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The Beta rules have some conflicting information on grapple and spellcasting, depending on the chapter. I'm running Rise of the Runelords, with lots of giants and a blast happy sorceress, so this is a problem. I've looked at the other threads, but there's no clarity, just guesses.
Page 400: A grappled character that attempts to cast
a spell must make a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + the spell’s
level) or lose the spell. Grappled creatures cannot make
attacks of opportunity.
Page 155: The only spells you can cast while
grappling or pinned are those without somatic components
and whose material components (if any) you have in
hand. Even so, you must make a Spellcraft check (DC 20 +
the level of the spell you’re casting) or lose the spell.
- Can you cast spells requiring somatic components while grappled?
- What is the DC?
- Can a sorcerer use bloodline ray attacks while grappled?
I can't say for sure, but here goes.
1 & 2. The second interpretation is more in line with 3.5 rules, and I highly doubt that Paizo wanted to allow casters to cast freely in grapples, thus no casting with somatic components and DC (20 + spell level).
3. Supernatural abilities cannot be interrupted, thus the rays that are supernatural cannot be interrupted by grapples.
Hope this helps some.
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After studying this meticulously, I have come to the conclusion that this is a case of a simple mistake in the rules on spellcasting and grappling on p. 155, where the stated rules were meant to describe spellcasting and the "Pinned" condition, but accidently got to include the "Grappled" condition as well. There probably should have been a differentiation between "Grappled" and "Pinned" on p. 155, as there is in the summary on p. 400, but it slipped in the beta.
Regarding spellcasting, the "grappled" condition states that you "can take no action requiring two hands to perform", thereby insinuating that you CAN take actions that requires only one hand to perform, such as spellcasting, readying material components or readying foci.
The interpretation that I use as a DM in RotRL is the one on p. 400, that states that a spellcaster can cast a spell that requires the use of one hand while being grappled, but that this requires a spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell level), or the spell is lost.
When pinned, I believe the rules on p. 155 and p. 400 are correct.
Bloodline ray attacks are, if I'm not mistaken, supernatural abilities, and as such "cannot be disrupted in combat, as spells can" (p. 169).
Remember to bring up these questions when it's time to playtest combat.