I'm a little unsure about how Rake is supposed to work with the new Pathfinder grappling rules. Does it allow for two grapple checks with each doing claw damage? Or does it allow the creature to inflict claw damage twice with a single grapple check? Rake makes sense when used with pounce, but it doesn't seem to make sense when used in a grapple.
I'm a little unsure about how Rake is supposed to work with the new Pathfinder grappling rules. Does it allow for two grapple checks with each doing claw damage? Or does it allow the creature to inflict claw damage twice with a single grapple check? Rake makes sense when used with pounce, but it doesn't seem to make sense when used in a grapple.
You establish your grapple in a round. Next round, you maintain your grapple and apply rake damage, which may very well be 2 claws. Only 1 grapple check here, which equates to a standard action.
The rake is in addition to normal claw or bite damage done when you maintain the grapple. When you use the standard to action maintain the grapple on the next round, a success results in automatic bite or claw damage (whichever attack the cat initiated the grapple with). Then you get the two rake attacks, with the -2 penalty to attack because the cat also has the grappled condition.
You could also choose to pin or move the grappled foe when you succeed on sustaining the grapple check. In that case, you don't deal the bite or claw damage, but you do still get the two rake attacks.
|
"A grappled creature takes a -2 penalty on all attack rolls and combat maneuver checks, except those made to grapple or escape a grapple."
The penalty applies to the creature being grappled, not the creature grappling. Each time you use a standard action to maintain a grapple and you succeed, you deal your bite/claw damage (whichever you initiated the grapple with) and rake damage which is listed in the creature's description.
Drakkonys,
Both creatures are gain the grappled condition so both have the penalty.
As a standard action, you can attempt to grapple a foe, hindering his combat options. If you do not have Improved Grapple, grab, or a similar ability, attempting to grapple a foe provokes an attack of opportunity from the target of your maneuver. Humanoid creatures without two free hands attempting to grapple a foe take a –4 penalty on the combat maneuver roll. If successful, both you and the target gain the grappled condition (see the Appendices). If you successfully grapple a creature that is not adjacent to you, move that creature to an adjacent open space (if no space is available, your grapple fails). Although both creatures have the grappled condition, you can, as the creature that initiated the grapple, release the grapple as a free action, removing the condition from both you and the target.
- Gauss