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As a bear shifter, I will soon be level 4 and looking at a pretty fun time as a powerful grappler. But I am confused on a few certain things. (Forum searches reveal lots of grapple talk, but not this exact scenario, & would love some help!)
Is this correct?
Order of actions on a full round attack:
1. Swing and hit with a claw.
2. Free CMB check to grapple due to grab ability. (let's assume success)
3. Swing the claw again, the target has -2 AC because it is grappled.
4. Bite at the target, once again it is still -2 AC.
Another caveat is-- if I fail the first grapple, do I get a second chance to grapple with the second claw?
Finally, why are there NO decent bear avatars for the forums?
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I think at the time you successfully start a grapple (whichever attack that happens on) your full-attack is (potentially) interrupted. You have to choose whether you are doing the grapple normally, or using only the "grabbing" natural attack to avoid gaining the grappled condition yourself (but taking a -20 penalty to your CMB in return). If you do take that option, then only your one claw is occupied with the grapple and your remaining limbs are free to finish your full-attack. But if you grapple normally, your limbs are occupied by the grapple. At that point you don't make normal attacks anymore--you roll a grapple check and if successful you deal damage equal to your normal natural attack damage.
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See this is very interesting because Keante and Marcella are basically saying two opposite things.
Keante= you can't continue full attacking after you grapple.
Marcella= you can continue full attacking after you grapple.
Keante: If you consider that grappling only ties up one of your arms and one of your opponents arms (so determined by seeing that when you are grappled you can still attack with a light weapon), would you then concede that you could indeed attack with both claws even when one is being used to grapple?
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Yeah, after reading some more I take back what I said about both limbs being occupied as soon as a grapple begins. There is no rules text that says that. There's the bit about humanoids taking a -4 penalty on the check if they don't have two hands free, and that -20 option for creatures with grab is to avoid the grappled condition, but nothing about the condition says both limbs are now occupied.
On your second turn you would only be making a grapple check as a standard action, though, no full-attack. Unless you're okay with releasing the grapple, of course. And maybe you are, because you might successfully initiate a new grapple, and that grappled condition doesn't have to be continuous; you're still imposing a -2 penalty to AC during your allies' turns.
Also when we're all talking about -2 AC, it is a translation of the -4 Dexterity penalty, right? Just want to be sure there isn't other text somewhere about an actual -2 penalty to AC.
The grab attempts are free actions. Maintaining a grapple is a standard action. Your PC should be able to continue attacking once succeeding with a grapple. Maintaining the grapple the next round would be a standard action that could be applied to one natural attack. Succeed at maintaining and apply the bite damage or the claw damage, but only one.
There is a lot of table variance for these types of questions.