When the question of AoOs and Free Actions come up, something that is almost invariably brought up is the grab universal monster ability.
Here is that ability, in all of its glory:
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. Unless otherwise noted, grab can only be used against targets of a size equal to or smaller than the creature with this ability. If the creature can use grab on creatures of other sizes, it is noted in the creature's Special Attacks line. 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. A successful hold does not deal any extra damage unless the creature also has the constrict special attack. If the creature does not constrict, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals the damage indicated for the attack that established the hold. Otherwise, it deals constriction damage as well (the amount is given in the creature's descriptive text).
Creatures with the grab special attack receive a +4 bonus on combat maneuver checks made to start and maintain a grapple.
Format: grab; Location: individual attacks.
The point that's brought up is that since this is a free action, it cannot be done as part of an AoO, since you cannot usually perform free actions outside of your turn.
In the past, I used this as an example of the confusion between Free Actions and its limit to your turn. There are a few other examples that use free actions that are clearly meant to be used out of turn, and I thought this was one of them.
And then I discovered this. It's the reason why grapple cannot be done in place of an attack in the first place, and that reason is because you could then super grapple them before they really get a chance to react.
So now I'm thinking grab as a free action, and thus not out of turn or on an AoO, is possibly intended, and I'm wondering what others think given the reason for no grapple on AoOs.
As a possibly relevant sidenote, when UC was released, I made a thread about the Snap Shot line of feats, which allow you to make AoOs with ranged attacks. The issue here was that it's a free action to "reload" a bow, and since you can't take free actions outside of your turn, you couldn't make more than one such AoO in a round since, by the rules, you could not nock another arrow.
After enough FAQings, the FAQ was updated for this question: It can be found here.
Snap Shot: Can a character with Snap Shot (page 119) and Combat Reflexes make multiple attacks of opportunity with a ranged weapon, assuming that loading the ranged weapon is a free action?
Yes. As long as you can reload your weapon with a free action you can reload your weapon as part of the ranged attack attack of opportunity you are making with the Snap Shot feat.
—Stephen Radney-MacFarland, 10/13/11
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In the case of the monster ability "Grab", the grapple attempt is generally part of the attack itself. Like a tentacle wrapping around you or a shark biting you. The bite IS a grab, and the grab IS a bite. The actions are one and the same. Or like a wolf's trip attack. It bites you, and the trip is a result of him biting your leg or arm. It requires no extra effort on it's part.
As for grapples not being used as an AoO, that is completely untrue. You do, however, have to possess the appropriate feats for combat maneuvers. Improved Unarmed Strike is the first necessary since the attacks require touch attacks, even though they aren't rolled anymore. As for the infinity loop of AoOs that many people fear would ensue, the rules compendium of 3.5 addressed that issue. You can't provoke an AoO by making an AoO. The whole idea behind an AoO is your target is distracted and not paying attention to you. If this is the case, how can they make an AoO against you? Regardless, if you're using trips, grapples, bull rushes, etc that often, I would think you would want to take the improved feats for them anyway, thus removing the debacle of the infinity loop.
As I've found nothing in Pathfinder to directly contradict this ruling, and it makes sense, I still uphold the ruling in my games. Obviously you're welcome to any interpretation of the rules you like, but that's my take on it.
I'll just point out (even though it may not really hold any weight), that 3.5's improved grab ability also used the "free action" text, and in that system you could start a grapple on an AoO.
Grab should work on AoOs, and neither players nor DMs in any game I've been in has ever suggested that it wouldn't.
I noticed one other thing that has changed from 3.5 to PF (and which certainly explains why tactics-blocks don't mention creatures taking a -20 penalty to CMB when using flyby to grab, fly, and drop):
In 3.5, creatures with improved grab could move and carry the grabbed opponent with them (as long as they had enough strength to drag its weight). In PF, they can only do that if they take the -20 penalty.
yeah... problems.
first, the Snapshot FAQ seems to have ZERO justification in RAW.
free actions AREN'T taken off your turn unless otherwise specified.
(I'm not sure why people felt Snapshot was 'so' broken if they were limited to one AoO per round: this IS the normal limit, after all)
per RAW all of that stuff is a no-no, off one's turn, including Grab, Wolf Trip, etc.
(Rock Catching is the worst, since as a 'defensive'/reactive ability it basically can NEVER be used per RAW of free actions, unless somebody happens to ready to throw a rock at you ON YOUR TURN. geez)
that said, it's clear enough the INTENT is for them to work off one's turn, so basically i would read them all as if they didn't say free action and were merely 'non-actions'. that should be Errata'd though.
re: Corran's post: there is no touch attack as part of CMB or Grapple.
just because it was there in 3.5 does not make it so in PRPG...
obviously so given they SPECIFICALLY REMOVED THAT to change to the current system.
there is a distinct weapon focus for UAS, and Grapple...
if you have the first that in no way applies to Grapple checks.
unless you have the Grab ability (and are 'fudging' the free action classification),
there is no 'normal' way of making a Grapple check as an AoO,
because Grapple attacks specifically require a standard Attack Action (or a Move Action to Maintain with Greater Grapple Feat)
you can't spend those actions on an AoO opportunity.
(you CAN ready them though)
Doesn't the specific "do X any time the attack hits" override the general "X can only be on your turn"?
but it says 'do X AS A FREE ACTION'.
if it said as a Swift Action, or as a Move Action, would you still be using the same argument?fundamentally, it's no different, they're still actions that must br spent on your turn unless specified.
all these abilities COULD have been written WITHOUT invoking a free action,
and just say 'when you do X you can do this also'. that would work fine for them.
the writers just went overboard with free action terminology. the same issue was in 3.5.
I'd say that the seemingly ever growing number of abilities which specify that you get the option to do something as a free action when you could not normally perform a free action is compelling evidence that these abilities mean you get to perform the free action even though it is not your turn. Otherwise Rock Catching becomes useless and the Redirect Attack rogue trick isn't much good either.
Snap Shot is a clear example of a free action being used as part of an AoO, so I can't see why other abilities with similar wording shouldn't have similar function. I like Jiggy's idea that being specifically permitted to perform a free action as part of a special ability gives you the right to perform that free action (it certainly seems in line with the Snap Shot ruling and makes some other abilities work "as expected").
The Jason Bulmahn link is not saying you can do it. He is saying why it should not be done.
The poster that Jason is responding to asked "Why is it possible to trip a kolbold running by, but not possible to grab him."
Jason answers that question. He is not saying "It is ok to do so", in any form.
As for snapshot I think that is a rules error. They should state that snap-shot gets an exception to the rules or say that knocking an arrow is a non-action. I don't care which one it is. I just want things to be consistent. Right now by RAW the only free action that you can take outside of your turn is speaking.
EVEN IF you think Snap Shot is justified because it is 'part of an AoO', that doesn't help Rock Catching, where no AoO is taking place normally.
(yet Rocking Catching still TECHNICALLY functions, since enemies CAN ready to throw rocks at you on your turn)
but i don't think there IS any justification for even the Snap Shot FAQ, much less extending that to other cases.
(it seems like many people felt Snap Shot was 'broken' if you couldn't make multiple AoOs with it, and Paizo went along with that when deciding to make that FAQ... I'm not sure if they were aware that you always COULD make 1 bow&arrow AoO/round by having an arrow drawn and in hand - pretty intuitive, IMHO - which seems like very reasonable functionality to me.)
FYI, nocking an arrow is a 'non-action', essentially because it's part of making an attack with bow&arrow...
DRAWING an arrow is a free action... I see it as Drawing Ammunition essentially gets to automatically benefit from Quickdraw.
i'm not sure why they distinguished 'nocking' as a non-action to begin with, and didn't just say 'a bow attack includes nocking a DRAWN arrow', and even if they simply didn't mention it it would seem fine. Another case where the rules could be shorter and clearer.
The thread with Jason Bulmahn says that you can't attempt a Grapple AS an AoO while you can attempt a Trip AS an AoO. I think the rules basis for this is that Trip can be substituted for an attack (and therefore also for an AoO) while a Grapple requires a standard action and can not be substituted for a melee attack (including an AoO). The free grapple attempt from Grab is triggered as part of a melee attack, so it is rather different IMO.
Jason also seems concerned that grappling "out of turn" might lead to enemies being pinned before they get a chance to break out. I can't really say whether he was thinking about monster special abilities when he made that post 4 years ago. Maybe he'd say that Grab is different than a regular grapple (which it clearly is since it lets you grapple as a free action). However, even if he said that you shouldn't be able to use Grab during an AoO because it would be unfair somehow that shouldn't have anything to do with using a wolf's free Trip attempt when it hits with an AoO.
I'll grant that by a strict reading of RAW the Trip attempt shouldn't work since it would require taking a free action outside of your turn, but the situation is similar to Snap Shot, and several other abilities like Rock Catching and Redirect Attack don't work in a sensible and expected way without a similar ruling or rewrite.
Also now with Snapping turtle style you can get the result of pin before reaction anyway. At 1st level even if your the right archetype.
And with a maneuver master couldn't you grapple to pin with your extra maneuver in a round?
Though this brings up a question I had can you make a second grapple check with greater grapple the same turn you standard action to start the grapple?
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re: Corran's post: there is no touch attack as part of CMB or Grapple.
just because it was there in 3.5 does not make it so in PRPG...
I stand corrected! When I was reading up on the new system I interpreted "When performing a combat maneuver, you must use an action appropriate to the maneuver you are attempting to perform" to mean if you wanted to hit with your weapon, the attack the roll represented was a swing of the sword. If you wanted to grapple, the roll represented a melee touch attack. Guess I just kinda tuned the rest out. Thanks for setting me straight!