| 2 people marked this as FAQ candidate. |
Several aspects of these abilities are unclear.
A comprehensive list of creatures with the attach ability from all six Bestiaries, with a short summary how their abilities works:
Leech, Giant (Bestiary): automatically grapples foe, automatically deals bite damage each round
Stirge (Bestiary): 'effectively' grapples target, anchoring 'it' [presumably the stirge] in place
Tick, Giant (Bestiary 2): refers to the universal monster ability; can use grab at the same time?
Pickled Punk (Bestiary 4): automatically grapples foe, automatically deals bite damage each round; Target is not considered to be grappling
Brain Mole (Bestiary 4): refers to the universal monster ability
Familiar, Tuatara (Bestiary 4): refers to the universal monster ability
Blightspawn (Bestiary 5): refers to the universal monster ability
Echeneis (Bestiary 5): automatically grapples foe, can make a free tail slap against other targets while attached
Riftcreeper (Bestiary 5): refers to the universal monster ability
Wizard's Shackle (Bestiary 5): refers to the universal monster ability
Skincrawler (Bestiary 6): refers to the universal monster ability
The attach (Ex) universal monster ability was introduced in Bestiary 2:
Attach (Ex) The creature automatically latches onto its target when it successfully makes the listed attack. The creature is considered grappling, but the target is not. The target can attack or grapple the creature as normal, or break the attach with a successful grapple or Escape Artist check. Most creatures with this ability have a racial bonus to maintain a grapple (listed in its CMB entry).
Format: attach; Location: individual attacks.
Observations:
It seems that, despite the same name, the attach universal monster ability and the individual creatures' specific attach abilities are not related to another. Attach [specific] seems to work more or less like a normal grapple (plus the creature deals automatic damage each round), whereas attach [universal] states that only the attached creature is considered to be grappling.
Note: The problematic wording of the stirge's and the weasel's ability seems to be legacy from the 3.5 version.
Problems that I see:
1) Attach [specific]: It is unclear what action the creature uses to damage its target automatically. Is it part of the grapple check made to maintain the grapple, following the normal grapple rules? Or is it a free action in addition to any grapple check made during the creature's turn?
2) Attach [universal]: It is unclear what happens to the target. The taget is not 'considered grappling', but what does that mean? Does the target gain the grappled condition? Can it move freely? And if so, what happens to the attached creature? How do Size differences play into this?
3) Attach [Stirge]: I think it should be obvious why this one is problematic.
Also, fun fact: A Tiny creature has to move into its opponent's square to attack, but once it starts grappling, it moves the grappled opponent into an adjacent square. That Tiny stirge could push around a colossal dragon!
4 Attach [Tick, Giant]: It is unclear how grab and attach [universal] are supposed to interact. Either the target is grappled, or it isn't. Please attach to Schrödinger's cat.
Addition: Looking back at how grappling worked in 3.5, the weasel's attach ability made sense. Making an attack while grappling required the grappler to use the attack action; a grapple check to maintain the grapple wasn't necessary. So it is safe to assume that in 3.5, the weasel would spend its actions to deal automatic damage each turn. But it doesn't work that way in Pathfinder anymore.