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Brutal Grappler (Combat, Teamwork)
Prerequisites: Half-orc or orc.
Benefit: When you and an ally with this feat have grappled the same creature, you may attempt to damage the opponent on your turn (whether you were the one who first initiated the grapple or were assisting your ally in doing so). You and the ally are treated as aiding each other in the grapple (+2 bonus on your grapple combat maneuver) as long as you both decide to maintain the grapple.
Normal: When multiple creatures grapple one target, the creature that first initiates the grapple is the only one that makes a check to damage a grappled opponent, with a +2 bonus for each creature that assists the grapple using the Aid Another action.
I'm playing a verminous hunter using this feat with his companion. My question...
When a foe tries to break out of the grapple, how does he do it? Under the normal rules, one grappler is the 'primary' grappler, and the others are just assisting. With this feat, both attackers attackers are grappling, and they are aiding one another. Does the target have to take separate actions to break out of each grapple (ie: two standard actions)? If not, which CMD does the foe use for purposes of breaking out of the grapple?
With my first read of things, it doesn't look like the feat changes the original rules for 'multiple grapplers', in the sense that there is still a 'primary grappler', with the others just using the 'aid another' action. However, the feat allows the aider to not only gain the benefits of 'aid' from the primary attacker, but he deals damage with his aid action.
Later, I got into a debate with a friend, and he suggested the feat is much more powerful than I previously thought (ie: attacker must use two standard actions to break out, since there are two primary grapplers). I disagree...but I thought I'd ping the rules group here, to see what y'all thought.
Your first read is correct.
Your first read is correct.
Fellow A grapples Baddie A. Fellow B assists him, giving him an appropriate bonus on the grapple checks fromm then until Fellow B does something that prevents him from assisting again (like moving away, or attacking the fellow regularly, or deciding that Baddie A is actually a pretty cool guy and that they should both go out and get a beer.) Each time Fellow B performs the Aid Another action to help the grapple along, he can deal damage as if he were grappling and just maintained the grapple himself. This means that Fellow A and Fellow B are both wailing on Baddie A as if they were grappling him, and Baddie A is fighting a harder CMD to get out.
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...This means that Fellow A and Fellow B are both wailing on Baddie A as if they were grappling him, and Baddie A is fighting a harder CMD to get out.
Actually, aiding in a grapple doesn't increase CMD - only the CMB. You might have a DM give a judgement call of 'yes, when you're aiding in a grapple, you can increase the primary grappler's CMD', but I haven't seen anywhere in the existing rules where normally that will work.
In fact, there's a quirky thing here. Untyped bonuses to AC do not translate over into bonuses to CMD (only certain typed bonuses, such as dodge, sacred, etc.).
Combat Maneuver Defense
Each character and creature has a Combat Maneuver Defense (or CMD) that represents its ability to resist combat maneuvers. A creature's CMD is determined using the following formula:
CMD = 10 + Base attack bonus + Strength modifier + Dexterity modifier + special size modifier + miscellaneous modifiers
Special Size Modifier...<snip>
Miscellaneous Modifiers
A creature can also add any circumstance, deflection, dodge, insight, luck, morale, profane, and sacred bonuses to AC to its CMD. Any penalties to a creature's AC also apply to its CMD. A flat-footed creature does not add its Dexterity bonus to its CMD.
... this is why I don't play grapplers... it's not nearly as bad as 3.5, but the system's still f##&ed. Christ. Still, you're totally correct.
Doesn't help that I have gotten used to calculating CMD as 10+CMB+Dex+Size+Other instead of the full official.