So this came up in our Curse of the Crimson Throne game tonight, and I wanted to check if we did it right.
My Bloodrager, lacking improved grapple but having very high CMB, made a grapple attempt against an Imp we'd been fighting, and we realised we weren't sure if that triggered an AOE. The Imp has 0 reach, so it shouldn't be able to attack my square, but I think it's not unreasonable to say that doesn't make very much sense, as my hand has to touch the little guy to actually grapple him.
On the fly we decided to rule he couldn't take the AOE, which I think is right per RAW, but yeah, I just wanted to crowdsource that for next time.
Agreed.
Out of reach, no threat, no opportunity.
Much like a human facing a giant actually.
The imp'd get an AoO if it was in the grappler's square, but that's about it. PCs aren't the only ones to have issues with bigger, grabby foes :)
The Imp would have needed the Strike Back feat to attack you. So the ruling was correct.
As an aside that feat can make Earth Elementals and other creatures with 10'+ reach and earthglide very dangerous. They can hide behind 5' of earth (e.g the floor) and attack with impunity as they have total cover and cannot be hit unless the defender has strike back.
Rules say, "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." It doesn't say "if you are within their threatened area" or similar, so I'd have allowed the opportunity attack personally.
It provokes, just as you said, but the target is denied the opportunity to actually make one because it cannot reach the offender. This is just like any creature with greater reach making a provoking attack from outside the target's reach.
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Going to split a hair here...
The actual passage on attacks of opportunity is, "Threatened Squares: You threaten all squares into which you can make a melee attack, even when it is not your turn. Generally, that means everything in all squares adjacent to your space (including diagonally). An enemy that takes certain actions while in a threatened square provokes an attack of opportunity from you. If you're unarmed, you don't normally threaten any squares and thus can't make attacks of opportunity."
It is taking an action within a threatened area which provokes, not whether they can reach the person performing the action. Grappling says that it provokes, not that it provokes if performed within a threatened area.
It is taking an action within a threatened area which provokes, not whether they can reach the person performing the action. Grappling says that it provokes, not that it provokes if performed within a threatened area.This is true, however the Imp doesn't have enough reach to actually land the attack.
And would require the Strike Back feat to strike the limb(s) attempting the grapple.
As the Strike back feat is one of the CRB feats it cannot be considered a bloat feat which covers an action that you could previously do without needing a feat.
Thanks for the answers guys. I guess I'll get my comeuppance later in the campaign when we inevitably start fighting very big things.