1st question: Do those that assist also get the GRAPPLED status?
2nd question: I can't see a case where those that assist would want to prevent the creature from escaping.
My two cents:
1) Yes, they're all grappling (whether they're the primary grappler or just an assistant) so they all have the "grappled" condition.
2) Technically, it doesn't look like assistant grapplers can use Aid Another to prevent an opponent from escaping; Aid Another's bonus to AC isn't a "circumstance, deflection, dodge, insight, luck, morale, profane, [or] sacred" bonus. But I'd allow them to either Aid Another to CMB or CMD as they wish (but not both with the same Aid Another action).
Owner - D20 Hobbies
|
1) Do those that assist also get the GRAPPLED status?
2) the party rushes to aid wanting to prevent it from escaping and thus taking to the air again.
RAW:
1) No, Logic from Aid Another is not an attack. Unless you mean "Join the Grapple" where you would take on the Grappled condition.
2) Can't Aid Another to prevent someone from using an action (so can't add to Druid CMD) but can Aid Another to the Druid to Pin the creature which makes it harder for him to escape.
One yes, one no on aiding to prevent escape... what to do?...
Well, one "the rules say no" and one "the rules say no, but I'd allow it anyways".
Taking the demon from grappled to pinned doesn't buy you much. The main differences are: if pinned you take -4 to AC and can't use your arms. You can still attempt to escape. You can now be restrained with a rope or otherwise.
Perhaps a more prudent action from the fighter and rogue would be to attack the Demon. If they want to keep it alive then non-lethal damage is in order.
OR have them ready a Grapple action if the demon breaks free.
The dog pile mechanic you're envisioning simply does not exist in Pathfinder. The rules don't have provisions for adding to the CMD of other creatures.
re: 1) Aiders gaining Grapple Condition: NO.
The Aiders are not applying the Grappled condition, so I don´t see why they should gain it themselves. They could apparently SIMULTANEOUSLY Grapple the Demon (who already has a DEX penalty from being Grappled by Druid), which would be extremely effective if the Demon can only escape one Grapple at a time (?), in which case they WOULD be Grappled, but just for Aiding they shouldn´t gain the condition themself. The rules certainly don´t deal with how to handle that situation - for one, how do they LOSE that condition? The Demon escaping the DRUID´s Grapple? Not Aiding their next turn? The rules just don´t handle ´associated´ Grapple conditions, so I would not try to invent them.
I don´t see any reason to say they are equivalently enmeshed with the opponent as their Ally - Whether they are Aiding their Ally´s Attacks or AC, ´aid´ could consist of kicking the opponent to block an alley of escape, calling out the opponents moves from a different vantage point then their Ally, etc. Likewise, if their Ally is fighting a creature whose skin/aura imposes a condition whenever they are hit (entanglement, damage on contact), Aiders would not be subject to those effects.
re: 2) The problem is that CMD doesn´t currently allow UNTYPED AC Bonuses, which is what Aid Another grants. Up to recently, Luck bonuses weren´t allowed either, until Errata was issued. IMHO, this is all due to some unfortunate choices in wording/rules presentation... and I believe the RAI is such that untyped AC bonuses (which apply to Touch AC) SHOULD apply to CMD. I know many people who play exactly that ´any Touch AC bonus applies to CMD´, and that seems reasonable enough given the foundation of CMD (which subsumed 3.5`s Touch Attack + Opposed STR/Attack Roll). If one plays in that manner, one can also just directly derive CMD from Touch AC, by adding Touch AC + BAB + STR + 2x Maneuver Size Mod (to cancel normal Size Mod to AC and reverse it) - ALL Size Mods being 0 for Medium Sized creatures, of course (which makes direct Touch AC derivation VERY easy, and normal attack bonus numbers can be used with no adjustment).
So if you want to play strictly to RAW, Aid Another to AC doesn´t help CMD, if you want to look at what makes sense, it definitely should, and thus your PCs could certainly Aid their Ally´s CMD to prevent his target escaping.
I disagree with Stynkk, Pinned is a very powerful condition, they can´t attack or do any movement based action, thus would be restricted to non-somatic Su or SLAs (which may provoke AND have a signifigant Concentration check to pass first). Obviously, some opponents will still have good options while Pinned, but for MANY opponents including Demons, it can be a good option (if you can make it happen - Grappled is the so-so condition, given the target can freely Full Attack back with minimal penalties.)
Once Pinned (which would benefit from a bonus for them already being Grappled), everybody can Full Attack while the Pin is maintained/they are Tied up.
re: my previous post, I think it´s somewhat complicated by THIS in Grapple itself:
Per Aid Another, you can just use a normal Aid Another to provide Attack Bonus to Ally, which helps ALL CMB checks. That would be inline with my previous post. Likewise, there´s nothing that DIRECTLY says the same target can´t be effected by multiple Grapples. But the Grapple rules DO describe ´multiple creatures (attempting) to grapple one target´, which is described ONLY via Aid Another. As I mentioned, establish two Grapples on the same target, each of which may need to be escaped separately (?) seems more effective, but that isn´t described in the ´Multiple Creature´ sub-section. But then again, nothing exists BANNING an ´independent´ Grapple... ???
...I think a Grapple FAQ on ALL grapple issues is still called for.
I disagree with Stynkk, Pinned is a very powerful condition, they can´t attack or do any movement based action..
<3 it is powerful, but it depends what you want to do.. and the foe you face.
I was under the false impression that you first needed to escape a pin THEN a grapple, but now I see this is not true...
Ah.. now I see what you've been asking. If you manage to escape the pin you escape the grapple entirely. You lose Pinned and go to Normal status. You do not revert back to grappled. This requires another CM grapple check on the freed creature.