Brand new to PF2e, and I'm a little puzzled by the escape action. It takes one action, and does not seem to have a limitation on multiple uses per round. The text reads:
Critical Success You get free and remove the grabbed, immobilized, and restrained conditions imposed by your chosen target. You can then Stride up to 5 feet.
Success You get free and remove the grabbed, immobilized, and restrained conditions imposed by your chosen target.
Critical Failure You don’t get free, and you can’t attempt to Escape again until your next turn.
This seems to imply that if you "normal" fail on your first escape action, you can try again with your subsequent actions? That doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me - doesn't it make grappling an almost impossible strategy?
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Note that Escape has the Attack trait, meaning that each attempt adds to and suffers from Multiple Attack Penalty.
So you're attempting to Escape, then attempting at -5, then attempting at -10, and keeping those penalties if you try to use an attack afterward in that same round. As a result Grappling definitely does remain a useful tool.
It does work that way - with one rather important thing to note. The action also has the Attack trait. It is probably the only non-hostile action that does.
What that means is that the action uses and adds to your Multiple Attack Penalty. So if you fail your first Escape attempt, you can try again, but it will be at a -5 penalty. Trying a third time will be at -10.
Traits definitions matter.
Don't forget to look them up.
Ahhhh, interesting! Thanks. This is going to take some getting used to!
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This seems to imply that if you "normal" fail on your first escape action, you can try again with your subsequent actions? That doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me - doesn't it make grappling an almost impossible strategy?
The fact that an opponent can keep trying to Escape is a benefit, not a drawback.
Grapple generally costs you one action, and if successful imposes the Grabbed condition on an opponent. Between the time you Grapple and the opponent's turn, the opponent is flat footed, so if your initiative placement is right, that, alone, can be worth the action, even if it did absolutely nothing else.
Then it's your opponent's turn, and the fact that you've rendered him immobile and that he has to make a flat check to use any Manipulate actions suddenly matter, too. Now he has to either accept these limitations on his actions or he has to spend at least one action on [url=https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=79]Escape
, which will most likely accomplish nothing for him except to clear the conditions. It won't cause any damage. It won't cast a spell. It won't apply metamagic to a spell he casts with his other two actions.
Unless he critically succeeds, it won't even move him away from you so that you can't just grab him again on your turn. And if he does critically succeed, he "can then Stride up to 5 feet." Well guess what? Stride triggers reactions, so if you have Attack of Opportunity, and he chooses this option, you get to Strike, at your full attack bonus. Also, if he breaks the grapple, even if he critically succeeds, his Multiple Attack Penalty progresses, so any attacks he makes, including with spells, are going to be penalized.
Note that the more your side outnumbers the enemy, the more valuable Grapple is. If you're one-on-one, then worst case scenario, you trade 1/3 of your side's actions to cost your opponent 1/3 of his side's and advance his MAP. If there are 2 in your party against his one, then you trade 1/6 of your side's actions to cost your opponent 1/3 of his side's actions and advance his MAP. Four PCs against one baddie? You trade 1/12 of your side's actions for 1/3 of his side's actions and advance his MAP.
Oh, and if he fails? Lets hope he burns a second action for another Escape attempt, this time with a penalty that makes it even less likely that he'll break free, and in any event advance his MAP again. Your one action to Grapple has now nearly doubled its value. Honestly, I'd rather an opponent fail than critically fail an Escape attempt. Keep burning actions, and keep advancing MAP. A failed Escape attempt followed by a successful Escape attempt may actually be better for the grappler than a critical fail followed by a forced change in tactics.