Grappling question

[Corrado marcucci]

When you have something or someone grappled and or pinned and the CMD to break free is over 20 plus their CMB is, I.e. CMD is 44 they roll a nat 20 plus their CMB 19 = 39 ithat an auto success or is there a rule about not being able to auto succeed on a natural 20 to escape a grapple?

[Jeff Morse]

CMB is an attack action so NAT 20 lets you break grapple. sometimes this is all you can hope to do.

[Nefreet]

Whereas a Nat 20 is not an auto success on skill checks, so Escape Artist to escape a grapple would not suffice.

Flagged for the Rules Questions Forum.

[Eric Brittain]

The only exception to this is if the grappler has progressed to imposing the 'tied up' state. At this point if the DC to escape the grapple exceeds what the target of the grapple can achieve with a natural 20 on a CMB check then they have no escape from the bonds.

The Paizo PRD entry on Grapple under the 'Tie Up' section wrote:

Tie Up: If you have your target pinned, otherwise restrained, or unconscious, you can use rope to tie him up. This works like a pin effect, but the DC to escape the bonds is equal to 20 + your Combat Maneuver Bonus (instead of your CMD). The ropes do not need to make a check every round to maintain the pin. If you are grappling the target, you can attempt to tie him up in ropes, but doing so requires a combat maneuver check at a –10 penalty. If the DC to escape from these bindings is higher than 20 + the target's CMB, the target cannot escape from the bonds, even with a natural 20 on the check.

[MrBear]

Eric Brittain wrote:

The only exception to this is if the grappler has progressed to imposing the 'tied up' state. At this point if the DC to escape the grapple exceeds what the target of the grapple can achieve with a natural 20 on a CMB check then they have no escape from the bonds.

The Paizo PRD entry on Grapple under the 'Tie Up' section wrote:

Tie Up: If you have your target pinned, otherwise restrained, or unconscious, you can use rope to tie him up. This works like a pin effect, but the DC to escape the bonds is equal to 20 + your Combat Maneuver Bonus (instead of your CMD). The ropes do not need to make a check every round to maintain the pin. If you are grappling the target, you can attempt to tie him up in ropes, but doing so requires a combat maneuver check at a –10 penalty. If the DC to escape from these bindings is higher than 20 + the target's CMB, the target cannot escape from the bonds, even with a natural 20 on the check.

You're neglecting the line in the deception of rope, which gives a strength DC to break free. That cloud giant might not be able to shimmy free, but he can flex so hard the bindings burst.