I apologize in advance if this has been answered before; I'm new to the boards and while I used the search function I was unable to find an answer.
To the point, one of my players, while looking for an Archetype for his Barbarian brought the following ability from the Brutal Pugilist to my attention:
Improved Savage Grapple (Ex): At 5th level, the brutal
pugilist takes no penalties to Dexterity, attack rolls, and
combat maneuver checks when she has the grappled
condition. She also is treated as one size larger than her
actual size when determining whether she can grapple
or be grappled by another creature. This ability replaces
improved uncanny dodge.
Emphasis mine. From the APG, page 78.
My question concerns the bolded part. For the life of me, I've been unable to find any mention of size restrictions for grapple. Checking these boards, it seems that the consensus is there isn't. How does this ability work then? Should a Brutal Pugilist get CMB/CMD bonuses as if he was one size larger?
Any help is appreciated
I think it would apply for special grappling circumstances like grab and swallow whole
Grab (Ex) 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....
I'd assume it refers to the special "Size Modifier" on Combat Maneuvers, that goes like this:
"Fine –8, Diminutive –4, Tiny –2, Small –1, Medium +0, Large +1, Huge +2, Gargantuan +4, Colossal +8."
For both CMB and CMD.
So if you're Medium, you now count as Large and gain a +1 on or versus Grapples. If you get Enlarge Person cast on you, you are now Large and count as Huge for grapples and get a +2 (in addition to the Str bonus Enlarge gives you and such).
I think MC Templar hit the nail square in the head regarding Grab, Swallow Whole, etc. I'd forgotten about those.
In any case, thanks for the prompt responses.
I'm almost certain it was written by someone with their head in 3.5 where there were actual grapple size restrictions. It works if you just assume it applies to grab and swallow whole, but it's not a very useful part of the feat.
The Grab/Swallow Whole thing applies, but what Rynjin wrote also makes sense, the CMB/CMD Size Modifiers do determine whether you can grapple/be grappled by another creature, and are a reasonable benefit of the ability.