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Okay, I've been digging around for a solid rule on this and it's been driving me crazy. And finally it came up in a game this weekend and nobody was sure what to do.
Q: If you can change your size (either to grow or shrink) can you use this ability to escape a grapple?
For instance, a Druid can go all the way down to Diminutive (or up to Huge) as early as 8th-level. Wild Shape is supernatural so they can even do this while being grappled/pinned.
The Tetori ability to negate shapeshifting seems to suggest this is a viable tactic normally, one that Tetori monks learned how to prevent - but I haven't been able to locate anything concrete on the subject.
Help?
Changing size (good luck making those Concentration checks) will grant you a size bonus and maybe a bonus to your strength (depending on the effect) to your CMB and CMD to break free, and that's about it.
The rules for standard grappling don't account for size beyond a few modifiers.
Let me pose this to you, why should polymorph allow you to escape a grapple? What would make you think it should?
Grapple has no size restrictions, though there are size bonuses/penalties to CMB/CMD for different size categories. Nothing about polymorph or wildshape would automatically get you out of a grapple, but the bonuses you might get from changing shape might help you. The tetori simply gets an ability to say, "Oh no you don't!".
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Changing size (good luck making those Concentration checks) will grant you a size bonus and maybe a bonus to your strength (depending on the effect) to your CMB and CMD to break free, and that's about it.
The rules for standard grappling don't account for size beyond a few modifiers.
So if something Huge or even Gargantuan is grappling you, and you become Tiny or Diminutive, you can't simply slip between their digits or something? They maintain their grip on you?
(To your parenthetical: if you're doing it supernaturally e.g. wild shape, there are no concentration checks AFAIK.)
So if something Huge or even Gargantuan is grappling you, and you become Tiny or Diminutive, you can't simply slip between their digits or something? They maintain their grip on you?
That's correct.
So if something Huge or even Gargantuan is grappling you, and you become Tiny or Diminutive, you can't simply slip between their digits or something? They maintain their grip on you?
(To your parenthetical: if you're doing it supernaturally e.g. wild shape, there are no concentration checks AFAIK.)
Correct, changing size can give you a bonus to checks to escape a grapple, but there's no "I Win" button you can hit to wildshape out of a grapple. You can certainly turn into a little mouse and try to slip between the Giant's fingers, however the Giant still gets a chance to try to crush you in it's fist.
If you want an I win button for grapples, invest in a Ring of Freedom of Movement. At that point, only a Tetori will be able to grapple you.
What about the reverse?
A large creature being grappled by a medium one gets Enlarged so that it's now a huge creature (and thus ineligible to being grappled by a medium size creature)?
What about the reverse?
A large creature being grappled by a medium one gets Enlarged so that it's now a huge creature (and thus ineligible to being grappled by a medium size creature)?
There's no size limitations for Grappling in Pathfinder. A Halfling could attempt to Grapple a Cloud Giant, though the Cloud Giant would be at an advantage to resist it. However the Grab special ability is size limited. Once a monster has successfully used Grab, it turns into a Grapple, so still can't size shift out of it for free.
Ah. Well then.
Okay, I've been digging around for a solid rule on this and it's been driving me crazy. And finally it came up in a game this weekend and nobody was sure what to do.
Q: If you can change your size (either to grow or shrink) can you use this ability to escape a grapple?
For instance, a Druid can go all the way down to Diminutive (or up to Huge) as early as 8th-level. Wild Shape is supernatural so they can even do this while being grappled/pinned.
The Tetori ability to negate shapeshifting seems to suggest this is a viable tactic normally, one that Tetori monks learned how to prevent - but I haven't been able to locate anything concrete on the subject.
Help?
Your GM could rule that the change in shape gives you bonuses to escape based on surprise, etc. And any advantages your new shape has can help, too.
(Grappling the shapeshifter Proteus is one of Heracles's famous stories, and other heroes are known to do it, also. Changing into fire and water did make it a bit difficult to hang on, but he managed to pull it off.)
If you want an I win button for grapples, invest in a Ring of Freedom of Movement. At that point, only a Tetori will be able to grapple you.Or a Spell Sunder Brutal Pugilist (but the Tetori would have better action economy).
Actually I need to look at the rules more closely about how that ability interacts with magical effects produced by items. Especially since this ability exist:
Sunder Enchantment (Su): While raging, whenever the barbarian succeeds at a sunder combat maneuver on a magical item, that item's magical abilities are suppressed for 1 round, plus 1 round for every 5 points by which her combat maneuver check exceeded the target's CMD. A barbarian must have the spell sunder rage power and be at least 8th level before selecting this rage power.
Based on the existence of that power, I would have to say the best you could do is surpress the Freedom of Movement spell for 1 round, beause on the next round the ring will cast a new one the character on their turn. And I'm not even sure that it's that favorable for you, it might be that it simply doesn't work at all unless you have sunder enchantment.