I realize many (many) topics have been on this. I don't want to get into the bowels of the Grab/Constrict/Release discussion.
Instead I want to talk on the rules for creatures like Otyughs, Dust Diggers, Chuuls, Shambling Mounds, and their many ilk. These creatures have multiple attacks and have grab attached to them.
It seems that a bit of rules have been clarified since the last time I was figuring this out:
As a standard action, you can attempt to grapple a foe, hindering his combat options. If you do not have Improved Grapple, grab, or a similar ability, attempting to grapple a foe provokes an attack of opportunity from the target of your maneuver. Humanoid creatures without two free hands attempting to grapple a foe take a –4 penalty on the combat maneuver roll. If successful, both you and the target gain the grappled condition.
Now, as I remember it, there was some section about "if you'd like to attempt this without gaining the grapple condition, you may do so at a -20 penalty" but I can't find this anymore.
Given that it specifies Humanoid; it seems that this allows the above creatures to:
Attack, grab, constrict Player A; maintaining the grapple then
Attack, grab, constrict Player B; maintaining that grapple (and do so only with the standard penalties to attacks you'd take from being in a grapple.)
Note: it looks like it's only a -2 penalty to attack rolls while you're grappled.
I wish to treat my players fairly, so if the above scenario of grappling both Player A and Player B with a mere -2 penalty is incorrect; I'd love to know.
Please go with strict RAW here so I can see the rules quotes you may refer to. I am mostly thinking about this from the perspective that Dust Diggers and Octopi seem to be designed to grapple the whole party (and this fits with artist renditions i imagine they're based on) but the rules used to be too confusing to feel like you were fairly doing so.
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Grapple is not well made.
Im think i f you grapple and pin a toad you will be inmune to other people grapple attemps to ypu (they just aid another the toad!)
You must do grapple check each round, even to move. But noone cant grapple you while you are in grap with your toad.
The -20... Its on grab universal monster rules.
I rule when start grappling (without -20) they end all round, cause in grapple they are... But not sure its works this way by raw.
But cant grapple multipñe creatures. For sure, by raw
Ah, thanks for the citation. My issue with ending the rest of the attacks is that it severely nerfs the creature in question in terms of damage in most cases. Take a Dust Digger for instance; with 6 attacks, if it grappled on the first one then it will have to drop the guy (leading to the Grab/Constrict/Release problem) or it will lose 5 of it's attacks; making effectively a Goblin with high HP and a grab.
If you, instead, don't roll for grab, then you have a very low chance (in it's case anyway) to hit, grab, constrict; making it's grab a very small bonus.
I'll note; you provided no citation that being unable to grapple multiple creatures or players; and you can do it via the rules (by RAW) below:
Premises:
* A grapple as a free action (grab) doesn't require you to end anything given it's a free action.* Grapple incurs -2 penalty on attacks, but otherwise doesn't impact your ability to attack
* Attacks on said creature allow it to initiate a grapple as a free action, and grapple/grab doesn't say you can't perform that action. Given that the attack (that you're allowed to perform) says that you *can* grab someone with said attack, I'd say that the permissive ruleset allows you to do it
Conclusion:
* Thus, a creature that successfully uses the Grab special rule during a full-round attack action to start a grapple can make it's additional attacks as normal (but with the grappled condition -> -2 penalty) following all the rules for grappling as normal.Caveat:
While this leaves a hole for how the multiple creatures are grappled; I'd just treat them as entirely separate until fluff or results cause it to be different; given that it's either a grey area, or it'd make it so individual players are relying on a single die roll that affects them.
What this effectively accomplishes is making the creatures as cinematic as they are probably supposed to be, while giving good reason for them not to cheese the player via Grab/Constrict/Release and making grab a worthwhile ability still.
Feel free to convince me out of this mindset, but please poke holes in it via rules argumentation.