[3.5]Simple Rules on Grapples and Counterspelling with Dispels

[laeZ1]

Hey, I've got a few questions about dealing damage while you have an opponent grappled, and about dispelling magic and using dispel magic as a counterspell.

Let's start with Grapples:

As I currently understand it, if you succeed in grappling an opponent, your following turn, you get to wail on him like an older brother might give his younger sibling a noogie. You deal your unarmed damage to them, and don't have to worry about hitting their AC or anything.

Questions about that: Does that mean you can full round attack a grappled opponent? Or Flurry of blows them? If I have a huge creature that has an opponent grappled in each arm, and it full round attacks, do they both take it or is it divided between them? Are there any useful rules I should be reminded of for escaping grapples, aside from rolling opposed grapples (I know it's written somewhere that an escape artist check can do something)?

Now for dispel magic:

I understand the basics of dispel magic: make a caster level check, if it beats 11+caster level of the spell/spells of the magic you're trying to dispel, the magic is dispelled. You can target it, or use it in an area, which targets everything magical in that area. What I don't understand is using it to counterspell.

As per the rules of counterspelling (and please correct me if I'm wrong), all you need to do is prepare an action to counterspell, make the 15+spell level spellcraft check (higher DC if silent or stilled) to determine what spell is being cast, then cast the exact same spell. Neither spell's effect goes off, and your opponent looks rather silly. I understand that just fine.

When it comes to using dispel magic, are there different rules for counterspelling? Do you still have to prepare an action, make the spellcraft (15+spell level) check, cast the spell, as well as make the dispel check(11 + spell-owner's caster level)?

Please and Thank You.

[Essence_of_War]

Here is the relevant grappling rules from the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/specialAttacks.htm), trimmed appropriately:


If You’re Grappling
When you are grappling (regardless of who started the grapple), you can perform any of the following actions. Some of these actions take the place of an attack (rather than being a standard action or a move action). If your base attack bonus allows you multiple attacks, you can attempt one of these actions in place of each of your attacks, but at successively lower base attack bonuses.

Attack Your Opponent
You can make an attack with an unarmed strike, natural weapon, or light weapon against another character you are grappling. You take a -4 penalty on such attacks.

You can’t attack with two weapons while grappling, even if both are light weapons.

Damage Your Opponent
While grappling, you can deal damage to your opponent equivalent to an unarmed strike. Make an opposed grapple check in place of an attack. If you win, you deal nonlethal damage as normal for your unarmed strike (1d3 points for Medium attackers or 1d2 points for Small attackers, plus Strength modifiers). If you want to deal lethal damage, you take a -4 penalty on your grapple check.

Exception: Monks deal more damage on an unarmed strike than other characters, and the damage is lethal. However, they can choose to deal their damage as nonlethal damage when grappling without taking the usual -4 penalty for changing lethal damage to nonlethal damage.

....

Escape from Grapple
You can escape a grapple by winning an opposed grapple check in place of making an attack. You can make an Escape Artist check in place of your grapple check if you so desire, but this requires a standard action. If more than one opponent is grappling you, your grapple check result has to beat all their individual check results to escape. (Opponents don’t have to try to hold you if they don’t want to.) If you escape, you finish the action by moving into any space adjacent to your opponent(s).


So, if you find yourself grappling with an opponent, and you want to deal them unarmed damage, you have two options. You can use 1) the "attack your opponent" option to attack v. their AC or 2) the "Damage Your Opponent" option to attack v. their grapple check.

Each option replaces attack actions rather than taking up a standard action, so you could "full attack" either. If a huge creature is grappling with smaller creatures, it has to distribute it's attack actions between them unless it has some ability like "constrict" in its monster entry that lets it do non-standard things. My reading of that would be that Monk's could use their flurry, but only with the option 1 (so they'd have to hit AC).

The text above should fill you in on how to escape the grapple.

[TuggyNE]

Questions about that: Does that mean you can full round attack a grappled opponent? Or Flurry of blows them?

Yep! You can make grapple checks to deal unarmed strike damage as attack actions (replacing normal attacks at your choice).

Fake edit: partially swordsage'd!


If I have a huge creature that has an opponent grappled in each arm, and it full round attacks, do they both take it or is it divided between them?

It would be divided. Grappling doesn't give any specific action economy advantage.


Are there any useful rules I should be reminded of for escaping grapples, aside from rolling opposed grapples (I know it's written somewhere that an escape artist check can do something)?

Still spells are useful for casters.


When it comes to using dispel magic, are there different rules for counterspelling? Do you still have to prepare an action, make the spellcraft (15+spell level) check, cast the spell, as well as make the dispel check(11 + spell-owner's caster level)?

Yep. The last clause of dispel magic mentions that it may not always function for counterspelling, and that you roll a dispel check to see.

[BowStreetRunner]

Now for dispel magic:

I understand the basics of dispel magic: make a caster level check, if it beats 11+caster level of the spell/spells of the magic you're trying to dispel, the magic is dispelled. You can target it, or use it in an area, which targets everything magical in that area. What I don't understand is using it to counterspell.

As per the rules of counterspelling (and please correct me if I'm wrong), all you need to do is prepare an action to counterspell, make the 15+spell level spellcraft check (higher DC if silent or stilled) to determine what spell is being cast, then cast the exact same spell. Neither spell's effect goes off, and your opponent looks rather silly. I understand that just fine.

When it comes to using dispel magic, are there different rules for counterspelling? Do you still have to prepare an action, make the spellcraft (15+spell level) check, cast the spell, as well as make the dispel check(11 + spell-owner's caster level)?

Please and Thank You.

The SRD explains under the description of the spell Dispel Magic



Counterspell
When dispel magic is used in this way, the spell targets a spellcaster and is cast as a counterspell. Unlike a true counterspell, however, dispel magic may not work; you must make a dispel check to counter the other spellcaster’s spell.

So you follow the rules of Dispel Magic for a Targeted Dispel but the outcome is either countering or failing to counter the spell being cast. DC is 11 + the spell’s caster level.