Grappling means wrestling and struggling hand-to-hand.
Grapple Checks
Repeatedly in a grapple, a character needs to make opposed grapple checks against an opponent. A grapple check is something like a
melee attack roll.
A character's 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:
Colossal +16,
Gargantuan +12,
Huge +8,
Large +4,
Medium-size +0,
Small –4,
Tiny – 8,
Diminutive –12,
Fine –16. Use this number in place of the normal
sizemodifier a character uses when making an
attack roll.
Starting a Grapple
A character provokes an
attack of opportunity from the target the character is trying to grapple. If the
attack of opportunity deals the character
damage, the character fails to start the grapple.
To start a grapple, a character first needs to grab and hold a the target. Attempting to start a grapple is the equivalent of making a
melee attack. If a character gets multiple attacks in a round, a character can attempt to start a grapple multiple times (at successively lower
base attack bonuses). A
monkcan use his
unarmed attack rate of attacks per round while grappling.
Step 1
Grab: The character makes a
melee touch attack to grab the target. If the character fails to hit the target, the character fails to start the grapple.
Step 2
Hold: Make an opposed grapple check. If the character succeeds, the character has started the grapple, and the character deals
damage to the target as if with an
unarmed strike.
If the character loses, the character fails to start the grapple. The character automatically loses an attempt to hold if the target is two or more
sizecategories larger than the character is (but the character can still make an attempt to grab such a target, if that's all the character wants to do).
Step 3
Move In: To maintain the grapple, the character must move into the target's space.
Moving, as normal, provokes
attacks of opportunity from threatening enemies, but not from the character's target.
Step 4
Grappling: The character and the target are now
grappling.
Grappling Consequences
While a character is grappling, that character's ability to attack others and defend itself is limited.
No Threatened Squares
A character doesn't
threaten any area while
grappling.
No Dexterity Bonus
A character loses its
Dexterity bonus to
AC (if it has one) against opponents it isn't grappling. (A character can still use the bonus against opponents the character is grappling.)
When a character is grappling (regardless of who started the grapple), the character can make an opposed
grapple check as an
attack. If the character wins, the character can do the following:
In addition to making opposed
grapple checks, a character has a few other options while grappling.
Attack Your Opponent
A character can attack with a
light weapon while grappling (but not while
pinned or pinning). A character can't
attack with two weapons while grappling.
Damage Your Opponent
A character deals
damage as with an
unarmed strike (1d3 points for
Medium-size attackers or 1d2 points for
Small attackers, plus
Strengthmodifiers). If a character wants to deal normal damage, the character suffers a -4 penalty on the
grapple check. Exception:
Monks deal more damage on an
unarmed strike than other characters, and the damage is normal. However, they can choose to deal their damage as
subdual damage when grappling without paying the usual -4 penalty for changing normal damage to
subdual damage.
Escape from Grapple
A character can escape the grapple. A character can take whatever
movement the character gets. If more than one opponent is grappling a character, the character's
grapple check result has to beat all their check results to escape. (Opponents don't have to try to hold a character if they don't want to.) A character can make an
Escape Artist check (opposed by a character's opponent's
grapple check) to get out of a grapple or out of being
pinned (so that the character is just being
grappled). Doing so counts as a
standard action; if a character escapes a grapple, the character can also
move in the same round.
Pin Your Opponent
A character can hold an opponent immobile for 1 round. (If a character gets multiple attacks, the character can use subsequent attacks to
damage the opponent. A character can't use a weapon on a
pinned opponent or attempt to
damage or pin a second opponent while holding a pin on the first.) While a character is
pinned, opponents other than the one pinning the character get a +4 bonus on
attack rolls against the character (but the character is not
helpless).
A character can break the hold that an opponent has over an ally.
When an opponent has
pinned a character, the character is held immobile (but not
helpless) for 1 round. The character can make an opposed
grapple check as a
melee attack. If the character wins, the character escapes the pin, but the character is still
grappling. A character can make an
Escape Artist check (opposed by a character's opponent's
grapple check) to get out of a grapple or out of being
pinned (so that the character is just being
grappled). Doing so counts as a
standard action; if a character escapes a grapple, the character can also
move in the same round.
Joining a Grapple
If a character's target is already grappling someone else, then the character can use an attack to start a grapple, as above, except that the target doesn't get an
attack of opportunity against the character, and the character's grab automatically succeeds. The character still has to make a successful opposed
grapple check to deal
damage and must still
move in to be part of the grapple.
Multiple Grapplers
Several characters can be in a single grapple. Up to four characters can grapple a single opponent in a given round. Opponents that are one
sizecategory smaller than a character count for half, opponents that are one
size category larger than a character count double, and opponents two or more
size categories larger count quadruple.
Additional enemies can aid their friends with the
aid another action.