead, and all constructs. All of those list something like "undead traits" in their Special Qualities, which if you cross reference you'll note does mention their breathing.
Or idk, just throwing this out.
That wouldn't be a change.
Not everything you do is Extraordinary,
Right. Abilities inherent to your physical form are Na, and magical abilities are Su or Sp. Everything else is Ex, by RAW.
not everything you can do is a Special Ability,
Right, only abilities which are not Na are Special Abilities.
and dammit: Natural Abilities call out flight via wings. Walking via feet and attacking via arms can be thrown in there to you know.
The first two yes, unless you move particularly fast (speeds over 120' are automatically not Na anymore, as per Alter Self). Attacking is not defined anywhere, so I don't know whether that counts as Na or Ex... but I don't think that matters anywhere.
My personal advice to you, wrap duct tape around your eyes.
That does seem to be how you start before you try to read the rules, because I've counted numerous obviously false statements due to your not actually reading the rules.
Let's be clear: you've made the following provably wrong statements in this stupid diatribe, all directly contradicted by RAW:
It it isn't cast as a Special Ability, it isn't. That is RAW. Contradicted by FAQ page 17, Rules of the Game All About Polymorph 3
the rules do explicitly state Special Abilities must by listed in a monster entry Contradicted by the fact that this is never stated... and the fact that many monsters don't state some of their special abilities in their entry
no monster notes the Special Ability to breath under Special Qualities Contradicted by every undead, construct, plant, aquatic, and amphibious creature
Trip and Attack are synonymous within the rules Contradicted by the entire section on trips which lays out in detail how trips are not the same as normal attacks
breathing is the same thing as attacking. Contradicted by being pants on head stupid. Attacking is a combat action that often results in harming enemies. Breathing is an Na ability that prevents you from drowning or suffocating. There are rules for attacking and for breathing, both are dramatically different.
All monsters lack the Extraordinary ability to breath leading them to suffocate and die. Contradicted by the fact that breathing is explicitly NA (RotG:AAP3) and that breathing air is the default case... all monsters with any different form of breathing have this listed in their entry.
So that's 6 obviously wrong statements, that even a trivial reading of the rules would have corrected (well, except that first one, many folks miss the FAQ). Face it, you just don't know the rules at all.
JaronK