A grabbed Bard

[Atalius]

How does a low level Bard deal with being grabbed by enemies, it shuts down a lot of what I can do. How do I counter this?

[K1]

It doesn't seem that bad.

Quote:

Grabbed

Source Core Rulebook pg. 620
You’re held in place by another creature, giving you the flat-footed and immobilized conditions. If you attempt a manipulate action while grabbed, you must succeed at a DC 5 flat check or it is lost; roll the check after spending the action, but before any effects are applied.

Quote:

Immobilized

Source Core Rulebook pg. 620
You can’t use any action with the move trait. If you’re immobilized by something holding you in place and an external force would move you out of your space, the force must succeed at a check against either the DC of the effect holding you in place or the relevant defense (usually Fortitude DC) of the monster holding you in place.

So basically you can't move, and have a 20% chance of losing stuff with manipulate trait.

[Atalius]

LOL your correct, it's not bad at all actually. I was thinking PF1 again. Thank you!

[Siro]

Also, while more of a mid-levels solution if you are finding it a problem when you get there, is the ‘Blink’ spell. Along with reducing most types of damage by a little, at the end of your turn you teleport a short distance in a random direction, which ‘should’ get you out of most grabs. And if your feeling it, you can also attempt a action to also do the teleport during your turn as well. The slight downside however is not always being in the best position afterwards, as you always teleport at the end of your turn, at random which direction you go. It’s no ‘Freedom of Movement’ but it can work in a pinch.

[lemeres]

This is an important question. Bards often find themselves grabbed by irate audiences (mostly because they did not want to become the bard's audience, and they have told him repeatedly to leave).

[Siro]

lemeres wrote:

This is an important question. Bards often find themselves grabbed by irate audiences (mostly because they did not want to become the bard's audience, and they have told him repeatedly to leave).

Don't forget about clingy fans. Something they don't tell you about nat 20 Performance checks is the fans can sometimes like it a little too much. :p

[Ediwir]

Note that spells that use Somatic casting have the Manipulate trait.
So that's a 20% spell fail in most cases.