Grapple

Type of Feat: General
Use: Selected
Special: All characters receive this feat for free.

Grappling means wrestling and struggling hand-to-hand. It's tricky to perform, but sometimes you want to pin foes instead of killing them, and sometimes you have no choice in the matter. For monsters, grappling can mean trapping you in a toothy maw (the purple worm's favorite attack) or holding you down so it can claw you to pieces (the dire lion's trick).

Grapple Checks

Repeatedly in a grapple, you need to make opposed grapple checks against an opponent. A grapple check is like a melee attack roll. Your attack bonus on a grapple check is:

Base Attack Bonus + Strength Modifier + Special Size Modifier

Special Size Modifier: The special size modifier for a grapple check is as follows: Huge +8, Large +4, Medium +0, Small -4, Tiny -8. This number is used in place of the normal size modifier used when making attack rolls.

Starting a Grapple

To start a grapple, you need to grab and hold your target. Starting a grapple requires you to have a free hand, and you must make a successful melee touch attack roll.

Step 1: Attack of Opportunity. You provoke an attack of opportunity from the target you are trying to grapple. IF the attack of opportunity deals damage, you must make a Concentration check or the grapple attempt fails. (Certain monsters do not provoke attacks of opportunity when they attempt to grapple, nor do characters with the Improved Grapple feat.)

Step 2: Grab. You make a melee touch attack to grab the target. If you fail to hit the target, the grapple attempt fails.

Step 3: Hold. You make an opposed grapple check. If you succeed, you and your target are now grappling. Once grappling, neither target can move.

If you lose, you fail to start the grapple. You automatically lose an attempt to hold if the target is two or more size categories larger than you are.

Step 4: Maintain Grapple. Once you are in a grapple, you must make additional opposed grapple checks every round to maintain the grapple. If you fail this check, you are both freed from the grapple.

If You're Grappling

When you are grappling (regardless of who started the grapple), you can perform any of the following actions. Some of these actions are full round actions.

Release Your Hold: You can always voluntarily release your hold on another character. However, once you are in a grapple, you are also being held. For a grapple to end peacefully, both characters must release their hold.

Activate a Magic Item: You can activate a magic item, as long as the item doesn't require a spell completion trigger (such as a scroll does).

Attack Your Opponent: You can make attacks with unarmed strikes, natural weapons, or light weapons against another character you are grappling. You take a -4 penalty on such attacks. You can't attack with two weapons while grappling, even if both are light weapons.

Monks do not take the -4 penalty on attacks made while grappling.

Cast a Spell: You can attempt to cast a spell while grappling or even while pinned (see below), provided its casting time is no more than one round and it has no somatic or material components. If the spell is one that you can cast while grappling, you must make a Concentration check (DC 20 + spell level) or lose the spell.

Escape from a Grapple: You can escape a grapple by winning an opposed grapple check in place of your normal round. You can also make an Escape Artist check in place of your grapple check, if it is higher.

Pin Your Opponent: You can hold your opponent down by winning an opposed grapple check as a full round action. Once you have an opponent pinned, you have a few options available to you (see below).

If You're Pinning an Opponent

Once you've pinned your opponent, he's at your mercy. Neither of you can make attacks or cast spells against one another, but you have a number of other options you can use instead.

Disarm Your Opponent: You can use a disarm action to remove or grab away a well-secured worn object worn by a pinned opponent, but he gets a +4 bonus on his roll to resist your attempt. DM supervision is recommended to grab away items other than weapons.

Execute Your Opponent: You can attempt to deliver a coup de grace to your opponent. Because your opponent is not truly helpless, they are entitled to a Fortitude saving throw equal to 10 plus your Strength modifier plus grapple bonuses plus the number of sneak attack dice you have (if any). Monks gain a +4 bonus to their DC. If the save is successful, the creature instead takes 3d6 points of damage +1 point per character level (maximum +25). Creatures that are immune to critical hits always succeed at their saving throw, but they are not immune to the damage.

Unlike normal saving throws, rolling a 1 is not an automatic failure.

Incapacitate Your Opponent: You can attempt to incapacitate your opponent instead of executing them. This ability is identical to execution, but failure on the saving throw or being lowered to 0 hit points renders them unconscious or sufficiently immobilized that they can no longer fight back. As with execution, creatures that are immune to critical hits always succeed at their saving throw, but they are not immune to the damage.