How does one Improve their CMD for higher level play?

[Elamdri]

We've been stuck with a problem for a while now, where our party is having difficult time dealing with monsters that target our CMDs. If it trips, grapples, awesome blows, or bull rushes, we get wrecked.

And we're not really doing bad off in other regards. We all have really good saves and our main melee guy has great AC. We're able to buff to avoid lots of problems that the enemies throw at us.

But we just keep coming up to a loss on CMD. Last game our main guy got grappled to death and there was just nothing we could do to get him out. We managed to kill the monster while it was killing our friend, but then we had to go far out of our way and spend a lot of money rezzing him.

I've tried a few things, like wand of grease, to try and help out, but it's just not been cutting it. I know there's a feat that helps non full BAB classes by letting them use their class level, but we're all so feat starved and I honestly can't see it helping that much, except for the caster.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them.

Group is an inquisitor, an alchemist, a sorcerer, and a cleric.

[LazarX]

Defensive Combat Training sets your basic CMD defense to fighter levels.

[Nawtyit]

Freedom of movement, either the spell or the ring

[Elamdri]

LazarX wrote:

Defensive Combat Training sets your basic CMD defense to fighter levels.

And that would help if it was a matter of me getting grappled by a margin of 2 (Which is the benefit I would get from that feat), but it's not. Our CMD's are being overcome by like 10+.

[Elamdri]

Nawtyit wrote:

Freedom of movement, either the spell or the ring

Spell is doable, but doesn't solve every problem. Been kicking that around.

Ring sadly is not a reality at this point, price wise.

[Brain in a Jar]

Keep in mind you can use circumstance, deflection, dodge, insight, luck, morale, profane, and sacred bonuses to add to CMD.

So a Ring of Protection or Dusty Rose Ioun Stone can add to both your AC and CMD. Taking the feat Dodge is a good route to take as well.

I hope that helps.

[blackbloodtroll]

Wayfinder with a Dusty rose prism Ioun Stone will give a +2 to CMB and CMD.

Earth Root Boots give you a cumulative +1 circumstance bonus to CMD (maximum of +10) for each round you do not move from your space.

Many other items pump CMD against certain combat maneuvers.

[Elamdri]

Brain in a Jar wrote:

Keep in mind you can use circumstance, deflection, dodge, insight, luck, morale, profane, and sacred bonuses to add to CMD.

So a Ring of Protection or Dusty Rose Ioun Stone can add to both your AC and CMD. Taking the feat Dodge is a good route to take as well.

I hope that helps.

...I have been playing this game for a very long time...and I did not know that.

I'm going to go sit in the corner and feel dumb now. I'll be back in a few minutes.

*gets ice cream out of the freezer*

[Brain in a Jar]

Elamdri wrote:

Brain in a Jar wrote:

Keep in mind you can use circumstance, deflection, dodge, insight, luck, morale, profane, and sacred bonuses to add to CMD.

So a Ring of Protection or Dusty Rose Ioun Stone can add to both your AC and CMD. Taking the feat Dodge is a good route to take as well.

I hope that helps.

...I have been playing this game for a very long time...and I did not know that.

I'm going to go sit in the corner and feel dumb now. I'll be back in a few minutes.

*gets ice cream out of the freezer*

Don't worry most of my group tends to forget that as well.

[Elamdri]

Brain in a Jar wrote:

Elamdri wrote:

Brain in a Jar wrote:

Keep in mind you can use circumstance, deflection, dodge, insight, luck, morale, profane, and sacred bonuses to add to CMD.

So a Ring of Protection or Dusty Rose Ioun Stone can add to both your AC and CMD. Taking the feat Dodge is a good route to take as well.

I hope that helps.

...I have been playing this game for a very long time...and I did not know that.

I'm going to go sit in the corner and feel dumb now. I'll be back in a few minutes.

*gets ice cream out of the freezer*

Don't worry most of my group tends to forget that as well.

Well, one of the interesting things that I've noticed is that all my friends who play have been playing for a lot longer than I have, so they're familiar with other systems, Whereas Pathfinder was my first. I tried getting into AD&D many moons ago, but group I was with wasn't very good and it soured my experience of the whole system.

So we come into a issue where they all know a LOT more than I do, but I'm more familiar with the pathfinder rules differences between 3.5 than they are. Me GMing more PFS games has helped a lot too.

[DrDeth]

A Cleric with the Liberation domain and all your problems are solved.

There are also a number of Su abilities for Sorc, Oracle, etc which would allow them to get out, such as the ability to go gaseous.

If a Spellcaster sees a Grapple monster coming his way, cast Blink.

[Elamdri]

DrDeth wrote:

A Cleric with the Liberation domain and all your problems are solved.

Ah...Desna.

God she is so broken. The worst part of making a Cleric of Desna is knowing that you have Liberation, Luck, and Travel domains and you can only pick two.

[Kydeem de'Morcaine]

Partially though not completely might seem worse because you don't have a full BaB PC. Most groups seem to have at least one.

What level are you by the way? Are you playing an AP?
Some AP's and/or GM's will surprise your PC's alot which also makes these things worse. Then it is tough to deal with.

Silence and invisibility so you can be doing the surprising.

Spells and items to keep things away from you.
Summon monster, wall spells, pit spells, hydraulic push, vanish, obscuring mist, invisibility, blindness, slow, blur, levitate, fly, haste, spider climb, etc...
Enlarge your melee guy (I assume the inquisitor).
Ring of the ram.

[Rycaut]

Liberating Command is a great low level spell for higher level casters to prepare.

- it is an Immediate Action to cast so is great action economy and gives a big boost to an escape artist check to break a grapple. Since at higher levels your low level spells often are less useful it is worth preparing. My 10th level cleric in PFS typically prepares it 2 or more times (and it is frequently the spell I recover via a pearl of power).

Note that it is useless as a wand or scroll - it is the ability to immediately cast it on someone else's turn that makes it exceptional plus that the bonus it grants scales well with your caster level.

Freedom of Movement as others noted is also really good. It is a long lasting buff so well worth casting on the party member who most needs to avoid being grappled.

[Gerald]

Elamdri wrote:

Brain in a Jar wrote:

Keep in mind you can use circumstance, deflection, dodge, insight, luck, morale, profane, and sacred bonuses to add to CMD.

So a Ring of Protection or Dusty Rose Ioun Stone can add to both your AC and CMD. Taking the feat Dodge is a good route to take as well.

I hope that helps.

...I have been playing this game for a very long time...and I did not know that.

I'm going to go sit in the corner and feel dumb now. I'll be back in a few minutes.

*gets ice cream out of the freezer*

Good Lord, I never realized that either. Wow...

[DrDeth]

Elamdri wrote:

Brain in a Jar wrote:

Keep in mind you can use circumstance, deflection, dodge, insight, luck, morale, profane, and sacred bonuses to add to CMD.

So a Ring of Protection or Dusty Rose Ioun Stone can add to both your AC and CMD. Taking the feat Dodge is a good route to take as well.

I hope that helps.

...I have been playing this game for a very long time...and I did not know that.

I'm going to go sit in the corner and feel dumb now. I'll be back in a few minutes.

*gets ice cream out of the freezer*

(prepare for bad joke) Well, at least you, like Bullwinkle won't have to worry about brain freeze! Why? No Brain, no effect! (end bad joke)

[Lobolusk]

use the fighters favorite class bonus on grapple and trip CMD bumps instead of hp or skill points. I did this and my level 11 fighter has a 47 cmd against grapples and a 43 against dirty tricks. for grapple max out your escape artist. ask to retrain your traits to give escape artist a class skill. then take a few feats in skill focus.

[Wycen]

Brain in a Jar wrote:

Keep in mind you can use circumstance, deflection, dodge, insight, luck, morale, profane, and sacred bonuses to add to CMD.

So a Ring of Protection or Dusty Rose Ioun Stone can add to both your AC and CMD. Taking the feat Dodge is a good route to take as well.

I hope that helps.

Holy crap. That is a game changer. I had to look that up to make sure. Off to recalculate some CMDs!