Hi all,
I'm sure these are questions that have come up many times before, but please indulge a newbie. A recent encounter generated the following grapple questions.
Do the attack roll penalties for being grappled also affect CMB rolls (for instance, to break a grapple?)
If succeed a CMB check to break a pin, are you then free to act, or do you simply revert to the grappled condition
If player A succeeds in grappling Enemy A, can player B then attempt to pin Enemy A on the same round, or is player B’s only option to aid another on player A’s grapple attempt?
Thanks all!
Just stumbled across the answer to this one on my own - penalties apply to CMB checks excepting grapple checks.
right... the attack penalty applies if you wanted to Trip the opponent, but not for Grapples.
if you break the Pin, i believe you are either 'free to act' (grapple/pin is ended) or you can choose to continue the grapple, with you now 'controlling' the grapple (but which is now only a grapple, not a pin). that last option isn't spelled out in the rules, but is correct AFAIK.
different characters cannot escalate/progress the grappling sequence (grappled->pinned) by the normal rules. they could aid another (either for attacks or AC/CMD), and remember that flanking bonuses apply. OR afaik there's nothing stopping another character from starting an INDEPENDENT grapple track (i.e. the opponent would have to escape from TWO separate grapples to be totally free), but the opponent wouldn't suffer any increased penalties since the penalties are from the same source: the grappled condition.
i'm not sure how to resolve the case of one combatant grappling another, who has natural attacks with the grab ability. instead of making a 'standard' grapple check, they choose to full attack back (while they are grappled). for each attack that hits, they can make a grab/grapple check. it's not clear per RAW whether those would each be a chance to escape/reverse the grapple, or not. if not, you would end up with parallel grapple tracks with the SAME opponent pair (which is bizarre enough to argue against that reading), but at the same time nothing in RAW would suggest that grab attacks can be used for other purposes besides initiating a grapple - and if one opens the door to other usages of grapple, then why not include 'maintain a grapple' as well?