Can you maintain a grapple on a whirlwind

[Cayzle]

A monster grapples a druid. The druid is wildshaped into air elemental form. On his turn, the grappled air elemental druid changes into a whirlwind.

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/monsters/universalMonsterRules.html#_whi rlwind

What happens? Does a whirlwind automatically escape a grapple? With what kind of action? Can you maintain a grapple on a whirlwind? What size is it?

[Taenia]

The only difference between being a whirlwind or not is the effect that activates on contact. In other words you can be grappled as a whirlwind like anyone else, however, they have to make save every round they are in contact or be pulled into the whirlwind.

If he makes his save he continues the grapple as normal. If he fails than he takes damage and may, if the whirlwind is large enough, be sucked in. If he cannot be contained within than he will take damage that round from your slam on a failed save.

The caveat to this is the following phrase from the whirlwind SRD:

"Creatures trapped in the whirlwind cannot move except to go where the whirlwind carries them or to escape the whirlwind. Trapped creatures can otherwise act normally,"

This implies that they can act normally such as grappling or maintaining a grapple even though they are in the whirlwind. The question then becomes if you are grappling a whirlwind and in the whirlwind, can the whirlwind continue to move?

Note unlike a normal grapple situation if you are trapped in the whirlwind you cannot move the whirlwind because you cannot move except to go where the whirlwind takes you the whirlwind likewise would not be able to move without a grapple check.

Also what happens if you do move, fly up in the air and then eject the grappler as a free action?

As for size modifiers...that a good question. Considering a small elemental can be a 20' tall whirlwind...

[hogarth]

My interpretation has been that there's one "chunk" of the whirlwind that is the actual elemental's body and that the rest is wind.

So in that case, it wouldn't automatically escape a grapple, and size modifiers would remain the same.

[Gwaihir Scout]

Do you get a bonus if you're a gunslinger using a lasso?

[GM Jeff]

I'd say it's up to the GM on this one, on a case by case basis.

Whirlwind says, "Some creatures can transform themselves into whirlwinds..." So, a creature becomes a whirlwind. What are creatures transformed to whirlwinds in the GMs world? Are they just swirling air currents, or is there something physical in the middle of all that air?

Some things a GM might have to think about:
Can you grapple a whirlwind? (substantial, insubstantial?)
Can you attack a whirlwind with:
- A longsword? (slashing)
- A crossbow? (piercing)
- A club? (bludgeoning)
- A magic missile spell? (direct? force damage?)
- A fireball spell? (area?)
- Gaze attacks?
Environmental conditions:
- Underwater
- Small spaces
- Extreme temperatures

GMs call.

[LifeofReilly]

For sake of awesomeness, I would let a gunslinger lasso an air elemental whirlwind. Not because it makes sense, but because the vision of a gunslinger riding a whirlwind akin to breaking a bucking bronco is just too amazing to pass up.