osmium |
I'm going to chime in in opposition.
I think folks need to remember that the grappled condition is not as severe as it once was. You are no longer draped all over the target. It is more like you got a hold on them, typically an arm (hence the restriction). The pinned condition is more of your greco-roman wrestling hold.
So grappling in this context means more you've got a hand on someone, in the case of the raking cat you've got an arm in your claw or mouth and are free to use your other limbs.
I think your interpretation is correct for the "pinned" status, that if you are pinned you cannot rake unless you break free of the pin first. The "controller" of the grapple is not in as significant control as would be required, I think, to deny rake attacks.
However I think that you'll find that if you ignore the grapple and try to natural attack and rake the opponent you have just granted them a +5 circumstance bonus next round without any opposition and they will likely just pin you with it.
I think that some abilities should make you not want to grapple with a target unless you can pin them. To me, unarmed strikes like a monk's, lots of natural attacks and the ability to rake should all be reasonable deterrents to grappling with an opponent you cannot reasonably except to pin which makes sense, why should a standard human be somehow "magically" better than a large cat in a grapple simply because he is the one that has control over one of the cat's limbs?
-O