Ok ok, please let me explain what i am trying to do first.
I am playing a lvl 10 gnome druid who has a dire weasel as an animal companion.
So far i haven't used the dire weasel(Anklebiter) very much due to the fact that the rules have been a bit shaky on how he works.
The plan is for Anklebiter to be able to tackle an enemy foe then either pull that foe away from the rest of it's friends, pin that enemy for something to play with later, or pin, then do the actual feral weasel thing by biting the opponent and bleeding it to death as he rips into the enemy.
Anklebiter's feats are
Endurance(he's a mount after all)
Toughness
Imp. Grapple
Imp. Natural Attack
Greater Grapple
Ok, this is where i get confused.
When he bites, he automatically grapples his foe.
So, do i need Imp. Grapple? or does the animal effectively have the
Grab ability which is very similar to Imp. Grapple?
Does Ankle take a -20 to maintain a grapple due to his using his mouth?
Does he damage a foe twice per round once the opponent is grappled due to having Greater grapple?
Does he only get one attempt to grapple, yet two to maintain due to greater grapple?
Effectively, how will this all play out in combat?
Any help would be much appreciated and thank you.
Ok, this is where i get confused.
When he bites, he automatically grapples his foe.
Yep.
So, do i need Imp. Grapple? or does the animal effectively have the
Grab ability which is very similar to Imp. Grapple?
He doesn't need Imp. Grapple to grapple without provoking. The feat actually does nothing for him.
Does Ankle take a -20 to maintain a grapple due to his using his mouth?
No. When he bites, he grapples with his entire body like everyone else.
Does he damage a foe twice per round once the opponent is grappled due to having Greater grapple?
He could. It's possible-- he could take one move to deal "unarmed" damage, one move to move, and deal bite damage automatically as well. Hm.
I'm unsure of greater grapple. I've never liked the feat and it seems to turn the system on its head, so I'll leave that for someone who knows what's up.
The feat gives a bonus to grapple checks. It is may not be needed, but if you want to ensure the grapple it is not a bad feat to take
Which book has the Pathfinder source for the dire weasel as an animal companion? Just curious.
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Since you're using him as a mount, does that mean if you are still on him when this happens are you grappling as well? Are you forced to use a fast dismount attempt to jump off when he grapples (since he's using his whole body)?
If you can remain as his rider, and you're not in the grapple, then you can attack the opponent who has lost his Dex bonus. This sounds like a great plan for a rogue. Maybe the party needs a halfling rogue who can ride Anklebiter with you at the same time! ;)
Well, the dire weasel was from 3.5 i believe, so we were using his attach ability as a d4 con drain, but that is very likely to change due to the druid companion progression and the fact that Ankle now has a 26 Str as a large creature.
Since you're using him as a mount, does that mean if you are still on him when this happens are you grappling as well? Are you forced to use a fast dismount attempt to jump off when he grapples (since he's using his whole body)?
If you can remain as his rider, and you're not in the grapple, then you can attack the opponent who has lost his Dex bonus. This sounds like a great plan for a rogue. Maybe the party needs a halfling rogue who can ride Anklebiter with you at the same time! ;)
I have tended to hop off and transform into a tiger to fight, but i had a dream(yes, i think it's funny that i dream about characters) that Seeble(one of his many names)cast a spell to summon more Dire weasels.
The effect was that a wind, with more substance than air, is called up and 3-4 Of his large and furry friends form nearby.Then Seeble,changes to a Dire weasel and the whole slew of them overrun the enemy in a twitching whisker-filled mass of fur and blood.
Ah the brutal poetry of nature.
For starters, the feats you have listed are illegal, improved grapple requires improved unarmed strike. As there are no dire weasels in Pathfinder you will have to decide if you are using an advanced Weasel or a 3.5 Dire Weasel.
Ok, this is where i get confused.
When he bites, he automatically grapples his foe.
Yep.
This applies to the Pathfinder Weasel
Attach (Ex) When a weasel hits with a bite attack, it automatically grapples its foe, inflicting automatic bite damage each round.
The 3.5 Dire Weasel instead has this:
Attach (Ex)
A dire weasel that hits with its bite attack latches onto the opponent’s body with its powerful jaws. An attached dire weasel loses its Dexterity bonus to AC and thus has an AC of 12. An attached dire weasel can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove an attached dire weasel through grappling, the opponent must achieve a pin against the creature.
Please note the Dire Weasel is not Grappling nor is its target grappled while doing this, instead you have a 1200lb weasel latched onto you. What penalties this implies is up to the DM. Carrying Capacity might be appropriate.
Blood Drain (Ex)
A dire weasel drains blood for 1d4 points of Constitution damage each round it remains attached.
So, do i need Imp. Grapple? or does the animal effectively have the
Grab ability which is very similar to Imp. Grapple?He doesn't need Imp. Grapple to grapple without provoking. The feat actually does nothing for him.
It would give him +2 to his checks. However as it written Weasels do not even need to make checks. "automatically grapples its foe" is not the same as;
Grab (Ex) If a creature with this special attack hits with the indicated attack (usually a claw or bite attack), it deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity.It is in fact vastly superior. It also has no size limitation as Grab has. It does not however have the +4 racial bonus to CMB and CMD Grab has. The opponent is also free to break the grapple by beating the weasels CMD on its turn, but the weasel can automatically re-grapple the next round on another successful bite. Pesky critters weasels.
Does he damage a foe twice per round once the opponent is grappled due to having Greater grapple?He could. It's possible-- he could take one move to deal "unarmed" damage, one move to move, and deal bite damage automatically as well. Hm.
I'm unsure of greater grapple. I've never liked the feat and it seems to turn the system on its head, so I'll leave that for someone who knows what's up.
Yes, it allows you to make a grapple action as a move action, then another as a standard action. The move one must be maid to maintain the grapple, but if you are successful you may deal damage to the target, pin him, or move him as part of the maintain action. You may also deal Natural Attack damage, not just Unarmed Damage. You now have a free standard action which if you wish you could use the same options above in a grapple again, or do a number of different things allowed to while in a grapple.
Since you're using him as a mount, does that mean if you are still on him when this happens are you grappling as well? Are you forced to use a fast dismount attempt to jump off when he grapples (since he's using his whole body)?
-The creature has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or simply use the part of its body it used in the grab to hold the opponent. If it chooses to do the latter, it takes a –20 penalty on its CMB check to make and maintain the grapple, but does not gain the grappled condition itself.-
If you are willing to be considered grappled you do not receive -20. This portion of the text is mostly a hold over from 3.5 that was not taken care of.
The idea is you may use one of your natural attacks to hold someone down while you use your normal attacks on other people. As such a dragon could hold someone down with one claw and tail slap, bite, wing buffet, and one claw attack someone else by taking -20 to the check to maintain.
As a Weasel has no other Natural attack other than bite it would be pretty hard to use this. Your Dm could rule the following, you could do this by shifting smaller sized animals you pick up to the back of your mouth, hence the -20. Thats just conjecture though. As for maintaining your perch on a grappling weasel, its only natural attack is its bite, so its head and possibley for quarters are really the only thing involved in a grapple with creatures smaller than it, larger creatures might be a bit more challenging, once again there is no actual rule allow your DM to use common sense.
If you can remain as his rider, and you're not in the grapple, then you can attack the opponent who has lost his Dex bonus.
This sounds like a great plan for a rogue. Maybe the party needs a halfling rogue who can ride Anklebiter with you at the same time! ;)
This is no longer the case, a Grappled creature no longer loses his dex bonus, merely takes a -4 penalty to dex. Creatures must be Pinned to lose their dex bonus now.
Ok, here's the thing though.
This is what the lockjaw spell does, now with less words added.
Enchant any one of an animal's attack to give it the grab ability with that attack including the +4 bonus to start or maintain the grapple.
That animal can attack with any of it's other natural attacks.
So does the weasel have grab? or it's own rules?
Yes, i know you answered before, it's just not all to clear especially considering that's what a weasel does, it locks it's jaw, just the same as a dog.
Very similar physiology as well, except for the size thing.
YOu have Grab and Attach at the same time.
You would use attach (as it is automatic and therefor more benefitial) and add a +4 to maintain your grapples as you still have the Grab ability even if you are not using it to initiate the grapple